Modes of Sophtar Improvisation

Federico Visi

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Abstract

The Sophtar is a tabletop string instrument with an embedded system for digital signal processing, networking, and machine learning. It features an array of actuators that can be activated algorithmically by the models running on the embedded computer, a pressure-sensitive fretted neck, two sound boxes, and controlled electroacoustic feedback capabilities by means of bespoke interface elements. This improvisation explores different modes of interaction between electromagnetic actuators, harmonic feedback, embedded symbolic machine learning models, and neural audio synthesis.

Citation

Federico Visi. 2026. Modes of Sophtar Improvisation. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20782118 [PDF]

BibTeX Entry

@inproceedings{nime2026_music_31,
 abstract = {The Sophtar is a tabletop string instrument with an embedded system for digital signal processing, networking, and machine learning. It features an array of actuators that can be activated algorithmically by the models running on the embedded computer, a pressure-sensitive fretted neck, two sound boxes, and controlled electroacoustic feedback capabilities by means of bespoke interface elements. This improvisation explores different modes of interaction between electromagnetic actuators, harmonic feedback, embedded symbolic machine learning models, and neural audio synthesis.},
 address = {London, United Kingdom},
 articleno = {31},
 author = {Federico Visi},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.5281/zenodo.20782118},
 editor = {Lia Mice and Nicole Robson and Tara Pattenden},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {June},
 note = {Live Performance},
 numpages = {3},
 pages = {128--130},
 presentation-video = {https://zenodo.org/records/19919387},
 title = {Modes of Sophtar Improvisation},
 track = {Music},
 url = {http://nime.org/proceedings/2026/nime2026_music_31.pdf},
 year = {2026}
}