ZINES + EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS

Three disengineering zines on a workbench with tools and components

Our zines and educational materials are designed to demystify the world of audio electronics and promote repair culture.

The disengineering Textbook Series
Illustrated zine cover: Happy Fun Musical Play Thing

SO, WHAT ARE THEY?

The Disengineering Textbook Series introduces the reader to DIY audio electronics, electrical engineering basics, and hardware hacking essentials through hands-on musical instrument building projects.

IT'S GOT FOLD OUTS

Each project comes with a corresponding fold-out workbook, complete with both detailed technical illustrations and totally tangential comics.

Open zine showing a large fold-out technical illustration

VOLUME 1

◀ disengineering Volume One — workbook cover and sample spreads ▶

Volume 1 introduces seven basic electronic musical instrument projects. It’s designed to help readers build a solid foundation in core engineering and audio electronics concepts, while developing familiarity with rewiring salvaged components. Why make a new microphone when a corded phone will do? Why throw away your old vape when its battery can be reused? Why let old toys collect dust when they can become hacked synthesizers?

CHAPTERS

  1. SIGNAL & GROUND Building a speaker system and phone mic
  2. OSCILLATOR Breadboarding a polyphonic synth
  3. CONTACT MICS Sonifying the world of vibrations
  4. SLINKY REVERB A janky spring reverb made from a slinky
  5. VAPE MIC Using a vape battery to power a simple mic circuit
  6. POM POM POT Make a variable resistor using wool and conductive thread
  7. DESTROY CHILDREN’S TOYS Learn the basics of circuit bending

VOLUME 2

◀ disengineering Volume Two — continued exploration of audio electronics ▶

Volume 2 builds upon the projects in Volume 1, but is not necessarily “more difficult”. The six instrument building projects in this volume will continue to develop your knowledge of hardware hacking and audio engineering concepts, and bring you closer to being able to conceptualize and build your own weird and amazing instruments. Expect your room to be filled with screamboxes, rotting mushrooms, and discarded radios.

CHAPTERS

  1. MUSHROOM “MUSIC” Moist knobs and the physics of food circuits
  2. THE MIGHTY 555 A beginner’s guide to a classic chip
  3. ACTION PAINTING IN THE TWENTY TRASHED CENTURY How to make a DIY wireless painting robot
  4. LAYING OF HANDS Transforming a radio into a touch sensitive synth
  5. THE FLYING PIG A framework for thinking about instrument building
  6. THE NOISE BOX A box that makes noise

VOLUME 3

◀ Wasted Writings — essays and graphics from disengineering ▶

Wasted Writings

The only non-instructional volume in the series, “Wasted Writings” is a collection of essays that explore themes including, but not limited to, obsolescence, sustainability, community building, and reinvention. This volume builds critically upon the hardware hacking projects in Volumes 1 and 2.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

  1. “THE WASTES OF ADULTERATION” By Gibson Bernath
  2. NOT DISPOSING DISPOSABLE VAPES By Brandon Bien
  3. MOOGISM: THE DESIGN PHILOSOPHY THAT DISENGINEERING THE SOUND OF MUSIC By Sean Knox Krupa
  4. PERFORMANCE IS ALL WE HAVE By Ernest Braun
  5. I’VE MADE AN IMAGE WORTH KEEPING AROUND (PRINTMAKING AS OBSOLETE LABOUR) By Victoria Reshetnikov
Disengineering Free Press
People reading zines and newspapers at a gathering Readers sharing printed matter at a table

The Disengineering Free Press is an irregularly published newspaper consisting of an eclectic grab bag of hacker content. From musings about failed projects, to imagined Q&A panels, to thoughtfully written articles, our Free Press keeps the public aware and informed at all costs. Stay tuned for the next issue, and don't hesitate to submit.

WE ALSO MAKE THESE COOL RESISTOR MATCHBOOKS…

Matchbook-style booklet holding resistors instead of matches