On Parallel Performance Practices: Some Observations on Personalizing DMIs as Percussionists

Abstract

Digital musical instrument (DMI) design and performance is primarily practiced by those with backgrounds in music technology and human-computer interaction. Research on these topics is rarely led by performers, much less by those without backgrounds in technology. In this study, we explore DMI design and performance from the perspective of a singular community of classically-trained percussionists. We use a practiced-based methodology informed by our skillset as percussionists to study how instrumental skills and sensibilities can be incorporated into the personalization of, and performance with, DMIs. We introduced a simple and adaptable digital musical instrument, built using the Arduino Uno, that individuals (percussionists) could personalize and extend in order to improvise, compose and create music (études). Our analysis maps parallel percussion practices emerging from the resultant DMI compositions and performances by examining the functionality of each Arduino instrument through the lens of material-oriented and communication-oriented approaches to interactivity.