The Sound Tree Project: Developing Personal and Collective Expression with Accessible Digital Musical Instruments

Steph OHara, and Alon Ilsar

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Abstract

The Sound Tree Project investigates how accessible digital musical instruments (ADMIs) can champion both personal and collective musical expression. Through a sustained six-month ethnographic engagement with five performers and two support artists, we explored how to create personalised instruments for a public performance outcome. The technical framework combined multiple wireless motion sensor devices placed inside different objects and the development of a real-time movement-to-sound processing hub within a live coding environment. The performance was centred on an accessible sound sculpture, the Sound Tree, where digital instruments coexisted with traditional sound making objects. Drawing from our shared process of experimentation, improvisation, and personalised instrument creation, we present some key ‘magic moments’ that were woven into the final performance and discuss how they might serve as evidence of personal expression and validation of the design process. The emergence of these moments demonstrate the value of real-time system adaptation in encouraging individual expression, the importance of sustained engagement in developing personalised instruments and having effective strategies for balancing personal and collective music-making.These insights have implications in developing accessible music technology and broader approaches to designing technologies that support diverse forms of creative collaboration.

Citation

Steph OHara, and Alon Ilsar. 2025. The Sound Tree Project: Developing Personal and Collective Expression with Accessible Digital Musical Instruments. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.15698960 [PDF]

BibTeX Entry

@article{nime2025_82,
 abstract = {The Sound Tree Project investigates how accessible digital musical instruments (ADMIs) can champion both personal and collective musical expression. Through a sustained six-month ethnographic engagement with five performers and two support artists, we explored how to create personalised instruments for a public performance outcome. The technical framework combined multiple wireless motion sensor devices placed inside different objects and the development of a real-time movement-to-sound processing hub within a live coding environment. The performance was centred on an accessible sound sculpture, the Sound Tree, where digital instruments coexisted with traditional sound making objects. Drawing from our shared process of experimentation, improvisation, and personalised instrument creation, we present some key ‘magic moments’ that were woven into the final performance and discuss how they might serve as evidence of personal expression and validation of the design process. The emergence of these moments demonstrate the value of real-time system adaptation in encouraging individual expression, the importance of sustained engagement in developing personalised instruments and having effective strategies for balancing personal and collective music-making.These insights have implications in developing accessible music technology and broader approaches to designing technologies that support diverse forms of creative collaboration.},
 address = {Canberra, Australia},
 articleno = {82},
 author = {Steph OHara and Alon Ilsar},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.5281/zenodo.15698960},
 editor = {Doga Cavdir and Florent Berthaut},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {June},
 numpages = {7},
 pages = {563--569},
 title = {The Sound Tree Project: Developing Personal and Collective Expression with Accessible Digital Musical Instruments},
 track = {Paper},
 url = {http://nime.org/proceedings/2025/nime2025_82.pdf},
 year = {2025}
}