Constraining Control in Mixed-Initiative Musical Interfaces

Research on musical instrument design suggests that deliberate constraints can offer new creative experiences to the performer. At times, design constraints are physically embedded in the instrument to limit the interaction possibilities; in other cases the constraints are given by delegating part of the control to the machine. In this paper we propose a case study related to the latter form of constraints: in Chimney the musician delegates control on timing to an autonomous agent. Elaborating on opinions collected from musicians interacting with Chimney, we reflect on the consequences of delegating part of the control to the machine. Without the possibility of influencing the temporal evolution of the piece, the human performer is pushed to find creative workarounds and to surrender to a more balanced collaboration with the machine.