The 'E' in QWERTY: Musical Expression with Old Computer Interfaces

Chris Nash

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Abstract:

This paper presents a development of the ubiquitous computer keyboard to capture velocity and other continuous musical properties, in order to support more expressive interaction with music software. Building on existing `virtual piano' utilities, the device is designed to provide a richer mechanism for note entry within predominantly non-realtime editing tasks, in applications where keyboard interaction is a central component of the user experience (score editors, sequencers, DAWs, trackers, live coding), and in which users draw on virtuosities in both music and computing. In the keyboard, additional hardware combines existing scan code (key press) data with accelerometer readings to create a secondary USB device, using the same cable but visible to software as a separate USB MIDI device aside existing USB HID functionality. This paper presents and evaluates an initial prototype, developed using an Arduino board and inexpensive sensors, and discusses design considerations and test findings in musical applications, drawing on user studies of keyboard-mediated music interaction. Without challenging more established (and expensive) performance devices; significant benefits are demonstrated in notation-mediated interaction, where the user's focus rests with software.

Citation:

Chris Nash. 2016. The 'E' in QWERTY: Musical Expression with Old Computer Interfaces. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.1176088

BibTeX Entry:

  @inproceedings{Nash2016,
 abstract = {This paper presents a development of the ubiquitous computer
keyboard to capture velocity and other continuous musical properties, in order to
support more expressive interaction with music software. Building on existing
`virtual piano' utilities, the device is designed to provide a richer
mechanism for note entry within predominantly non-realtime editing tasks, in
applications where keyboard interaction is a central component of the user
experience (score editors, sequencers, DAWs, trackers, live coding), and in which
users draw on virtuosities in both music and computing.
In the keyboard, additional hardware combines existing scan code (key press)
data with accelerometer readings to create a secondary USB device, using the same
cable but visible to software as a separate USB MIDI device aside existing USB
HID functionality. This paper presents and evaluates an initial prototype,
developed using an Arduino board and inexpensive sensors, and discusses design
considerations and test findings in musical applications, drawing on user studies
of keyboard-mediated music interaction. Without challenging more established (and
expensive) performance devices; significant benefits are demonstrated in
notation-mediated interaction, where the user's focus rests with
software.},
 address = {Brisbane, Australia},
 author = {Chris Nash},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.5281/zenodo.1176088},
 isbn = {978-1-925455-13-7},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 pages = {224--229},
 publisher = {Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University},
 title = {The 'E' in QWERTY: Musical Expression with Old Computer Interfaces},
 track = {Papers},
 url = {http://www.nime.org/proceedings/2016/nime2016_paper0045.pdf},
 year = {2016}
}