Tiny Touch Instruments: Composing for Collaborative Mobile Performance

Rebecca Abraham

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Abstract

This paper explores Tiny Touch Instruments (TTIs), a set of mobile instruments, and how they facilitate collaborative, unrehearsed music-making. Through the composition and performance of two pieces, Skating and Skipping, this work investigates how multimodal notation and instrument design can shape performer experience. Performances were documented through participant observation, interviews, and a survey, revealing key themes such as the role of notation in guiding improvisation, the balance between agency and unpredictability in digital instruments, and the recontextualization of mobile devices as musical tools.

Citation

Rebecca Abraham. 2025. Tiny Touch Instruments: Composing for Collaborative Mobile Performance. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.15698888 [PDF]

BibTeX Entry

@article{nime2025_50,
 abstract = {This paper explores Tiny Touch Instruments (TTIs), a set of mobile instruments, and how they facilitate collaborative, unrehearsed music-making. Through the composition and performance of two pieces, Skating and Skipping, this work investigates how multimodal notation and instrument design can shape performer experience. Performances were documented through participant observation, interviews, and a survey, revealing key themes such as the role of notation in guiding improvisation, the balance between agency and unpredictability in digital instruments, and the recontextualization of mobile devices as musical tools.},
 address = {Canberra, Australia},
 articleno = {50},
 author = {Rebecca Abraham},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.5281/zenodo.15698888},
 editor = {Doga Cavdir and Florent Berthaut},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {June},
 numpages = {5},
 pages = {364--368},
 title = {Tiny Touch Instruments: Composing for Collaborative Mobile Performance},
 track = {Paper},
 url = {http://nime.org/proceedings/2025/nime2025_50.pdf},
 year = {2025}
}