MetaBow

Western classical bowed string instruments, technically defined as chordophones, comprise two elements: the actual resonating instrument (violin, viola, cello, or double bass) and the bow, used for sound generation. The bows’ design has remained unchanged since the late eighteenth century. Even if several attempts have been made to modify its inner and outer structure, enhancing it with transformative technology, they have all failed to achieve a real-world implementation, remaining as purely academic enterprises. The MetaBow is a non-intrusive bow interface (hardware + software) designed to provide live gestural data to string players (violin, viola, cello, and double bass). A 3D printed hollowed bow frog integrates an Inertial Measurement Unit outputting data from its various sensors using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) through an Open Sound Control (OSC) protocol.