About POTAR

POTAR at the cemetery
POTAR is the musical alter-ego of Michael Winchester

Current:

When I am not not creating web sites and SEO strategies for small businesses, you can find me recording from bridges with my hydrophones, listening to birdsong, or creating strange and unusual sounds and instruments. The last few years have seen me focus more on organic and non-organic environmental sounds, both capturing and manipulating.

How:

While I have always loved to take stuff apart and fix stuff, I got into electronics and soldering in a round about way; I had a drum machine with a noisy “knob” and needed to find a way to fix it. This would have been in the early 2000s, I searched for replacement parts for the TR 505 and stumbled onto the mysterious world of circuit bending via the Burnkit2600 site. From there I started buying every electronic toy I could find and opening it up. More online research led me to the amazing Casper Electronics site with his extremely detailed digital illustrations of target instruments and bend points, I was absolutely hooked.

Before long the Atari Punk Console started to gain popularity in the online circuit bent noise community and I built a handful of those. Around the same time I started to check out Ray Wilson Weird Sound Generator (WSG) and started to plot building one. This is where I first fell in love with VERO (or strip board) and the simplicity of through hole circuit design. A well laid out VERO design can add stability to a small circuit, or give you the flexibility to prototype larger devices on the fly. While I do use PCB designs from time to time the majority of my projects are completed using VERO.

Live:

Along the way I have performed at a handful of events including Bend This FORE, Hooray for Humans, Santa Noise Fest 3, LB PUMP Fest, Phogust, and at venues such as Max Steiner’s (and the later incarnation the Black Light District Lounge), Alex’s Bar, Que Sera, Echo Curio, Koo’s Cafe, Puka Bar, and Sancho. I have also performed live and with pre-recorded sounds for online events including Bent // Broken, and various Zoom events.

Want to ask a question, book POTAR, or something else.. contact ME

POTAR Design Devices