New Physical and Digital Interfaces for Music Creation and Expression

Technology has vastly altered the ways we create, consume and distribute musical content. The proliferation of personal computing devices affords even the most inexperienced individual the opportunity to be a musician or to dynamically access and control the music that they consume. Conversely, advancements in computing have facilitated the creation of highly complex, specialized devices designed for expert use. We present two classes of musical interfaces in this paper. The first provides beginners with a means to create simple content without the need for extensive training and practice necessary to learn an instrument. The second is an augmentation to a traditional instrument that has a rich history of development in repertoire, pedagogy and performance.