The Clarinet as a Tangible Acoustic Interface

Abstract

This article proposes to support the concept that the clarinet can be transformed and considered as a Tangible Acoustic Interface (TAI) when under the influence of digital media art or digital components. The traditional instrument, developed over centuries by luthier’s handcraft in collaboration with instrumentalists and composers, underwent an evolution triggered by digital means in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Instrumentalists became the new luthiers and began to explore this digital path by augmenting and actuating their instruments. This exploration brought new properties and directions for its performance and, also, new conceptions regarding the connection between the actors involved – instrumentalist, instrument, computer, microphone, software, and others. By comparing and analysing concepts and definitions related to interfaces and their interaction, this paper discusses the new concept of TAI, which results from an expanded vision of the subject and first-person experience. This concept discusses a point of view where the instrument can also be a communication channel between different domains, connecting the instrumentalist with other realities and giving the possibility to seek new artistic paths.