Formalized and non-formalized expression in musical interfaces

Cornelius Poepel

pp. 358-373

in: Randy Adams, Steve Gibson, Stefan Müller Arisona (eds), Transdisciplinary digital art. sound, vision and the new screen, Berlin, Springer, 2008

Abstract

Many musical interfaces are designed to enable musical expression. In this process it is the task of the interface to generate data transmitting the expressivity of the performer's gestures to the synthesis engine. The instrument has to be open or transparent to the performers actions. Building interfaces with this kind of openness may be seen as a problem in interface development because the actions of the performer have to be translated from a phenomenological level to a formal level. This paper investigates the idea to create openness by leaving essentials non-formalized. Examples of implementations in the fields of musical instruments and computer games using this method are presented. The tasks of openness, transparency and flexibility for the users intentions are discussed.