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}
}