Brendan Byrne 


is a designer and makerspace specialist from Brooklyn. He currently manages StudioLab at Princeton University.

Community Organizing
Workshops & Talks
Destiny Clock
Theseus
Kiwi Electronics
Games & Controllers
Performance Tools
Graphic Design

Photolin : Luminous Bow



What
Prompt - Instrument

Where
Parsons MFA
New York, NY


When
April 2015
Materials & Software
Arduino
Interface Hardware
Laser Cut Plexi
MaxMSP


About

Photolin is a light sensitive electronic musical instrument based on the form of a violin. The most distinctive feature of the instrument is its programmable LED bow. The body of the Photolin contains two photoresistors which detect the light emanating from the bow and translate this information to determine the output volume. On the fretboard, a ribbon sensor detects the player's finger position to determine the pitch of the note produced.

An accompanying Max patch allows the player to calibrate the instrument's light and ribbon sensors as well as determine the pattern produced by the bow. Patterns include all, gradient, random, and variable speed pulse modes for the player to experiment with. 












Brendan is a Brooklyn-based designer
hello@brendanbyrne.info