Research

This research section presents the growth of ideas through our developing bicrophonic practice since The Marvelo Project(2008), including a fundamental interest to make the sonic bike more alive for the rider and interactive with its environment. This has included bike-as-instrument, bike-to-bike communication, live sonification of air and water pollution along with hardware design updates as listed below.

Enviro Bike is a bike that sonifies the passing air quality making music and sound live as you ride whilst enabling a more interactive and investigatory experience for the rider. Come try. Can you find a clean path?

Initial work was enabled by our remote Sonification Lab with Then Try This and the Sonic Kayak, where we began dealing with the realities of mobile sonification to make not only worthwhile listening but a clear indication of the air’s quality to the rider. Making indicative audio outcomes for a composer presents new challenges. Intellectual, technical and collaborative, culminating in making a robust technical system which became the foundation of the Environmental Bike.     (MORE)

The fundamentals of a Sensory Bike were first explored in an open workshop with Dave Griffiths 2013, and then developed with Sukander Kartadinata @bicrophonics studio, London in 2016. The overall aim was to turn the bike into more of an instrument, so that the rider can play sounds from how they ride, not just where. Pedal forwards or backwards through a sound for example, or synthesize it directly by twisting or bending or riding round and around as slow as possible in the tiniest of circles.

Matthews coming Berlin professorship sprang from this work and the launch of the Sensory Bike with new compositions presented at SoundCycleGarden, and lean to go up, slow to go loud, commissioned by mikromusic Festival, Berlin, 1 – 4.9.16   (MORE)

The Sonic Kayak is an on water development of the sonic bike which carries underwater sensors to generate extraordinary music from the marine world whilst enabling on water deep listening.  At the same time, it gathers this data adding to worldwide knowledge of water pollution wherever it goes.  Dave Griffiths, co-director of Then Try This and part of the bicrophonics team, initiated this extension on moving south to Cornwall, with close access to water and a commitment to raising awareness of the environment. We continue to collaborate, sharing skills, concepts and growing tech through three stages of development as follows: –

1.  Sonic Kayak launches  :   British Science Festival, Swansea, Wales, 6-8.09.16

2.  Sonic Kayak evolves  :      on Trevassack Lake, Cornwall, UK,  29.08.19

3.  Sonic Kayak today :          scientific papers and new projects, Berlin.  Ongoing.

So how are we updating the sonic bike?  in all its forms?  (MORE)

Development into bike-to-bike interactivity, experiments led by Kaffe and Dave with help from Ryan, Cat and lots of other London Fields park goers in 2013. (MORE)

Exploring and developing sonic cycling in workshops, hacklabs and groups. (MORE)