Let Loose with WallBalls, a Collaborative Tabletop Instrument for Tomorrow

Partridge, Grant; Irani, Pourang; Fitzell, Gordon

Let Loose with WallBalls, a Collaborative Tabletop Instrument for Tomorrow

Grant Partridge, Pourang Irani, and Gordon Fitzell

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Year: 2009
Location: Pittsburgh, PA, United States
Pages: 78–81
Keywords: Tabletop computers, collaborative instruments, collaborative composition, group improvisation, spatial audio interfaces, customizable instruments.
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.1177655 (Link to paper)
PDF link

Abstract

Tabletops—and by extension, tabletop computers— naturally facilitate group work. In particular, they provide a fascinating platform for exploring the possibilities of collaborative audio improvisation. Existing tabletop instruments (and digital instruments in general) tend to impose either a steep learning curve on novice players or a frustrating ceiling of expressivity upon experts. We introduce WallBalls, an intuitive tabletop instrument designed to support both novice and expert performance. At first glance, WallBalls resembles a toy, game or whimsical sketchpad, but it quickly reveals itself as a deeply expressive and highly adaptable sample-based instrument capable of facilitating a startling variety of collaborative sound art.

Citation

Grant Partridge, Pourang Irani, and Gordon Fitzell. 2009. Let Loose with WallBalls, a Collaborative Tabletop Instrument for Tomorrow. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.1177655

BibTeX Entry

@inproceedings{Partridge2009,
 abstract = {Tabletops—and by extension, tabletop computers— naturally facilitate group work. In particular, they provide a fascinating platform for exploring the possibilities of collaborative audio improvisation. Existing tabletop instruments (and digital instruments in general) tend to impose either a steep learning curve on novice players or a frustrating ceiling of expressivity upon experts. We introduce WallBalls, an intuitive tabletop instrument designed to support both novice and expert performance. At first glance, WallBalls resembles a toy, game or whimsical sketchpad, but it quickly reveals itself as a deeply expressive and highly adaptable sample-based instrument capable of facilitating a startling variety of collaborative sound art.},
 address = {Pittsburgh, PA, United States},
 author = {Partridge, Grant and Irani, Pourang and Fitzell, Gordon},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.5281/zenodo.1177655},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 keywords = {Tabletop computers, collaborative instruments, collaborative composition, group improvisation, spatial audio interfaces, customizable instruments. },
 pages = {78--81},
 title = {Let Loose with WallBalls, a Collaborative Tabletop Instrument for Tomorrow},
 url = {http://www.nime.org/proceedings/2009/nime2009_078.pdf},
 year = {2009}
}