Project Outline: Digital Musical Instrument for Additive Synthesis Control

I would like to attempt to create a digital music instrument (dmi). That is to say an instrument composed of two individual sections: A synthesis algorithm and a hardware controller, which are connected via parameter mapping strategies. I happened on the idea by looking at articles produced by researchers at Ircam, which gave me an interest in ways in which performers can explore the vast sound spaces offered by digital synthesizers using an intuitive physical control surface which gives the performer a sense of connection to the sounds being produced which seems to be a key factor to the expressivity available from more traditional instruments. I would like to concentrate largely on the control side of the project since it is this controller stage that I find particularly interesting at this point. Therefore my current idea is to take a "simpler" synthesis technique such as additive synthesis and look at how its parameters could be controlled with an aim to produce a complete instrument system (controller and algorithm). I propose to create the algorithm using Max/MSP and create the instrument using physical sensors and an Arduino board for interfacing with Max. This idea should give plenty of scope for research whilst at the same time being largely practical based. There are a wealth of experts in this specific field at Ircam.

The idea for this project came through realizing the contrast between musical activities here at Ircam and my own music taste. A lot of the work here at Ircam is centered around developing digital technology and techniques where as of late my music taste has been leaning towards styles that predominantly lack sounds produced by such techniques (ignoring recording techniques, amplification and the odd guitar effect). To give some examples - blues roots, traditional ska, skiffle, acoustic guitar players. I really enjoy the raw energy of these styles and started to think that perhaps it was the natural, physical connection between the player, the instrument and the sounds they produced which was contributing to this feel in the music. I then thought that perhaps the reason that I have never really been interested in "synthesizer music" is that digitally synthesizing sounds is widely considered to lack this feeling of a connection (which is usually thought to increase the expressivity of an instrument). I would therefore be interested in creating a system that allows the exploration of the large, new and interesting sound spaces offered by digital synthesis but incorporates a gesturally controlled interface in an attempt to create this connection between the musician and the sound space. The main area that interests me for this topic is therefore the idea of interaction (particularly in terms of gesture control) and interface design. The ultimate test of such an instrument would of course be its musical potential.

Unfortunately I couldn't definitely say where I want my degree to take me at the moment. This project could however interest some people here at Ircam and so there is the possibility of me working in this kind of research/development area. I know that Ircam offers a Masters course but I would have to really improve my French.

The skills the project would require: Product design; electronics; computer programming + audio processing; research. I have experience with computer programming and audio processing from university and Ircam. I have research experience from a reasonably large research project last year. The electronics should be initially fairly simple. I plan to use an Arduino interface which allows physical sensors to be connected and their outputs sent to a computer by usb. The code for managing the signals from the Arduino is available on the internet. I feel the biggest challenge would be designing and building the interface itself and incorporating these sensors into it. The main aim of the project (at the moment) is to create a digital music instrument so the design would have to be of good quality. This raises lots of problems in terms of design, materials, cost, building skills.