Designing a Malay Gamelan Digital Musical Instrument: The <em>Air Bonang</em>

The writing of this paper aims to (1) find out the classification of Minangkabau traditional musical instruments; (2) knowing the process of classifying Minangkabau traditional musical instruments; (3) knowing the obstacles and efforts to overcome obstacles in the process of classifying Minangkabau traditional musical instruments. Writing this paper using descriptive research methods. Data was collected based on observations and interviews from various sources. Based on the results of the study it can be concluded as follows, first classifying the traditional Minangkabau musical instrument the first step taken is data collection and data compilation. Then classify musical instruments based on the types of musical instruments which are divided into five, namely striking, blowing, striking, picking and pressing musical instruments, but there are only four types of musical instruments in Minangkabau, namely striking, blowing, striking and picking instruments. The types of musical instruments are classified according to the guidelines on DDC (dewey decimal classification). The two processes of classifying traditional musical instruments have several parts, as follows: (1) Dewey's classification; (2) Determine the Main Class; (3) Determine Divisions; (4) Determine the Section. The three obstacles in the process of classifying traditional Minangkabau musical instruments are as follows: (1) lack of information regarding musical instruments in the Minangkabau Region including the area of origin of the musical instruments; (2) the difficulty of grouping musical instruments based on the type of musical instrument, because many names of musical instruments are almost the same. Efforts to overcome obstacles in the process of classifying Minangkabau traditional musical instruments are as follows: (1) conducting the process of collecting all data derived from several literatures and institutions that store traditional Minangkabau musical instruments; (2) pay close attention to musical instruments to be grouped according to the type of music.Keywords: classification; traditional musical instruments; minangkabau

This chapter presents recent work concerning physically modelled virtual musical instruments and force feedback. Firstly, we discuss fundamental differences in the gesture–sound relationship between acoustic instruments and digital musical instruments, the former being linked by dynamic physical coupling, the latter by transmission and processing of information and control signals. We then present an approach that allows experiencing physical coupling with virtual instruments, using the CORDIS-ANIMA physical modelling formalism, synchronous computation and force-feedback devices. To this end, we introduce a framework for the creation and manipulation of multisensory virtual instruments, called the MSCI platform. In particular, we elaborate on the cohabitation, within a single physical model, of sections simulated at different rates. Finally, we discuss the relevance of creating virtual musical instruments in this manner, and we consider their use in live performance.

This paper explores the differences in the design and performance of acoustic and new digital musical instruments, arguing that with the latter there is an increased encapsulation of musical theory. The point of departure is the phenomenology of musical instruments, which leads to the exploration of designed artefacts as extensions of human cognition – as scaffolding onto which we delegate parts of our cognitive processes. The paper succinctly emphasises the pronounced epistemic dimension of digital instruments when compared to acoustic instruments. Through the analysis of material epistemologies it is possible to describe the digital instrument as anepistemic tool: a designed tool with such a high degree of symbolic pertinence that it becomes a system of knowledge and thinking in its own terms. In conclusion, the paper rounds up the phenomenological and epistemological arguments, and points at issues in the design of digital musical instruments that are germane due to their strong aesthetic implications for musical culture.

In this paper, an interactive learning experience is proposed, aiming to involve museum visitors in a personalized experience of the transmittal of cultural knowledge in an active and creative way. The proposed system, called HapticSOUND, consists of three subsystems: (a) the Information, where visitors are informed about the traditional musical instruments; (b) the Entertainment, where visitors are entertained by playing serious games to virtually assemble traditional musical instruments by a set of 3D objects; and (c) the Interaction, where visitors interact with a digital musical instrument which is an exact 3D-printed replica of a traditional musical instrument, where cameras have been placed to capture user gestures and machine learning algorithms have been implemented for gesture recognition. The museum visitor can interact with the lifelike replica to tactilely and aurally explore the instrument’s abilities, producing sounds guided by the system and receiving real-time visual and audio feedback. Emphasis is given to the Interaction Subsystem, where a pilot study was conducted to evaluate the usability of the subsystem. Preliminary results were promising since the usability was satisfactory, indicating that it is an innovative approach that utilizes sensorimotor learning and machine learning techniques in the context of playing sounds based on real-time gesture and fingering recognition.

In recent years, computer technologies have been impactful in the design and development of Digital Musical Instruments (DMIs). As music interaction became prominent in the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) field, emphasis on user requirement upon the design of musical interfaces has also grown since the last decade. Although designing new DMIs is becoming very popular, it is often determined by the designers and often not reflective of users’ needs. In this study, we explored user requirements for the design of a virtual musical instrument of the Malay bonang, an instrument found in the Malay gamelan ensemble. The requirements were elicited from a group of gamelan experts to establish the bonang playing techniques to be mapped to the virtual instrument which we called Air Bonang. Findings revealed that in designing the Air Bonang that is natural and expressive, the fundamental playing techniques of the bonang should be integrated into the system using mid-air interaction. In addition, exploratory techniques might also be integrated into the Air Bonang to leverage musical expression. The outcome of the study proposes design criteria that encompass three aspects of a natural Air Bonang, namely, embodiment, expressiveness, and feedback.

Musical instruments in Indonesia are divided into two types, namely traditional musical instruments and modern musical instruments, which in this study will be discussed with more than ten musical instruments. Today, there are still many Indonesian people who do not know traditional musical instruments and modern musical instruments due to lack of knowledge and the lack of means to provide visual access to both traditional and modern musical instruments. The purpose of this research is to help people recognize traditional musical instruments and modern musical instruments digitally easily. The method used in this research is the Marker-Based AR method, because it takes a marker on each object to display a clear object in the Augmented Reality application to find information from an image directly. The results of this study are in the form of an Android-based Augmented Reality application with a page display feature, displaying information on 3D objects of traditional musical instruments and modern musical instruments with writing and sound, as well as showing how to use the application.

Virtualization of traditional musical instruments is gaining popularity due to the rapid advancement of technology. Due to the limited access to traditional musical instruments, technology is seen as an enabler to preserve these musical instruments along with making them more attractive and accessible. This paper focuses on a pilot study of exploring the interaction with a Digital Musical Instrument (DMI) based on the Malay bonang. A prototype called Air Bonang was developed on a virtual reality system for users to experience playing the bonang in an immersive platform to facilitate musical learning, performance, and composition. Findings from the study were used to further improve the research protocol for a larger-scale study.

This paper investigates the playability of Digital Musical Instrument (DMI) of a Malay gamelan bonang in exploring its practicality, relevancy and reliability for ensemble music making. We present a project involving the Malay gamelan community, where they implemented the DMI named Air Bonang into their musical practices. We argue that the playability of the Malay bonang DMI must be practical, relevant, and reliable to support diverse musical practices. We conclude that designing musical interfaces based on traditional musical instruments must prioritise the authenticity and identity of the musical culture while providing novel means of interaction to elevate musical performance.

Traditional music is a hereditary heritage that we should support considering that Indonesia has a variety of cultures and arts that differ from region to another. One way to preserve the culture of the younger generation is to learn traditional musical instruments in general, such as gamelan, kolintang, angklung, sasando and others with the hope that these traditional musical instruments can still be used during cultural and artistic events or just for entertainment. But, with the development of technology today, many of these young generation do not even care and they do not even have a musical taste to learn this musical instrument, they even more interested in learning western music with its more interesting and modern presentation unlike traditional music which they think is outdated. This research was made with the aim first, what factors influence the interest of the younger generation or students in this era of globalization in studying traditional musical instruments at Bunda Mulia University Serpong, second, how much interest students have in learning traditional musical instruments, and three what obstacles faced by students in playing traditional musical instruments and finally to find out which traditional musical instruments are in great demand by students at the University of Bunda Mulia Serpong. The theory used in this study is the theory of interest and learning, while the research method used is a qualitative approach with data conducted through primary surveys, namely interviews and observations with Bunda Mulia University students from the hospitality and tourism study program by providing structured questions and interviews at students which were done online. As for secondary surveys such as library and journal studies to find supporting data related to the research theme. The results of the study provide an answer that the factors that underlie students' interest in learning traditional musical instruments is curiosity or eager to know of something, also student are interested in learning traditional musical instruments because they have studied these musical instruments before, as for the obstacles faced by students in learning traditional musical instruments were influenced among others, by not having the talents or interests of students as well as incomplete musical instruments and lack of qualified teachers, however the traditional musical instruments that interest to students is the traditional instrument of Angklung because they are familiar to its strains and melodies as well as unique musical instruments because they are played by swinging them. Thus, it can be concluded that the younger generation of Bunda Mulia University Serpong is interested in learning traditional musical instruments.

This paper reports ongoing initiatives to explore how digital and augmented musical instruments gestural vocabulary is developed over time, and how embedding the high-level gesture descriptors in those instruments can fomenting their use and contribute to their maturity toward established music instruments. The instruments included in this research are the T-Stick (Digital Musical Instrument), and the GuitarAMI (Augmented Music Instrument). Finally, we discuss present and future strategies for instrument longevity for the presented instruments.

Digital musical instruments (DMIs) offer the possibility to create barrier-free access to active music-making and to unique sound aesthetics for a broad group of people, including those who experience disabling barriers to access when using traditional acoustic musical instruments. However, current music education research focuses primarily on app-based DMIs. Although these devices have numerous advantages, such as ubiquitous availability and flexibility, they may be experienced as disabling by people with severe cognitive or complex disabilities. Thus, they only partially exploit the potential of DMIs for special educational needs (SEN) music practices, which we outline in this article. However, given that no comprehensive studies have yet been conducted on the use of DMIs in SEN schools, the actual motives and barriers for SEN school teachers to employ different types of DMIs in class are largely unknown. To address this research gap, we present the results of a quantitative survey covering all SEN schools in 12 of Germany's 16 federal states. We surveyed the status quo of DMI use in SEN schools and the perceived potential of DMIs and DMI-related information needs from the music teachers’ perspective. Our findings demonstrate that DMIs are only rarely used in Germany, with the exception of established standard DMIs such as keyboards and music apps. Unfortunately, accessible DMIs (ADMIs) are hardly used. Related to the rare use of DMIs in SEN schools, we also identified a lack of domain-specific knowledge among music teachers and concluded that there was a need to develop DMIs specifically designed for use in classroom education. Finally, we discuss the potential of using open-source DMI technology as well as the importance of identifying music teachers’ attitudes during DMI development.

We present and evaluate the EyeHarp, a new gaze-controlled Digital Musical Instrument, which aims to enable people with severe motor disabilities to learn, perform, and compose music using only their gaze as control mechanism. It consists of (1) a step-sequencer layer, which serves for constructing chords/arpeggios, and (2) a melody layer, for playing melodies and changing the chords/arpeggios. We have conducted a pilot evaluation of the EyeHarp involving 39 participants with no disabilities from both a performer and an audience perspective. In the first case, eight people with normal vision and no motor disability participated in a music-playing session in which both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. In the second case 31 people qualitatively evaluated the EyeHarp in a concert setting consisting of two parts: a solo performance part, and an ensemble (EyeHarp, two guitars, and flute) performance part. The obtained results indicate that, similarly to traditional music instruments, the proposed digital musical instrument has a steep learning curve, and allows to produce expressive performances both from the performer and audience perspective.

Traditional musical instruments are cultural heritage that must be preserved. This is done so that the existence of this instrument is not extinct and can continue to be known until the next generation. Lebak is one area that has several diverse traditional musical instruments, traditional musical instruments such as lojor dogs, angklungbuhun, and lisung which play various ways and produce different sounds. The introduction of musical instruments early is needed to preserve culture in childhood requires methods and ways for the introduction of this instrument can be done with fun. One method that can be used is to present the knowledge of this musical instrument by utilizing animation media based on Android applications. This application not only presents the visual form of musical instruments, but also displays the sounds of each ethnic musical instrument. The purpose of this research is to increase children’s knowledge about traditional musical instruments. This research produces an Android-based application animation media that will present information about a typical Lebak musical instrument that is presented to be understood by early childhood. So that their understanding of traditional musical instruments increased.

This study entitled The Study of Traditional Musical Instruments of South Sumatra in Early Childhood Education (PAUD) and held on 4 to 11 September 2017 conducted at the State Museum of South Sumatra and the Department of Culture. The method used is descriptive qualitative, which has the purpose to describe the traditional musical instruments that exist in South Sumatra in Early Childhood Education (PAUD). Data collection techniques using observation sheets, interviews, and documentation. From the results of research can be concluded that the traditional musical instruments during the Sultanate of Palembang, traditional musical instruments influenced many Islamic and Arabic culture. Judging from the material of making and how to play it by beating, traditional musical instrument has a very important function in early childhood that is able to develop aspects of physical and motor development of emotional social in early childhood. Of the 14 traditional musical instruments contained in South Sumatra, there are 11 traditional musical instruments that are still developing to date and identified 2 identifiers of traditional musical instruments that can be played by young children. The two instruments are traditional Tunggung / Rebana musical instruments from South Sumatra and traditional Burda musical instruments from Ogan Komering Ulu (OKU) area. Both traditional musical instruments that can be played by early childhood, because see from the material making and how to play it by being hit using the fingers of the hand that can train the fine motor aspects of the child.

A digital musical instrument, the “Musical Playpen”, was developed in an effort to provide children with immersive musical experiences. The instrument senses children's motion inside a playpen filled with plastic balls and maps their gestures to musical output. This allows the players to use familiar and fun play activities while exploring the musical consequences of their actions. Observations of children's play patterns in the instrument suggest that immersive musical experiences can introduce infants and toddlers to a variety of creative and expressive musical experiences, rarely offered by traditional musical instruments.