Bluetooth MIDI Morin Khuur Bow

The Bluetooth MIDI Morin Khuur Bow bridges rich musical heritage with modern digital performance. Designed for string players, this wireless bow features a highly flexible and customizable finger-control system built directly into the handle. Using their thumb, index, and middle fingers, players can interact with six buttons and a multi-axis joystick that includes a built-in push-button. This compact layout puts the massive control power of seven foot switches and two expression pedals right at the player’s fingertips without disrupting their traditional bowing grip. The system is fully adaptable: musicians can use the keys to play live digital counterpoint melodies alongside their acoustic playing, or assign specific keys to toggle effects switches while using the remaining keys to play simple scales.

This design is innovative because it places a high-density, tactile control surface directly into the handle of a traditional string instrument bow. By utilizing the player’s thumb, index, and middle fingers on six buttons and a push-button joystick, it unlocks massive control power without disrupting the authentic bowing grip. This compact layout allows a solo musician to actively play a live digital counterpoint melody and tweak continuous sound effects simultaneously while maintaining their traditional playing technique.

The most inspiring use is a solo artist performing as a complete one-man band. On stage, the musician plays a traditional acoustic string melody while simultaneously using their fingers on the bow handle to perform a live digital counterpoint or an 808 bassline. By clipping a third-party air-drum sensor onto the bow, they trigger punchy snare drums through natural performance gestures. At the same time, they use the thumb joystick to sweep synth filters or manipulate effects on their live vocals. Finally, they customize the button layout to act as their floor controller—reassigning keys to trigger audio loopers and stack layers in real-time. This gives a single person total hand-control to perform a complex, live arrangement of strings, basslines, drums, vocals, and loops all at once.