Allan Seago

Music and Human-Computer Interaction

This agenda-setting book presents state of the art research in Music and Human-Computer Interaction (also known as Music Interaction). Music Interaction research is at an exciting and formative stage. Topics discussed include interactive music systems, digital and virtual musical instruments, theories, methodologies and technologies for Music Interaction. Musical activities covered include composition, performance, improvisation, analysis, live coding, and collaborative music making. Innovative approaches to existing musical activities are explored, as well as tools that make new kinds of musical activity possible. Music and Human-Computer Interaction is stimulating reading for professionals and enthusiasts alike: researchers, musicians, interactive music system designers, music software developers, educators, and those seeking deeper involvement in music interaction. It presents the very latest research, discusses fundamental ideas, and identifies key issues and directions for future work.

A New Interaction Strategy for Musical Timbre Design

Sound creation and editing in hardware and software synthesizers presents usability problems and a challenge for HCI research. Synthesis parameters vary considerably in their degree of usability, and musical timbre itself is a complex and multidimensional attribute of sound. This chapter presents a user-driven search-based interaction style where the user engages directly with sound rather than with a mediating interface layer. Where the parameters of a given sound synthesis method do not readily map to perceptible sonic attributes, the search algorithm offers an alternative means of timbre specification and control. However, it is argued here that the method has wider relevance for interaction design in search domains which are generally well-ordered and understood, but whose parameters do not afford a useful or intuitive means of search.

Music Interaction: Understanding Music and Human-Computer Interaction

We introduce, review and analyse recent research in Music and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), also known as Music Interaction. After a general overview of the discipline, we analyse the themes and issues raised by the other 15 chapters of this book, each of which presents recent research in this field. The bulk of this chapter is organised as an FAQ. Topics include: the scope of research in Music Interaction; the role of HCI in Music Interaction; and conversely, the role of Music Interaction in HCI. High-level themes include embodied cognition, spatial cognition, evolutionary interaction, gesture, formal language, affective interaction, and methodologies from social science. Musical activities covered include performance, composition, analysis, collaborative music making, and human and machine improvisation. Specific issues include: whether Music Interaction should be easy; what can be learned from the experience of being “in the groove”, and what can be learned from the commitment of musical amateurs. Broader issues include: what Music Interaction can offer traditional instruments and musical activities; what relevance it has for domains unconnected with music; and ways in which Music Interaction can enable entirely new musical activities.