Several years ago, I began my journey in music technology and composition at the Oberlin Conservatory. As a freshman, I wasn’t supposed to be figuring out what my four-year plan was. But, as I found out how limitless aural creation is, I was drawn to one idea, one realm of totally unexplored territory - generating music through the movement of horses in motion. Over the past five years, I have been researching and planning, figuring out just how I can translate the power of a horse’s muscles into sound in a way that is accessible to the every day rider. From designing circuits and soldering hardware to creating code that can detect minute changes and bring them to life, every aspect of Equiphonics has been a labor of love. This project has been the most fulfilling combination of two of my greatest passions - horses and music. Now, I need your help to push Equiphonics into its final phase.

What is Equiphonics?

Equiphonics is a groundbreaking system of sensors designed to target muscle groups of a horse in motion and generate unique, responsive audio in real time. As your horse’s muscles expand and contract, move and transform, the sensors turn that movement into data, which is transmitted live to a computer. The computer takes this data and, using intricate code, translates it into music. Ultimately, Equiphonics will be capable of advanced sound generation, auto-customized to any horse it is used on. Every small, subtle change in motion will elicit audible impact on the sounds created in live time. My goal is for the Equiphonics sensors and computer interface to be user friendly, so that everyone, including those without a “tech-y” background, can enjoy everything it has to offer. From every day pleasure riders, to equine therapy programs, to high level dressage riders, Equiphonics will enrich the equestrian experience.

So, how do you come in?

As the project prepares for its beta launch, I need the help of horses & riders to participate in a study which will allow me to fine-tune the sensors so that they can be used accurately on nearly any horse - I want Equiphonics to be accessible to riders on horses of all types.

If you have a well-trained horse that is capable of maintaining steady tempo in all gaits, this study is for you. All I need are four clips of you and your equine in action - free-walk, medium walk, working trot, and working canter. Videos should include at least one minute of each listed gait, and may be submitted individually or as one continuous video. Your submission will be used to create data on the average gait tempo for your horse’s height range, which will help me teach Equiphonics how to read data and track accurate tempos by itself!

To participate in the Phase I study, please submit the form shown on this page.

If you are local to Chicago, IL or Columbus, OH and are interested in participating in the next phase of the study, which will include live testing of the system, please stay tuned for details to come in mid November.