Latent Drummer: A New Abstraction for Modular Sequencers

Nick Warren, and Anil Çamci

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Abstract

Automated processes in musical instruments can serve to free a performer from the physical and mental constraints of music performance, allowing them to expressively control more aspects of music simultaneously. Modular synthesis has been a prominent platform for exploring automation through the use of sequencers and has therefore fostered a tradition of user interface design utilizing increasingly complex abstraction methods. We investigate the history of sequencer design from this perspective and introduce machine learning as a potential source for a new type of intelligent abstraction. We then offer a case study based on this approach and present Latent Drummer, which is a prototype system dedicated to integrating machine learning-based interface abstractions into the tradition of sequencers for modular synthesis.

Citation

Nick Warren, and Anil Çamci. 2022. Latent Drummer: A New Abstraction for Modular Sequencers. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.21428/92fbeb44.ed873363

BibTeX Entry

@inproceedings{NIME22_38,
 abstract = {Automated processes in musical instruments can serve to free a performer from the physical and mental constraints of music performance, allowing them to expressively control more aspects of music simultaneously. Modular synthesis has been a prominent platform for exploring automation through the use of sequencers and has therefore fostered a tradition of user interface design utilizing increasingly complex abstraction methods. We investigate the history of sequencer design from this perspective and introduce machine learning as a potential source for a new type of intelligent abstraction. We then offer a case study based on this approach and present Latent Drummer, which is a prototype system dedicated to integrating machine learning-based interface abstractions into the tradition of sequencers for modular synthesis.},
 address = {The University of Auckland, New Zealand},
 articleno = {38},
 author = {Warren, Nick and {\c{C}}amci, Anil},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.21428/92fbeb44.ed873363},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {jun},
 pdf = {34.pdf},
 presentation-video = {https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr6B5dIhMVo},
 title = {Latent Drummer: A New Abstraction for Modular Sequencers},
 url = {https://doi.org/10.21428%2F92fbeb44.ed873363},
 year = {2022}
}