CONTROLLING THE VIRTUAL BODHRAN - THE VODHRAN
Roberto Bresin, Sofia Dahl, Matthias Rath, Mark T. Marshall, Breege Moynihan · 2003
In order to have a successful interface it is preferred to employ a metaphor that the end user of the artefact is familiar with. The application described in this paper aims to provide users with an expressive virtual musical instrument, based on the traditional Bodhran. This is not designed entirely to simulate the Bodhran, but to provide an instrument which can be played in a similar way, and which creates a recognisable Bodhran-like sound; a virtual Bodhran, the Vodhran. This instrument is to be an extension of the original, allowing for additional playing techniques and styles, which could not be accomplished with the real instrument. In two experiments the same sound model implementing the Bodhran was used. In the first experiment the sound model was controlled both with data obtained from measurements of gestures of drum player, and with a traditional playing approach by using two different controllers. The Radio Baton and the ddrum (a drum pad) were used as interfaces for this experiment. Both interfaces were controlled with a traditional bodhran double beater. In the second experiment a sensor-based controller was used to translate player’s gestures into sound model controls. The sound generation mechanism for the Vodhran is based on the modal description of the drum and a robust numerical solution of a nonlinear stick-membrane interaction model. The model includes different forms of a player’s interference. 1.