Designing Strategic Incongruity: An Audio Device for Sharpening Pencils

Shinnosuke Hirose, Yuta Uozumi, Ryoho Kobayashi, and Shinya Fujii

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Abstract

This work is a musical performance utilizing a device that incorporates a pencil sharpener into existing audio equipment such as amplifiers and mixers. The performer generates sound by inserting a pencil into the jack socket and performing the sharpening action. The friction and cutting sounds produced during pencil sharpening are directly captured by a contact microphone and amplified through the audio equipment's circuitry. As the pencil physically wears down during sharpening, the sound irreversibly changes over time, making each performance unique. This work creates a situation where the audio equipment functions as an instrument while simultaneously behaving as an everyday household item. The performer's actions remain both a musical performance and an everyday action.

Citation

Shinnosuke Hirose, Yuta Uozumi, Ryoho Kobayashi, and Shinya Fujii. 2026. Designing Strategic Incongruity: An Audio Device for Sharpening Pencils. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20782104 [PDF]

BibTeX Entry

@inproceedings{nime2026_music_27,
 abstract = {This work is a musical performance utilizing a device that incorporates a pencil sharpener into existing audio equipment such as amplifiers and mixers. The performer generates sound by inserting a pencil into the jack socket and performing the sharpening action. The friction and cutting sounds produced during pencil sharpening are directly captured by a contact microphone and amplified through the audio equipment's circuitry. As the pencil physically wears down during sharpening, the sound irreversibly changes over time, making each performance unique. This work creates a situation where the audio equipment functions as an instrument while simultaneously behaving as an everyday household item. The performer's actions remain both a musical performance and an everyday action.},
 address = {London, United Kingdom},
 articleno = {27},
 author = {Shinnosuke Hirose and Yuta Uozumi and Ryoho Kobayashi and Shinya Fujii},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.5281/zenodo.20782104},
 editor = {Lia Mice and Nicole Robson and Tara Pattenden},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {June},
 note = {Live Performance},
 numpages = {4},
 pages = {111--114},
 presentation-video = {https://vimeo.com/1164537704?fl=ip&fe=ec},
 title = {Designing Strategic Incongruity: An Audio Device for Sharpening Pencils},
 track = {Music},
 url = {http://nime.org/proceedings/2026/nime2026_music_27.pdf},
 year = {2026}
}