Tailoring Tabletop Interfaces for Musical Control

Tailoring Tabletop Interfaces for Musical Control

Liam O'Sullivan

Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

Trinity College Dublin

Tailoring Tabletop Interfaces for Musical ControlProliferation of multitouch teechnology:

Smart phone/ iPod etc.

iPad/ Galaxy tab etc.

Microsoft Surface, Diamond Touch etc.

Bespoke multitouch tables. Smart phone/ iPod.

Liam OSullivan, Trinity College Dublin.Tailoring Tabletop Interfaces for Musical ControlTraditional/ acoustic musical instruments:

Direct manipulation of the sound producing mechanism -> feedback in multiple modes.

Tight input-output coupling -> fast system response.

Result: sense of intimate control.

Liam OSullivan, Trinity College Dublin.Tailoring Tabletop Interfaces for Musical ControlComputer-based interactive music system (IMS):

Control of complex musical output, timbre.

Interface detached from the sound generator.

Disrupts the player's perceived relationship with the system.

Liam OSullivan, Trinity College Dublin.Tailoring Tabletop Interfaces for Musical ControlWessel et. al. - design goals for control intimacy:

Ease of use/ potential for virtuosity.

Highly reactive system.

Meaningful interactions.

Liam OSullivan, Trinity College Dublin.Tailoring Tabletop Interfaces for Musical ControlRelated Work:

The reacTable: modular synthesis paradigm.

SurfaceMusic: traditional instrument interaction metaphors & physical models.Liam OSullivan, Trinity College Dublin.

Tailoring Tabletop Interfaces for Musical ControlBenefits of camera system for a musical interface:

Multitouch input- collaborative & bi-manual play, multiple gesture scales.

Simultaneous control of many parameters.

Superimposed feedback on control surface.Liam OSullivan, Trinity College Dublin.Tailoring Tabletop Interfaces for Musical ControlWeaknesses with regard to intimate musical control:

Low temporal resolution/ high latency.

Poor strength-of-interaction detection.

GUI designs.Liam OSullivan, Trinity College Dublin.Tailoring Tabletop Interfaces for Musical ControlPrototype 1:

twoHand: relates shapes to sound parameters.

Another camera-based system!Liam OSullivan, Trinity College Dublin.

Tailoring Tabletop Interfaces for Musical ControlApproach:

Examination of all functional stages of an IMS.

Sensing, Processing, Feedback.

Liam OSullivan, Trinity College Dublin.Tailoring Tabletop Interfaces for Musical ControlAcoustic sensing: sampling in 1 KHz range.Gesture recognition: capturing expressive intent.Mapping input to output: complex mapping is more engaging, simultaneous control of many parameters.Virtual objects: qualities mapped to sound synthesis parameters.Sound synthesis: physical models.Liam OSullivan, Trinity College Dublin.Tailoring Tabletop Interfaces for Musical ControlDiffraction and reflection of vibrational waves in plates- difficult to model.

Liam OSullivan, Trinity College Dublin.Tailoring Tabletop Interfaces for Musical ControlAbstract graphical controllers based on sound symbolism:

Liam OSullivan, Trinity College Dublin.Tailoring Tabletop Interfaces for Musical ControlPilot user survey of audio-visual mappings:Liam OSullivan, Trinity College Dublin.

Tailoring Tabletop Interfaces for Musical ControlAutomation of low level processes using fuzzy logic:

Liam OSullivan, Trinity College Dublin.Tailoring Tabletop Interfaces for Musical ControlThank you!

Talk to me at my poster!

lmosulli@tcd.ieLiam OSullivan, Trinity College Dublin.