Umbraphone is a bank of photoresistors washed in high-intensity light that trigger sound. It’s a musical instrument that is played with shadow.

V 1.0 was simple a midi controller, triggering a bank of sounds from Garageband. Created during MediaNet’s Video Lab program at Open Space.

V 2.0 uses Max, with the sound diffused through a 4-channel surround sound system. The sounds slowly evolve, based on the number of triggers, from large geologic happenings (explosions, wind, rain, waves) through lighter environmental sounds (insects, birds, small animals, large animals) to human voices, machinery, to a final explosion. The result is a human interpretation of the natural history of earth, played through the use of shadow. Umbraphone V2.0 was installed at the Victoria Convention Centre for TEDx Victoria.

Created by Scott Amos and David Parfit.