scholarly journals Exploring the motivations for building new digital musical instruments

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 313-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gina Emerson ◽  
Hauke Egermann
Keyword(s):  
Electronic Music ◽  
Interview Study ◽  
Musical Instruments ◽  
Sound Synthesis ◽  
Responsive Systems ◽  
The Past ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Digital Sound

Over the past four decades, the number, diversity and complexity of digital musical instruments (DMIs) has increased rapidly. There are very few constraints on DMI design as such systems can be easily reconfigured, offering near limitless flexibility for music-making. Given that new acoustic musical instruments have in many cases been created in response to the limitations of available technologies, what motivates the development of new DMIs? We conducted an interview study with ten designers of new DMIs, in order to explore (a) the motivations electronic musicians may have for wanting to build their own instruments; and (b) the extent to which these motivations relate to the context in which the artist works and performs (academic vs club settings). We found that four categories of motivation were mentioned most often: M1 – wanting to bring greater embodiment to the activity of performing and producing electronic music; M2 – wanting to improve audience experiences of DMI performances; M3 – wanting to develop new sounds, and M4 – wanting to build responsive systems for improvisation. There were also some detectable trends in motivation according to the context in which the artists work and perform. Our results offer the first systematically gathered insights into the motivations for new DMI design. It appears that the challenges of controlling digital sound synthesis drive the development of new DMIs, rather than the shortcomings of any one particular design or existing technology.

scholarly journals Digital Musical Performance as the Refl ection of the Axiosphere of Culture and the Educational Space of the Digital Age

ICONI ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 87-97
Author(s):  
Natalia N. Petrova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Electronic Music ◽  
Musical Instruments ◽  
Young Generation ◽  
Artistic Process ◽  
On Demand ◽  
Digital Performance ◽  
Generation Z ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Analysis Of Performance ◽  
Aesthetic Values

The article examines performance on contemporary digital musical instruments, such as the keyboard synthesizer, the digital piano, the digital button and keyboard accordion and others, as a direction of artistic creativity in the contemporary sociocultural space on demand by numerous music lovers and professional performers. Evaluation is given to the possibilities of functioning for electronic musical creativity in the culturalcreative, communicative and educational angles. A phenomenological analysis of performance on electronic musical instruments is carried out and data is provided about the peculiarities of the sociocultural perception among various target auditoriums. The heuristic potential of electronic music-making for the young generation is highlighted in the refl ection of the demands of generation Z on poly-timbre and multi-genres in the artistic process. Examples are brought of successful attempts of realizing of individual and ensemble digital performance which has made it possible to manifest the fundamental functions of artistic culture, to create a system of moral and aesthetic values which would be relevant for society, and to form an aesthetically organized, highly technological sociocultural milieu.

scholarly journals The construction and evaluation of a musical glove

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gustavo Nishihara ◽  
Tiago Fernandes Tavares
Keyword(s):  
Embedded System ◽  
Musical Instrument ◽  
Musical Instruments ◽  
Sound Synthesis ◽  
Musical Expression ◽  
Hand Gestures ◽  
Control Interface ◽  
Computational Resources ◽  
Electronic Sensors ◽  
Digital Sound

A digital musical instrument is different from an acoustic one because its gesture controllers are decoupled from the sound synthesis. Because of this, it is possible to separately design the control interface and the sound synthesis independently, and then digitally implement the gesture-sound mapping. This allows diverse possibilities for musical expression. A particular kind of digital musical instruments are musical gloves. They can capture the hand gestures, which are later mapped into sounds. By means of electronic sensors and digital sound synthesis, this work consisted of building a musical glove. In the development of the work the gesture-sound mapping and sound possibilities were explored in an embedded system with low computational resources.

scholarly journals A FIELD GUIDE TO SONIC BOTANY: THOUGHTS ABOUT ECO-COMPOSITION

Tempo ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 75 (295) ◽  
pp. 31-44
Author(s):  
Maayan Tsadka
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Performance Practice ◽  
Musical Instruments ◽  
Musical Composition ◽  
Notation System ◽  
Field Guide ◽  
The Past ◽  
Tuning Forks ◽  
Texture Size ◽  
Ongoing Project

AbstractSonic botany is an ongoing project that I have been developing over the past few years. It incorporates natural artefacts: dry leaves, pods, flowers, branches, rocks, bones and other organic findings. These are used as musical instruments that are played on with a scientific/musical tool: tuning forks in various frequencies. The vibration from the tuning forks resonates through the natural artefacts which amplify the vibration and – via sound – reveal the texture, size, material and condition of the organic matter. This process generates new sonic material, new context and new forms of musical composition. The practice developed into several compositions and projects, a performance practice, a notation system and a way of listening. Here I share some of the insights I gained through this process, the tools and the compositional framework.

Trans Voices Speak: Suggestions from Trans Educators about Working with Trans Students

2021 ◽  
Vol 108 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-56
Author(s):  
Christopher Cayari ◽  
Felix A. Graham ◽  
Emma Joy Jampole ◽  
Jared O’Leary
Keyword(s):  
Identity Development ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Gender Nonconforming ◽  
The Past ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Trans People ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Music Classrooms

The social climate in the past decade has seen a rise in visibility of trans students in music classrooms and ensembles, leading to a need for scholarship on how to serve this growing population. Literature is being published to address this topic; however, the lack of scholarship by trans educators might lead many music educators to conclusions and practices that can be, at the very least, discouraging to some trans students and may disrupt their learning experiences. This article was written by four educators who identify as part of the trans community (a genderfluid and gender-nonconforming individual, a trans man, a trans woman, and a gender-nonbinary person) to fill this gap in the literature by illuminating some of the pitfalls inherent in the lack of discussion on (and by) trans people in music education. In addition, this article provides five actionable suggestions for working with trans students: (1) Learn about the trans community, (2) inspect your language and biases, (3) represent the diversity of trans people in your teaching, (4) promote healthy music-making and identity development, and (5) model allyship.

The significance of family reminiscing for children’s historical consciousness

2021 ◽  
pp. 175069802110498
Author(s):  
Jukka Rantala
Keyword(s):  
Historical Consciousness ◽  
Interview Study ◽  
Media Culture ◽  
Historical Knowledge ◽  
Historical Discourse ◽  
The Past ◽  
Future Success ◽  
Historical Sites

Ten years ago, I set out to study the ways in which Finnish children encounter the past. Back then, I found that parents and grandparents play an important role as sources of historical knowledge. In early 2020, I duplicated the same interview study with 78 children between 10 and 12 years of age. Despite the changes in media culture, looking at photographs and visiting historical sites together with family have retained their relevance as historical activities. Storytelling through family mementos is also commonplace. Although the historical discourse of families revolves around everyday topics, the Finnish wars of 1939–1945 are still strongly present in historical storytelling. Against the backdrop of their parents’ and grandparents’ lives, children perceive history as a progress narrative, which inspires them to believe in their nation’s and their own future success. In this article, I explore the significance of family reminiscing for children’s historical consciousness.

The Confluence Between Materiality and Immateriality in Site-Specific Sound and Visual Performances

2020 ◽  
pp. 64-96
Author(s):  
Frederico Dinis
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Electronic Music ◽  
Aesthetic Experience ◽  
Experimental Approach ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Visual Performance ◽  
Site Specific ◽  
Visual Narratives ◽  
Field Recordings ◽  
The Past

Aiming to explore the diverse nature of sound and image, thereby establishing a bridge with the symbiotic creation of sensations and emotions, this chapter intends to present the development and the construction of a proposal for the confluence between materiality and immateriality in site-specific sound and visual performances. Using as a focal point sound and visual narratives, the author tries to look beyond space and time and create a representative atmosphere of sense of place, attempting to understand the past and sketching new configurations for the (re)presentation of identity, guiding the audience through a journey of perceptual experiences, using field recordings, ambient electronic music, and videos. This chapter also presents the development of an experimental approach, based on a real-time sound and visual performance, and some critical forms of expression and communication that relate or incorporate sound and image, articulating concerns about their aesthetic experience and communicative functionality.

Control Interfaces Continued

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. J Manzo
Keyword(s):  
Basic Structure ◽  
Presentation Mode ◽  
Musical Instruments ◽  
Object A ◽  
The Third ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Control Interface ◽  
Musical Concepts ◽  
Physical Abilities ◽  
Computer Keyboard

In this chapter, we will look at some innovative ways to control music making as we develop musical instruments. We will look at using your computer keyboard and mouse as performance instruments as well as discuss the use of videogame controllers in your patches. Designing your own custom musical instruments is a great way to tailor the controls to the specific physical abilities of users while allowing them to focus on certain specific musical concepts like pitches, scales, and harmony/chords. 1. Click on Extras>EAMIR from the top menu to view the main menu of the EAMIR SDK 2. In the umenu labeled Examples, click the third item 3.EAMIR _ASCII_Keyboard_Control.maxpat Unlock the patch that opens and look at its basic structure. As you can see, the patch is really just 4 bpatcher objects, 3 of which refer to patches we’ve already looked at. The newest bpatcher, at the top of the patch, is basically just a patch with a key object, a select object, and some fancy graphics—all things you learned to use in Chapter 3. Lock the patch and 3. Type your full name using your computer keyboard. Note that uppercase letters and lowercase letters trigger different buttons 4. Press the number keys 1–8 as these are mapped to message boxes containing numbers used as diatonic chord functions Without the top bpatcher, your patch generates chords in any key simply by clicking the message boxes. The top bpatcher is just a control interface that maps something (keys) to something else (message boxes). 5. Ctrl+click (Mac) or right click (Windows) the top bpatcher and select Object>Open Original “EAMIR_keyboard.maxpat” from the contextual menu This patch is set to open in Presentation mode. Unlock the patch and put it in Patching view. The contents of the patch are as I described: a key object, as well as a keyup object, are connected to two gigantic sel (select) objects containing the ASCII numbers for all the available characters on the computer keyboard nothing you couldn’t already do. In fact, the most impressive part of this patch, in my opinion, is the graphical part of it.

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