Qubais Reed Ghazala is an American author, photographer, musician, composer, and experimental instrument builder. He was described by Motherboard as the "father of circuit bending".

Ghazala, who is from Cincinnati, Ohio, has built experimental instruments and/or consulted for many prominent musicians including Tom Waits, Peter Gabriel, King Crimson, and the Rolling Stones. Ghazala's work has been covered globally in the press including the New York Times's declaration of circuit-bending as part of the fine arts movement.

Ghazala's work is held in various galleries internationally including the permanent collections of New York City's Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim and the Whitney Museum of American Art as part of the Fusion Arts compendium.

Ghazala's influence upon creative electronic design is global, having originated the planet's first "grassroots electronic art movement" (while Ghazala has noted that he was not the lone, or first, experimenter in the field, it should be recognized that his contemporaries' work, regardless of date, did not spawn an international and specific art movement replete with original terminology, processes and an ever-increasing fellowship).

Ghazala's practice with chance art (the root of circuit-bending) also involves studies in dye migration materials and Japanese suminagashi, as well as liquid, gel and smoke chambers, mobiles and pyrotechnics.

History Ghazala accidentally discovered the technique of circuit bending in the 1960s when a toy amplifier in his desk drawer began to make "very strange oscillating sweeping sounds". The amplifier's casing had been opened, exposing its inner circuitry and allowing it to short circuit against another metal object. Ghazala's work in the field progressed with the introduction of the Speak & Spell toy in 1978.

Ghazala has built many instruments during his career, mostly consisting of electronic toys modified with the circuit bending technique and customized until they barely resemble the original product. He has produced numerous audio compositions with these instruments which have been featured on many albums. He has also written a series of works relating to and teaching the circuit bending process, including his book, published by Wiley & Sons, titled Circuit-Bending: Build Your Own Alien Instruments.

Ghazala coined the term "immediate canvas" in his work with circuit bending, which is the concept that through circuit bending the hurdles of electronic design are avoided. Anyone can step up to an open circuit and create, without needing to know electronic theory or daunting equations. Another term coined by Ghazala is BEAsape which means BioElectronicAudiosapien. When body contacts are used, the body of the performer is used as a variable resistor – there is a fusion between man and machine into one purpose which Ghazala says is something new zoologically and musically.

Bibliography

Discography

A Watch in the Sea, Sound Theater (Cassette) 1982 Sound Theater One: Music and Event, Sound Theater (Cassette) 1982 Mind Over Matter, Sound Theater (Cassette) 1983 Sound Theater Two: Visions, Sound Theater (Cassette) 1983 Bring Your Room, Sound Theater (Cassette) 1985 The Dreams that Insects Dream, Sound Theater (Cassette) 1985 Requiem for a Radio, Sound Theater (Cassette) 1985 The Sound Theater Radio Special Sound Theater (Cassette) 1985 Suite for a Radio and Turntable: Outdoor Operations, Sound Theater (Cassette) 1985 Posters in the Underground, Sound Theater and Sound of Pig (Cassette) 1986 Vinegar versus Cats, Sound Theater (Cassette) 1986 Go Mad Xmas, Sound Theater (Cassette) 1987 Natural Science, Sound Theater (Cassette) 1987 Spzz Tapes, Sound Theater (Cassette) 1987 Artifacts, Sound Theater (Cassette) 1988 Behind the Emotional Mask, Sound Theater (Cassette) 1989 Cassette Mythos: Feast of Hearing, CM (Cassette) 1989 Schematic, Pointless Music (cassette) 199? Three Rings on the Ground, Pointless Music (Cassette) 199? Clones and Friends, EJAZ (Cassette) 199? Assemblage 1990, Realization Records (Cassette) 1990 Anti White Bastards, PBK-USA (Cassette) 1991 Cassette Mythos: Audio Alchemy, What's Next? Records (Cassette, CD) 1991 Electricity, Pointless Music (Cassette) 1992 From the pages of EMI, No. 7, Experimental Musical Instruments (Cassette) 1992 4 X 4, Ladd/Frith (CD) 1993 Burning Suns of Shadow Worlds, Ladd/Frith (Cassette) 1993 Drum, Spilling Audio (Cassette) 1993 Gawk: Lore of the Ox Owl, Sacrifice (Cassette) 1993 A Darker Solvent/EnTerres, Edicion, Spain (LP) 1993 Postal Sound Surgery, Pointless Music (Cassette) 1993 There is a Secret Garden, Sound Theater (Cassette) 1993 From the pages of EMI, No. 8, Experimental Musical Instruments (Cassette) 1993 Blacklight Braille: Sleep Not Yet, Vetco (CD) 1994 Gawk: Marc Sloan, Reed Ghazala, Askance (Cassette) 1994 No Dub, Spilling Audio (Cassette) 1994 Objekt 5.5, Ladd/Frith (Cassette) 1994 Objekt 5, Ladd/Frith (CD) 1994 Objekt 666 (double cassette), Ladd/Frith (Cassette) 1994 Redrum, Spilling Audio (Cassette) 1994 Smells like 7, Spilling Audio (Cassette) 1994 State of the Union, MR (CD) 1994 The Little Fiddles in the Grass, Epitapes (Cassette) 1994 From the pages of EMI, No. 9, Experimental Musical Instruments (Cassette) 1994 Blacklight Braille: Songs for the Longhaired Son, Vetco (CD) 1995 Better Things are Electric. M&M 1995 Gawk-Gawd, Askance (CD) 1995 Requiem for a Radio, Realization Records (CD) 1995 Threnody to the New Victims of Hiroshima. Realization Records (CD) 1995 From the pages of EMI, No. 10, Experimental Musical Instruments (Cassette) 199? Gravikords Whirlies and Pyrophones, Ellipsis Arts (CD/Book) 1996 Blacklight Braille: Songs from Moonlight Snow (CD) 1996 State of the Union, Atavistic (CD) 1996 From the pages of EMI, No.11, Experimental Musical Instruments (Cassette) 1996 Blacklight Braille: Into the world of the Gods, Vetco (CD) 1997 The ReR Quarterly; v.4 #2; ReR (CD) 1997 From the pages of EMI, No. 12, Experimental Musical Instruments (Cassette) 1997 Blacklight Braille: Black Moon Selection, Vetco (CD) 1998 Mad Art River; Askance (CD) 1998 HOPE; Audio Research Editions (CD) 1998 Blacklight Braille: Dietles Tavern; Vetco; (CD) 1999. Blacklight Braille: Sailing Away; Razzle 1999 Blacklight Braille: Old Bones and Sacred Stones; Razzle; (CD) 1999 Blacklight Braille; The castle of the Northern Crown; Razzle; (CD) 1999

Notes

External links Ghazala's home page An interview with Ghazala Short Vice documentary on Reed Ghazala, the Father of Circuit Bending