Photon Smasher Microphone enables You ‘Listen To Light’
CLIP has introduced a new and improved Photon Smasher, a microphone which allows you “listen to light”.
The Photon Smasher uses a solar cell as a microphone, allowing you to “hear” light within the visible and infrared wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum. The microphone enables you to uncover a secret soundscape otherwise hidden in plain sight, where flashing bicycle lights become drum machines and pulsing arcade lights transform into synthesizers.
The microphone was initially developed through workshops with young people at CLIPs weekly sound and music club in Colchester, followed by further experiments, installations, and performances from a wide range of artists including; Loula Yorke, Alissa DeRubeis and CLIP co-founder Frazer Merrick.
Building upon the success of the first version, the updated model is now entirely passive, with a 3.5mm line level mono output, so you can slip it into a portable field recording kit for electromagnetic field recording, or to insert into a modular synth system for controlling sound with light.
“The Photon Smasher is an embodiment of our mission to encourage people to get curious with sound,” says CLIP Co-founder Frazer Merrick, “and explore the world around with through sound.”
The Photon Smasher is available for £50.00 directly from the CLIP website, with all profits supporting their work as a social enterprise.
