Novice Users' Evaluation of Two Multi-track Music Machines for AI-Assisted Music Composition: Usability, User Experience and Acceptance

Renaud Bougueng Tchemeube, Jeff Ens, Keon Ju Maverick Lee, Philippe Pasquier, Jean-Baptiste Rolland, Yvan Grabit, and Maryam Safi

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Abstract

The maturity of creative AI systems in the arts raises new questions regarding their integration into creative practices. The music field is no exception, and is seeing a rise in new creative AI tools, notably in music composition. We study how these systems and their design impact user's adoption. Specifically, we conducted a user study with 98 novice participants evaluating usability, user experience, and technology acceptance for two computer-assisted composition (CAC) systems: MMM-Cubase v2 and Calliope. Findings show both systems are easy to control and use, with Calliope being easier to use and more immersive. 76.9% (MMM-Cubase v2) and 72.9% (Calliope) of users report positive predicted future use, while the novel and efficient workflow contributes to lower barriers to music-making. Depth of control and model transparency remain outstanding issues while users highlight concerns over loss of musical diversity and skill learning.

Citation

Renaud Bougueng Tchemeube, Jeff Ens, Keon Ju Maverick Lee, Philippe Pasquier, Jean-Baptiste Rolland, Yvan Grabit, and Maryam Safi. 2026. Novice Users' Evaluation of Two Multi-track Music Machines for AI-Assisted Music Composition: Usability, User Experience and Acceptance. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20784394 [PDF]

BibTeX Entry

@inproceedings{nime2026_128,
 abstract = {The maturity of creative AI systems in the arts raises new questions regarding their integration into creative practices. The music field is no exception, and is seeing a rise in new creative AI tools, notably in music composition. We study how these systems and their design impact user's adoption. Specifically, we conducted a user study with 98 novice participants evaluating usability, user experience, and technology acceptance for two computer-assisted composition (CAC) systems: MMM-Cubase v2 and Calliope. Findings show both systems are easy to control and use, with Calliope being easier to use and more immersive. 76.9% (MMM-Cubase v2) and 72.9% (Calliope) of users report positive predicted future use, while the novel and efficient workflow contributes to lower barriers to music-making. Depth of control and model transparency remain outstanding issues while users highlight concerns over loss of musical diversity and skill learning.},
 address = {London, United Kingdom},
 articleno = {128},
 author = {Renaud Bougueng Tchemeube and Jeff Ens and Keon Ju Maverick Lee and Philippe Pasquier and Jean-Baptiste Rolland and Yvan Grabit and Maryam Safi},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.5281/zenodo.20784394},
 editor = {Benedict Gaster and João Tragtenberg and Anna Xambó and Tom Mitchell},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {June},
 note = {},
 numpages = {8},
 pages = {1042--1049},
 presentation-video = {https://youtu.be/EWEZTc-2oF4},
 title = {Novice Users' Evaluation of Two Multi-track Music Machines for AI-Assisted Music Composition: Usability, User Experience and Acceptance},
 track = {paper},
 url = {http://nime.org/proceedings/2026/nime2026_128.pdf},
 year = {2026}
}