Musical Haptics

Haptic Musical Instruments; Haptic Psychophysics; Interface Design and Evaluation; User Experience; Musical Performanc

Musical Haptics

Haptic Musical Instruments; Haptic Psychophysics; Interface Design and Evaluation; User Experience; Musical Performanc

Portfolio of original compositions with written commentary

Sound propagates through space as a series of vibrations which are mediated, perceived and interpreted by the listening body. Whilst the body receives the physicality of sound, we predominantly focus on our listening experience through audition. In this work, I propose approaches to employing haptics, or vibration technologies, as a mechanism through which we can extend our experience of sound across the body and achieve a greater control of its physical presence. I will discuss ideas pertaining to sound as a physical and embodied practice, and the ways that I have explored this through developing conceptual systems relating sonic and physical materials. During the production of this work, themes of embodiment, mediation and immersion emerge which are unpacked through this commentary. Many of the works in this portfolio employ an audio and a haptic element that controls sound and vibration in synchrony, with the physical element rendered on bespoke haptic displays. A latter work explores the development of and performances with an algorithmic language for choreography. In this commentary, I reflect on each individual piece, documenting the process of making and subsequent outcomes to my creative thinking. Overall this project is underlined by a reflexive methodology where each new piece of practice influences the formation of the next—revealing new opportunities, concepts and technological approaches. I do not present a framework for the development of audio-haptic works, instead, I document and reflect on the processes through which my own practice has found connections, tensions and opportunities between the two forms. I conclude that whilst the inclusion of haptics heavily mediates and reconfigures the experience of listening, it can function as an immersive addition to sound that provokes presence, aura and tangibility in abstraction

Musical Haptics

This Open Access book offers an original interdisciplinary overview of the role of haptic feedback in musical interaction. Divided into two parts, part I examines the tactile aspects of music performance and perception, discussing how they affect user experience and performance in terms of usability, functionality and perceived quality of musical instruments. Part II presents engineering, computational, and design approaches and guidelines that have been applied to render and exploit haptic feedback in digital musical interfaces. Musical Haptics introduces an emerging field that brings together engineering, human-computer interaction, applied psychology, musical aesthetics, and music performance. The latter, defined as the complex system of sensory-motor interactions between musicians and their instruments, presents a well-defined framework in which to study basic psychophysical, perceptual, and biomechanical aspects of touch, all of which will inform the design of haptic musical interfaces. Tactile and proprioceptive cues enable embodied interaction and inform sophisticated control strategies that allow skilled musicians to achieve high performance and expressivity. The use of haptic feedback in digital musical interfaces is expected to enhance user experience and performance, improve accessibility for disabled persons, and provide an effective means for musical tuition and guidance

Reducing and removing barriers to spatial audio : applications of capital as a critical framework to promote inclusion in spatial audio : a thesis submitted to Massey University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctorate of Philosophy in Music at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand

The research within this thesis aims to address the question of whether barriers of capital to the field of spatial audio can be reduced or removed. Spatial audio is the musical utilization of space, where spatialization is the salient feature of the musical work. As a field, it primarily exists within academic and art institutions. Because of this, there are numerous barriers that prohibit people from engaging with the field. These barriers include significant technical requirements, the need for education, the expense of large spatial audio systems, amongst others. These barriers mean that those who are excluded have little to no pathway to engage with the field. This thesis explores the barriers in spatial audio through the lens of capital. Viewed as one’s level of resource, a lack of economic, social, symbolic, cultural, and physical capital can exclude many from engaging with spatial audio. The research within this thesis identifies barriers of capital that exist within the field through qualitative and quantitative survey analysis as well as literature review. The identified barriers are then addressed through practice-led and practice-based research with the creation of new spatial audio works and compositional strategies, alongside user surveys to ascertain the efficacy of the research