Every bridge is always moving. This artwork listens to that motion and turns it into live music at the water’s edge. A New York pilot, then a traveling series.
A passive sensor feels the bridge move, a live score turns that motion into sound, and anyone nearby can listen.
1Traffic, wind and footsteps keep the bridge moving.
2A sensor clamped under the deck measures that motion.
3Each truck becomes a low note; wind, a shimmer.
4At the water’s edge, anyone listens on headphones.
5Musicians, listeners and schools use the open data.
6New York first, then a new score for every bridge.
Only compact musical features leave the sensor. The full raw record stays on the node.
A sealed node under the deck measures motion on three axes, 250 times a second.
Raw motion becomes steady features: overall energy, low and high bands, sudden events, axis balance.
The features steer a live score in Max and Ableton: drone, pulse, texture, position in space, percussion.
People hear it on headphones at a listening post, or on their own phone anywhere.
Change the traffic, wind and footsteps and watch how each one moves the deck, what the sensor reads and which part of the music responds. Turn on sound to hear it.
Sensor signal OK
Listen for three voices: trucks are low booms, wind is a soft hiss, footsteps are soft, sparse bell notes that form a slow melody and move left and right with the walkers. Every voice is in the same key.
When the signal is lost, the music holds its last good values instead of jumping. The real bridge moves far less than shown here.
A small, passive sensor that clamps onto existing steel and lifts off for service. It adds no load and controls nothing.
The saddle stays clamped to the girder. The sealed cartridge lifts off with two captive bolts, and dowel pins put a replacement back in exactly the same orientation, so the measurement axes never change.
| Motion | Low-noise three-axis accelerometer |
| Brain | ESP32-S3 microcontroller |
| Link and time | LTE-M modem with GPS clock |
| Record | Industrial microSD, full raw log |
| Body | 160 × 110 × 60 mm, sealed to IP67, aluminium base, radio-clear lid |
A small solar panel on the walkway charges two battery packs. Either pack slides out like an e-bike battery while the other keeps the sensor running, so the instrument never goes silent during a swap.
Headphones and phones only, never loudspeakers, so the artwork adds no noise to the street.
Headphones and a live motion display in a pedestrian plaza with a clear view of the bridge.
Quiet listening, performances and workshops at a partner venue, all year round.
A small plaque with a code that opens the live stream on any phone.
You are listening to the bridge in front of you. A small sensor under its deck feels the movement made by traffic, wind and people crossing, and a composition engine turns that movement into sound as it happens. What you hear is an artwork, not a measure of the bridge’s safety.
Alican Okan designs the instrument and gives the first performance. After that, the bridge’s musical data and the tools to play it are free for any musician, school or researcher.
The musical features, updated many times a second, for anyone to play with.
Daily feature files and recorded bridge portraits, free to download and reuse with credit.
A receiver device for Ableton, a browser instrument and example mappings, open source.
Full-rate raw sensor data is shared only with the bridge owner’s approval.
Four weeks to build and prove the instrument, four to open it to the public. Approvals are filed at least 90 days before anything is installed.
Sensors built; first meeting with the bridge owner’s engineers.
Proof on a permitted test structure.
Walk-through and final mounting drawing.
Score and listening post tested.
Live on the bridge, or clearly labelled recordings.
First live performance.
Data and toolkit published; musician workshop.
Maintenance plan signed; documentation.
Passive, removable in one visit, installed by a licensed New York crew, and approved by the bridge owner before anything goes up.
Checked remotely every day, inspected on site every three months, with a spare cartridge ready to swap.
The same method travels to other cities with a local collaborator, giving every bridge its own score.
Bridge as Instrument is built with several partners, each supporting one part of the work. If you would like to support any of them, or all three, get in touch.
Bringing the artist and the rigging specialist to New York for the residency.
Sensors, solar power station, engineering review, installation and care.
Listening points, commissions for local musicians, workshops and open data.