Moon Guitar
Redesigned the Moon Guitar, a traditional instrument largely unchanged for decades, to align with modern music trends and ensure its cultural relevance. The redesign makes it easier for musicians to perform with contemporary bands while preserving the instrument’s unique playing techniques. The final design celebrates Taiwanese cultural heritage and seamlessly blends oriental and western musical styles.
Our Goal
Our goal was to balance tradition and innovation, making the instrument more accessible through an electronic redesign that engages younger audiences and enables a seamless blend of Eastern and Western music styles.
Music Video for the Moon Guitar perform
Playing Style
We preserved the traditional playing style while upgrading the instrument by replacing the strings with pressure-sensing silicone, integrating digital temperament, and emphasizing the original fingerstyle techniques.
The crescent moon shape lights up progressively when sliding along the body to switch modes, adding an engaging visual element to the Moon Guitar.
After digitization, the 6 Eastern scales can convert into 12 Western scales, and LEDs light up along the body when sliding to change modes, adding a dynamic stage effect.
Interview
Sketching
Visualized and sketched concepts to extract Eastern elements and seamlessly integrate them into the design, adding depth and storytelling. Explored ideas freely and creatively, without limitations, to push the design boundaries.
Prototype
Size and ergonomics were crucial—the feel of the frets, weight, and shape directly impact playability. We built and tested each idea, including the internal layout for electronic components, aiming to create a fully functional prototype. Every detail, from dimensions to material placement, was carefully considered.
Used Arduino programming combined with MIDI music to record the instrument’s basic sounds, which were then refined by a music producer and converted into playable MIDI files.
.jpg)
