Junk Box MIDI controller is a PC interface based on the MIDI Box project. It connects to a PC through a MIDI/Game Port and is designed speci∫cally for controlling parameters of the Native Instruments Traktor Studio DJ software. It can also control various other music and video programs as well as hardware synthesizers, sound modules or rhythm machines, lighting etc. The device is, in the spirit of the Recycle or Die project, made mostly of recycled computer parts, poker machines and other devices categorized as electronic waste.
Along with the message that garbage is not always garbage and that it can have another, functional life, this project aims to encourage thinking about preservation of environment through recycling of very toxic, electronic waste.
Saša Đurić (RS)
The first ultra-experimental works came early on in childhood. For instance, plastic paint buckets with their varying volumes would produce satisfactory results. Unique bass lines and static would be generated if I tinkered with the pre-amp electronics. Dubbing, two-tap delay, pitch shifting and one or two other unnamed effects were the responsibility of two modded walkman players with pitch controls, while a cassette deck would serve as a master. All that I have learned about audio technology, recording and electronics can be primarily credited to the DIY journal 'SAM svoj majstor' and my dad. As my folks didn't have couple of hundreds of thousands of German Marks to buy me a studio, I had to settle for DJ-ing...
As I was still a kid, the only way to work off my DJ-ing urge was to start my own pirate radio station. I resumed doing music, but now on a more serious level, as I acquired my first computer, serving as my primary ‘musical instrument’. The tendency to recycle sound, dating back from childhood, can still be detected in the music I do nowadays, so that alongside scratching and retro-sound of historic TR rhythm machines there are other recycled sounds that can be heard, which don't originate from a music instrument. This is one element that sets my music apart from the definition of being synthetic. I try to sample live instruments as much as possible.
