Projects

Welcome to my blog! Here, I will keep updates on both research and progress on my Music & Tech 2 Project, as a part of the course from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

• Topics of Interest

Papers that align with my interests:

• "Chorale" Violin Harmonization: A Practical, Compositionally-based System for Generating Live Harmonies

In the first paper, "Chorale" Violon Harmonization: A Practical, Compositionally-based System for Generating Live Harmonies, Christpher Tignor goes into detail about his transducer-based harmonizer midi rig, which pairs with acoustic instruments (such as the violin used in the primary example, or anything that can have a transducer pickup placed on it. I've been very drawn towards the idea of incorporating some sort of midi mechanic to alter my performance while playing acoustic bass, especially in some sort of complementary accompaniment such as it is used here. I found this paper to be a good insight behind the processes that may be used to create this kind of acoustic-electric joint performance environment in which one complements the other. It also goes into detail what kind of physical setup configurations could be used in terms of controls, which in this case settled on the use of a midi pedal board.

• Exploiting Mimetic Theory for Instrument Design

The second paper, Exploiting Mimetic Theory for Instrument Design, delves even deeper behind which kinds physical and psychological design choices make an electronic instrument "believable", and others not so much. It centers its focus around the creation and design iteration processes of a guitar-like instrument, along with highlighting what makes association between gestures and musicians' movements in accordance to what the listener would "expect" to hear how an instrument would react. I pulled this article because I believe that intuitivity of design would be a very important role if I were to make some kind of physically interactive system that could be incorporated into the live playing of an actual instrument. Being able to include something that not only visually makes sense to the listener, but feel reasonable and uncumbersome to the musician when combined with their existent playing is something that would need intricate planning, in addition to multiple different trials to see what kind of interactive system would work best.

• Guitar augmentation for Percussive Fingerstyle: Combining Self-Reflexive Practice and User-Centered Design

Lastly, in Guitar Augmentation For Percussive Fingerstyle: Combining Self-Reflexive Practice and User-Centred Design, the author delves into the concept of augmented guitar designs, specifically ones that complement the "percussive fingerstyle" technique. As I would like to try and incorporate my usual jazz pizzicato style on an upright bass into my project (which is an already physically interactive instrument), I notice that at times I subconciously make percussive accents rather than the intent one would have of producing a specific note on string contact. I could potentially incorporate this into a more intentional act of creating an interactive, percussive interface on my upright bass via mapping sensors or transducers that can detect the velocity of a note and output a desired accompaniment to what was intended.