Sonic Bike Project in Taipei: A participatory sound project using GPS-triggered audio and cycling.
Project Description
Have you ever imagined that riding a bicycle could become a site-specific musical performance?
Place Making Music explores how urban cycling can become a mode of musical performance, reimagining public space through GPS-triggered sound systems and community-based composition. Co-created by artist Po-Hao Chi and British sound artist Kaffe Matthews, in collaboration with the Sonic Sensory Lab and the Bicrophonic Research Institute, this project was commissioned by the 2024 Wandering Music Festival at C-LAB.
Through workshops and field rides, participants turned their experiences of the city into a sonic bike opera. Riding through mapped sound zones, each cyclist activated music and recorded sounds specific to Taipei’s neighborhoods. The project offered a real-time sound journey that blurred the boundary between audience and performer, inviting riders to navigate the city as both listener and composer.
Workshop and Community Engagement
📍 C-LAB and surrounding areas, Taipei
🗓 September 14–15, 2024
Sonic Bike Creative Workshop
Over two weekends in September 2024, participants joined a creative workshop at C-LAB to build site-specific sound journeys using GPS-triggered bikes. Participants recorded field sounds, edited compositions, and mapped routes across the city using the Sonic-Bikes Mapper system. The process encouraged personal reflection on sound, environment, and movement.
Public Ride Experience
On the second weekend, the project opened to the public with a guided sonic ride around C-LAB and nearby neighborhoods. Audience members, equipped with GPS-activated bikes, encountered shifting sonic environments as they moved—each turn revealing a different narrative composed by the participants. The streets of Taipei were transformed into an operatic soundscape powered by movement.
System Description
Each sonic bike was equipped with a Raspberry Pi-based GPS sound system and directional speaker. As the rider entered designated zones mapped via the Sonic-Bikes Mapper, specific audio tracks were triggered based on their location. These included environmental recordings, personal reflections, and experimental compositions created during the workshop. Movement and space replaced traditional musical timing, transforming the city into a responsive and ephemeral sound environment.
Credits
- Artists: Kaffe Matthews, Po-Hao Chi
- Organizer: ZONESOUND CREATIVE
- Collaborators: C-LAB Taiwan Sound Lab, Sonic Sensory Lab, Bicrophonic Research Institute (UK)
- Sponsors: Department of Cultural Affairs, Taipei City, TSMC Education and Culture Foundation
- Partner Institutions: Goethe-Institut Taipei, Cycling Lifestyle Foundation, Berlin Senate
- Technical Consultant: Chen Bo-Yu
- AI Application Development: Lai Zhu-Yuan
- Assistants: Fifi Hu, Chen Min-Ching, Hou Sih-Yi, Lin Ting-Hui
- Photography / Editing: Lin Ting-Hui