[exploring the art]

Before your first circuit-bending project, if you've never used the above equipment before, buy and build a beginner's electronic kit. An LED flasher, a digital clock, an integrated circuit noise maker... anything that will familiarize you with soldering, wire clipping and stripping, etc.... the basics of electronic circuit-building.

Reading a beginner's electronics book is highly recommended. "Getting Started in Electronics" by Forrest Mims Jr. (available at Radio Shack) is a good place to start. There also exists a small "Engineer's Notebook" series by the same author. These handbooks get into more advanced subjects as well, but also cover the basics of circuit construction in one or two early volumes.

Beginner's guides will explain nice-to-know terms and cover how switches, potentiometers, resistors, capacitors, LEDs and other components operate. Circuit-bending will eventually teach all this, but it's much better to enter with a general understanding of these basics that must fall outside the scope of this present writing.