Lauren Hayes

Imposing a networked vibrotactile communication system for improvisational suggestion

This paper describes the implementation of NeVIS, a local network system that establishes communication between individual performers, as well as between laptop and performers. Specifically, this is achieved by making use of vibrotactile feedback as a signalling tool within an improvisational setting. A discussion of the current developments regarding the use of networks within improvisation is presented, followed by an outline of the benefits of utilising the haptic feedback channel as a further sensory information pathway when performing digital music. We describe a case study of the system within the context of our computer-mediated improvisational duo MA¯stek, involving piano, percussion and live electronics. Here, a cueing system or framework is imposed over the improvisation and is transmitted directly to the skin of the performers via tiny vibrations. Additionally, performers may make use of simple vibrotactile signals to enhance traditional visual cues that are often employed within performance. A new work, Socks and Ammo, was created using NeVIS, and was presented at various international conferences and festivals. We also tested the system itself within a group of postgraduate researchers and composers. Qualitative evaluation of the musical outcomes as experienced both by the performers and by the listeners at these events is offered, as well as implications about the nature of collaborative music-making.

Haptic Augmentation of the Hybrid Piano

One of the most vital feedback systems that has been embedded in musicians for centuries is that of physical response. In the same way that auditory information is available and used throughout a performance, a musician will continuously reassess their playing by making use of not only their specialised sensorimotor skills, but also the tangible feedback that is relayed to them through the body of the instrument. This paper discusses approaches to the development of an augmented instrument, namely the hybrid piano, which focuses on the notion of performance as perceptually guided action. While the acoustic component of the sound energy of the augmented instrument is created within the real-world interactions between hammers, resonating strings, and the soundboard, the digital sonic events cannot be located in a similar palpable source. By exploring notions of multimodality and haptic feedback, the ongoing processes of human action and perception within instrumental performance can be maintained for the player, whilst arguably, also enhancing the experience for the listener.

From Site-specific to Site-responsive: Sound art performances as participatory milieu

This article concerns context-based live electronic music, specifically performances which occur in response to a particular location or space. I outline a set of practices which can be more accurately described as site- responsive , rather than site- specific . I develop a methodological framework for site-responsive live electronic music in three stages. First, I discuss the ambiguity of the term site-specific by drawing on its origins within the visual arts and providing examples of how it has been used within sound art. I then suggest that site-responsive performance might be a more helpful way of describing this type of activity. I argue that it affords an opportunity for music to mediate the social, drawing on Small’s idea of music as sets of third-order relationships, and Bourriaud’s relational aesthetics. Third, I suggest that with the current renewed trend for performances occurring outside of cultural institutions, it is important to be mindful of the identity of a particular site, and those who have a cultural connection to it. I make reference to a series of works within my own creative practice which have explored these ideas.