Visually-Led Design for Gestural Audiovisual Instruments

Sam Trolland, Alon Ilsar, and Jon McCormack

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Abstract

In this paper we present our visually-led design method for creating gestural mappings in a new audiovisual percussion work titled Cymbalism. Unlike most audiovisual works, Cymbalism was inspired by the creation of a series of interactive visual scenes that respond to the performer’s real-time movements. In leading with the visual interaction, we discuss how this approach fostered a union between the physical, audio and visual elements of the work, creating a performance where the visualisation is not simply a feedback mechanism but fundamental in inspiring compositional concepts and new ways of interacting with sound. Through practice-based research, we use the insights gained through creative development and performance outcomes to guide the continued evolution of an established wearable gestural DMI.

Citation

Sam Trolland, Alon Ilsar, and Jon McCormack. 2025. Visually-Led Design for Gestural Audiovisual Instruments. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.15699633 [PDF]

BibTeX Entry

@article{nime2025_45,
 abstract = {In this paper we present our visually-led design method for creating gestural mappings in a new audiovisual percussion work titled Cymbalism. Unlike most audiovisual works, Cymbalism was inspired by the creation of a series of interactive visual scenes that respond to the performer’s real-time movements. In leading with the visual interaction, we discuss how this approach fostered a union between the physical, audio and visual elements of the work, creating a performance where the visualisation is not simply a feedback mechanism but fundamental in inspiring compositional concepts and new ways of interacting with sound. Through practice-based research, we use the insights gained through creative development and performance outcomes to guide the continued evolution of an established wearable gestural DMI.},
 address = {Canberra, Australia},
 articleno = {45},
 author = {Sam Trolland and Alon Ilsar and Jon McCormack},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.5281/zenodo.15699633},
 editor = {Doga Cavdir and Florent Berthaut},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {June},
 numpages = {9},
 pages = {328--336},
 title = {Visually-Led Design for Gestural Audiovisual Instruments},
 track = {Paper},
 url = {http://nime.org/proceedings/2025/nime2025_45.pdf},
 year = {2025}
}