MOM: an Extensible Platform for Rapid Prototyping and Design of Electroacoustic Instruments

Ali Momeni, Daniel McNamara, and Jesse Stiles

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of the design, prototyping, deployment and evaluation of a multi-agent interactive sound instrument named MOM (Mobile Object for Music). MOM combines a real-time signal processing engine implemented with Pure Data on an embedded Linux platform, with gestural interaction implemented via a variety of analog and digital sensors. Power, sound-input and sound-diffusion subsystems make the instrument autonomous and mobile. This instrument was designed in coordination with the development of an evening-length dance/music performance in which the performing musician is engaged in choreographed movements with the mobile instruments. The design methodology relied on a participatory process that engaged an interdisciplinary team made up of technologists, musicians, composers, choreographers, and dancers. The prototyping process relied on a mix of in-house and out-sourced digital fabrication processes intended to make the open source hardware and software design of the system accessible and affordable for other creators.

Citation

Ali Momeni, Daniel McNamara, and Jesse Stiles. 2018. MOM: an Extensible Platform for Rapid Prototyping and Design of Electroacoustic Instruments. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.1302681

BibTeX Entry

@inproceedings{Momeni2018,
 abstract = {This paper provides an overview of the design, prototyping, deployment and evaluation of a multi-agent interactive sound instrument named MOM (Mobile Object for Music). MOM combines a real-time signal processing engine implemented with Pure Data on an embedded Linux platform, with gestural interaction implemented via a variety of analog and digital sensors.  Power, sound-input and sound-diffusion subsystems make the instrument autonomous and mobile. This instrument was designed in coordination with the development of an evening-length dance/music performance in which the performing musician is engaged in choreographed movements with the mobile instruments.  The design methodology relied on a participatory process that engaged an interdisciplinary team made up of technologists, musicians, composers, choreographers, and dancers.  The prototyping process relied on a mix of in-house and out-sourced digital fabrication processes intended to make the open source hardware and software design of the system accessible and affordable for other creators. },
 address = {Blacksburg, Virginia, USA},
 author = {Ali Momeni and Daniel McNamara and Jesse Stiles},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.5281/zenodo.1302681},
 editor = {Luke Dahl, Douglas Bowman, Thomas Martin},
 isbn = {978-1-949373-99-8},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {June},
 pages = {65--71},
 publisher = {Virginia Tech},
 title = {MOM: an Extensible Platform for Rapid Prototyping and Design of Electroacoustic Instruments},
 url = {http://www.nime.org/proceedings/2018/nime2018_paper0016.pdf},
 year = {2018}
}