Building Mobile Instruments for Improvised Musical Performance

This paper explores an approach to building electronic musical instruments for use in improvised music that I have found to be particularly effective for developing flexible, dynamic, and versatile instruments well adapted to the improvised context, and a resultant set of suites of solo improvised character pieces. The lessons learned from this research can be useful beyond the scope of this particular instrument design philosophy. In Part I, I present the foundations of my approach to instrument design, based on my past experience and the technological environment in which electronic music has developed. I discuss the values that guide me in the creation of instruments for use in improvised performance, and describe the development tools iRTcmix and Nikl, and Dixey, an instrument I have created with those tools and hardware devices using the Apple iOS operating system. Part II discusses the musical issues related to the creation of Character Weekend, a set of solo recordings produced with the tools described in Part I.

Author dc:creator

• Holzborn, Damon Russell

• Music
• Improvisation (Music)
• Electronic musical instruments
• Electronic musical instruments--Construction

Language dc:language

English

DOI dc:identifier

https://doi.org/10.7916/D8GX4JXX

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:academiccommons.columbia.edu:10.7916/D8GX4JXX