A sustained relationship with large instruments - a case against the convenient interface

Iran Sanadzadeh, and Chloë Sobek

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Abstract:

In recent decades, with the innovation in sensor technology, the trend towards smaller digital controllers for instruments has expanded. New generations of performance styles are growing that rely on compact instruments that can travel easily and are thus versatile. This article cites two interactive performance practices to illustrate how larger instruments change the nature of interaction and sonic outcomes of performance. Pressure-sensitive Floors, a wooden set of platforms for performing electronic music, are compared with a practice on the Renaissance violone with electronics. Large instruments offer unique additions to performance and music making that are not accessible in small instruments. They have their own specific affordances and limitations that affect the musical decisions of the performer and therefore contribute unique ways of conceptualising performance. The instruments in this paper have been chosen as the authors have a 'sustained relationship’ with them and these practices merely act as examples of the embodied knowledge gained through staying committed to a particular large instrument. We demonstrate how with such a practice, the performance is recentered around human presence. This offers a deeper communication between performer and audience. It creates new avenues for the performance of contemporary music where the entire body is engaged in movement and sounding. We argue that overlooking large instruments in favour of their smaller counterparts would result in the loss of a unique aesthetic as well as conceptual and performance approaches.

Citation:

Iran Sanadzadeh, and Chloë Sobek. 2023. A sustained relationship with large instruments - a case against the convenient interface. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.11189192

BibTeX Entry:

  @inproceedings{nime2023_43,
 abstract = {In recent decades, with the innovation in sensor technology, the trend towards smaller digital controllers for instruments has expanded. New generations of performance styles are growing that rely on compact instruments that can travel easily and are thus versatile. This article cites two interactive performance practices to illustrate how larger instruments change the nature of interaction and sonic outcomes of performance. Pressure-sensitive Floors, a wooden set of platforms for performing electronic music, are compared with a practice on the Renaissance violone with electronics. Large instruments offer unique additions to performance and music making that are not accessible in small instruments. They have their own specific affordances and limitations that affect the musical decisions of the performer and therefore contribute unique ways of conceptualising performance. The instruments in this paper have been chosen as the authors have a 'sustained relationship’ with them and these practices merely act as examples of the embodied knowledge gained through staying committed to a particular large instrument. We demonstrate how with such a practice, the performance is recentered around human presence. This offers a deeper communication between performer and audience. It creates new avenues for the performance of contemporary music where the entire body is engaged in movement and sounding. We argue that overlooking large instruments in favour of their smaller counterparts would result in the loss of a unique aesthetic as well as conceptual and performance approaches.},
 address = {Mexico City, Mexico},
 articleno = {43},
 author = {Iran Sanadzadeh and Chloë Sobek},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.5281/zenodo.11189192},
 editor = {Miguel Ortiz and Adnan Marquez-Borbon},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {May},
 numpages = {6},
 pages = {301--306},
 title = {A sustained relationship with large instruments - a case against the convenient interface},
 track = {Papers},
 url = {http://nime.org/proceedings/2023/nime2023_43.pdf},
 year = {2023}
}