Good vibrations: Composed instruments integrating gestural control, and sonic display
Curtis Bahn · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 2001
This paper examines electronic composed instruments which take as essential aspects of their design the full feedback loop of: acoustic sound production; physical interface/gestural sensing; computer interface (including sound synthesis/processing); and localized sonic display. Many issues relevant to architectural sonics are seen, including: the design of localized haptic/sonic feedback for the performer; the composition of relationships between gesture and sound production composing the sonic architecture of the body; and the inclusion of spherical speaker arrays to engage the natural acoustics of the hall. Conventional sound reinforcement techniques often draw acoustic instruments into an electronic sound space where artificial reverberation and other processing is added in an attempt to create a natural blend with electronic sound sources. This approach decorrelates instrumental gesture and original sound source, and most often conflicts with or undermines the acoustic design of the hall. The integration of sonic display into composed instruments reinforces the feedback loop between instrumental touch and sonic result, offers localized sonic feedback for the performers on stage, and creates a rich, acoustic ensemble blend. These extended instruments provide an extremely effective approach to integrating electronic musical performance into an acoustic context.