'Lines of flight': digital musical instruments, inclusive music bands, meaningful engagement in music-making and learning

In this study I examine the development of three inclusive music bands in Cork city. Derived from Jellison’s research on inclusive music education, inclusive music bands involve students with disabilities coming together with typically developing peers to make and learn music that is meaningful (Jellison, 2012). As part of this study, I established three inclusive music bands to address the lack of inclusive music making and learning experiences in Cork city. Each of these bands evolved and adapted in order to be socio-culturally relevant within formal and informal settings: Circles (community education band), Till 4 (secondary school band) and Mish Mash (third level and community band). I integrated Digital Musical Instruments into the three bands, in order to ensure access to music making and learning for band members with profound physical disabilities. Digital Musical Instruments are electronic music devices that facilitate active music making with minimal movement. This is the first study in Ireland to examine the experiences of inclusive music making and learning using Digital Musical Instruments. I propose that the integration of Digital Musical Instruments into inclusive music bands has the potential to further the equality and social justice agenda in music education in Ireland. In this study, I employed qualitative research methodology, incorporating participatory action research methodology and case study design. In this thesis I reveal the experiences of being involved in an inclusive music band in Cork city. I particularly focus on examining whether the use of this technology enhances meaningful music making and learning experiences for members with disabilities within inclusive environments. To both inform and understand the person centered and adaptable nature of these inclusive bands, I draw theoretical insights from Sen’s Capabilities Approach and Deleuze and Guatarri’s Rhizome Theory. Supported by descriptive narrative from research participants and an indepth examination of literature, I discover the optimum conditions and associated challenges of inclusive music practice in Cork city

Embodied interaction with guitars: instruments, embodied practices and ecologies

In this thesis I investigate the embodied performance preparation practices of guitarists to design and develop tools to support them. To do so, I employ a series of human-centred design methodologies such as design ethnography, participatory design, and soma design. The initial ethnographic study I conducted involved observing guitarists preparing to perform individually and with their bands in their habitual places of practice. I also interviewed these musicians on their preparation activities. Findings of this study allowed me to chart an ecology of tools and resources employed in the process, as well as pinpoint a series of design opportunities for augmenting guitars, namely supporting (1) encumbered interactions, (2) contextual interactions, and (3) connected interactions. Going forward with the design process I focused on remediating encumbered interactions that emerge during performance preparation with multimedia devices, particularly during instrumental transcription. I then prepared and ran a series of hands-on co-design workshops with guitarists to discuss five media controller prototypes, namely, instrument-mounted controls, pedal-based controls, voice-based controls, gesture-based controls, and “music-based” controls. This study highlighted the value that guitarists give to their guitars and to their existing practice spaces, tools, and resources by critically reflecting on how these interaction modalities would support or disturb their existing embodied preparation practices with the instrument. In parallel with this study, I had the opportunity to participate in a soma design workshop (and then prepare my own) in which I harnessed my first-person perspective of guitar playing to guide the design process. By exploring a series of embodied ideation and somatic methods, as well as materials and sensors across several points of contact between our bodies and the guitar, we collaboratively ideated a series of design concepts for guitar across both workshops, such as a series of breathing guitars, stretchy straps, and soft pedals. I then continued to develop and refine the Stretchy Strap concept into a guitar strap augmented with electronic textile stretch sensors to harness it as an embodied media controller to remediate encumbered interaction during musical transcription with guitar when using secondary multimedia resources. The device was subsequently evaluated by guitarists at a home practicing space, providing insights on nuanced aspects of its embodied use, such as how certain media control actions like play and pause are better supported by the bodily gestures enacted with the strap, whilst other actions, like rewinding the play back or setting in and out points for a loop are better supported by existing peripherals like keyboards and mice, as these activities do not necessarily happen in the flow of the embodied practice of musical transcription. Reflecting on the overall design process, a series of considerations are extracted for designing embodied interactions with guitars, namely, (1) considering the instrument and its potential for augmentation, i.e., considering the shape of the guitar, its material and its cultural identity, (2) considering the embodied practices with the instrument, i.e., the body and the subjective felt experience of the guitarist during their skilled embodied practices with the instrument and how these determine its expert use according to a particular instrumental tradition and/or musical practice, and (3) considering the practice ecology of the guitarist, i.e., the tools, resources, and spaces they use according to their practice

Interactive Sound in Performance Ecologies: Studying Connections among Actors and Artifacts

This thesis’s primary goal is to investigate performance ecologies, that is the compound of humans, artifacts and environmental elements that contribute to the result of a per- formance. In particular, this thesis focuses on designing new interactive technologies for sound and music. The goal of this thesis leads to the following Research Questions (RQs): • RQ1 How can the design of interactive sonic artifacts support a joint expression across different actors (composers, choreographers, and performers, musicians, and dancers) in a given performance ecology? • RQ2 How does each different actor influence the design of different artifacts, and what impact does this have on the overall artwork? • RQ3 How do the different actors in the same ecology interact, and appropriate an interactive artifact? To reply to these questions, a new framework named ARCAA has been created. In this framework, all the Actors of a given ecology are connected to all the Artifacts throughout three layers: Role, Context and Activity. This framework is then applied to one systematic literature review, two case studies on music performance and one case study in dance performance. The studies help to better understand the shaded roles of composers, per- formers, instrumentalists, dancers, and choreographers, which is relevant to better design interactive technologies for performances. Finally, this thesis proposes a new reflection on the blurred distinction between composing and designing a new instrument in a context that involves a multitude of actors. Overall, this work introduces the following contributions to the field of interaction design applied to music technology: 1) ARCAA, a framework to analyse the set of inter- connected relationship in interactive (music) performances, validated through 2 music studies, 1 dance study and 1 systematic literature analysis; 2) Recommendations for de- signing music interactive system for performance (music or dance), accounting for the needs of the various actors and for the overlapping on music composition and design of in- teractive technology; 3) A taxonomy of how scores have shaped performance ecologies in NIME, based on a systematic analysis of the literature on score in the NIME proceedings; 4) Proposal of a methodological approach combining autobiographical and idiographical design approaches in interactive performances.O objetivo principal desta tese é investigar as ecologias performativas, conjunto formado pelos participantes humanos, artefatos e elementos ambientais que contribuem para o resultado de uma performance. Em particular, esta tese foca-se na conceção de novas tecnologias interativas para som e música. O objetivo desta tese originou as seguintes questões de investigação (Research Questions RQs): • RQ1 Como o design de artefatos sonoros interativos pode apoiar a expressão con- junta entre diferentes atores (compositores, coreógrafos e performers, músicos e dançarinos) numa determinada ecologia performativa? • RQ2 Como cada ator influencia o design de diferentes artefatos e que impacto isso tem no trabalho artístico global? • RQ3 Como os diferentes atores de uma mesma ecologia interagem e se apropriam de um artefato interativo? Para responder a essas perguntas, foi criado uma nova framework chamada ARCAA. Nesta framework, todos os atores (Actores) de uma dada ecologia estão conectados a todos os artefatos (Artefacts) através de três camadas: Role, Context e Activity. Esta framework foi então aplicada a uma revisão sistemática da literatura, a dois estudos de caso sobre performance musical e a um estudo de caso em performance de dança. Estes estudos aju- daram a comprender melhor os papéis desempenhados pelos compositores, intérpretes, instrumentistas, dançarinos e coreógrafos, o que é relevante para melhor projetar as tec- nologias interativas para performances. Por fim, esta tese propõe uma nova reflexão sobre a distinção entre compor e projetar um novo instrumento num contexto que envolve uma multiplicidade de atores. Este trabalho apresenta as seguintes contribuições principais para o campo do design de interação aplicado à tecnologia musical: 1) ARCAA, uma framework para analisar o conjunto de relações interconectadas em performances interativas, validado através de dois estudos de caso relacionados com a música, um estudo de caso relacionado com a dança e uma análise sistemática da literatura; 2) Recomendações para o design de sistemas interativos musicais para performance (música ou dança), tendo em conta as necessidades dos vários atores e a sobreposição entre a composição musical e o design de tecnologia interactiva; 3) Uma taxonomia sobre como as partituras musicais moldaram as ecologias performativas no NIME, com base numa análise sistemática da literatura dos artigos apresentados e publicados nestas conferência; 4) Proposta de uma aborda- gem metodológica combinando abordagens de design autobiográfico e idiográfico em performances interativas

Embodied interaction with guitars: instruments, embodied practices and ecologies

In this thesis I investigate the embodied performance preparation practices of guitarists to design and develop tools to support them. To do so, I employ a series of human-centred design methodologies such as design ethnography, participatory design, and soma design. The initial ethnographic study I conducted involved observing guitarists preparing to perform individually and with their bands in their habitual places of practice. I also interviewed these musicians on their preparation activities. Findings of this study allowed me to chart an ecology of tools and resources employed in the process, as well as pinpoint a series of design opportunities for augmenting guitars, namely supporting (1) encumbered interactions, (2) contextual interactions, and (3) connected interactions. Going forward with the design process I focused on remediating encumbered interactions that emerge during performance preparation with multimedia devices, particularly during instrumental transcription. I then prepared and ran a series of hands-on co-design workshops with guitarists to discuss five media controller prototypes, namely, instrument-mounted controls, pedal-based controls, voice-based controls, gesture-based controls, and “music-based” controls. This study highlighted the value that guitarists give to their guitars and to their existing practice spaces, tools, and resources by critically reflecting on how these interaction modalities would support or disturb their existing embodied preparation practices with the instrument. In parallel with this study, I had the opportunity to participate in a soma design workshop (and then prepare my own) in which I harnessed my first-person perspective of guitar playing to guide the design process. By exploring a series of embodied ideation and somatic methods, as well as materials and sensors across several points of contact between our bodies and the guitar, we collaboratively ideated a series of design concepts for guitar across both workshops, such as a series of breathing guitars, stretchy straps, and soft pedals. I then continued to develop and refine the Stretchy Strap concept into a guitar strap augmented with electronic textile stretch sensors to harness it as an embodied media controller to remediate encumbered interaction during musical transcription with guitar when using secondary multimedia resources. The device was subsequently evaluated by guitarists at a home practicing space, providing insights on nuanced aspects of its embodied use, such as how certain media control actions like play and pause are better supported by the bodily gestures enacted with the strap, whilst other actions, like rewinding the play back or setting in and out points for a loop are better supported by existing peripherals like keyboards and mice, as these activities do not necessarily happen in the flow of the embodied practice of musical transcription. Reflecting on the overall design process, a series of considerations are extracted for designing embodied interactions with guitars, namely, (1) considering the instrument and its potential for augmentation, i.e., considering the shape of the guitar, its material and its cultural identity, (2) considering the embodied practices with the instrument, i.e., the body and the subjective felt experience of the guitarist during their skilled embodied practices with the instrument and how these determine its expert use according to a particular instrumental tradition and/or musical practice, and (3) considering the practice ecology of the guitarist, i.e., the tools, resources, and spaces they use according to their practice

Interactive music: Balancing creative freedom with musical development.

PhDThis thesis is about interactive music, a musical experience that involves participation from the listener but is itself a composed piece of music and the Interactive Music Systems (IMSs) that create these experiences, such as a sound installation that responds to the movements of its audience. Some IMSs are brief marvels commanding only a few seconds of attention. Others engage those who participate for considerably longer. Our goal here is to understand why this difference arises and how we may then apply this understanding to create better interactive music experiences. I present a refined perspective of interactive music as an exploration into the relationship between action and sound. Reasoning about IMSs in terms of how they are subjectively perceived by a participant, I argue that fundamental to creating a captivating interactive music is the evolving cognitive process of making sense of a system through interaction. I present two new theoretical tools that provide complementary contributions to our understanding of this process. The first, the Emerging Structures model, analyses how a participant's evolving understanding of a system's behaviour engages and motivates continued involvement. The second, a framework of Perceived Agency, refines the notion of `creative control' to provide a better understanding of how the norms of music establish expectations of how skill will be demonstrated. I develop and test these tools through three practical projects: a wearable musical instrument for dancers created in collaboration with an artist, a controlled user study investigating the effects of constraining the functionality of a screen-based IMS, and an interactive sound installation that may only be explored through coordinated movement with another participant. This final work is evaluated formally through discourse analysis. Finally, I show how these tools may inform our understanding of an oft-cited goal within the field: conversational interaction with an interactive music system.Platform Grant (EPSRC EP/E045235/1)

SUSTAINING THEATER PROGRAMS IN UNDER RESOURCED ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS: A MIXED METHODS INTERVENTION EVALUATION

Arts education, particularly theater education, is declining in U.S. public schools and is especially scarce in elementary schools serving students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Disney Musicals in Schools, an initiative designed to build sustainable theater programs in such schools, experiences school attrition as cohorts advance through the program. This mixed methods study evaluated the capacity of an online professional learning tool to improve teachers’ theater production content knowledge, theater teaching self-efficacy beliefs, and theater program sustainability skills (partnership development skills, strategic planning skills, and capacity to maximize production and community resources). Eleven teachers participated in the six-month intervention study, which used a quasi-experimental, one group, pretest/posttest design combined with a convergent parallel design. The intervention significantly improved participants’ theater teaching self-efficacy beliefs and foundational musical theater content knowledge. Although statistical significance was not demonstrated for production role specific content knowledge improvements, practical significance was achieved in five of six production roles. Participants reported strong, positive perceptions about the intervention’s usability, and qualitative data revealed participants applied the professional learning to their practice. Low participation rates and inconsistent participation across school teams, however, indicate more research is necessary to understand the intervention’s capacity to improve theater program sustainability skills and the relationships between the variables of interest. Most importantly, this applied research indicated empirically-based opportunities for improvement to the intervention, which will ultimately benefit school theater programs

Integrated urban data visualising and decision-making framework

The work package (WP) 2 on Basic Exploration, Stakeholder Studies and Requirement Analysis created the scientific fundament of the project and produced essential knowledge for the conceptualisation of UrbanData2Decide. Task 2.5 brought together the previous research results and elaborated an integrated research model as well as a stakeholder requirements catalogue with first use case scenarios. In this integrated deliverable previous results of WP2 were combined to define a first blueprint for the UrbanData2Decide system as it will be developed later in the project

Sonic Interactions in Virtual Environments

This open access book tackles the design of 3D spatial interactions in an audio-centered and audio-first perspective, providing the fundamental notions related to the creation and evaluation of immersive sonic experiences. The key elements that enhance the sensation of place in a virtual environment (VE) are: Immersive audio: the computational aspects of the acoustical-space properties of Virutal Reality (VR) technologies Sonic interaction: the human-computer interplay through auditory feedback in VE VR systems: naturally support multimodal integration, impacting different application domains Sonic Interactions in Virtual Environments will feature state-of-the-art research on real-time auralization, sonic interaction design in VR, quality of the experience in multimodal scenarios, and applications. Contributors and editors include interdisciplinary experts from the fields of computer science, engineering, acoustics, psychology, design, humanities, and beyond. Their mission is to shape an emerging new field of study at the intersection of sonic interaction design and immersive media, embracing an archipelago of existing research spread in different audio communities and to increase among the VR communities, researchers, and practitioners, the awareness of the importance of sonic elements when designing immersive environments

Sonic interactions in virtual environments

This book tackles the design of 3D spatial interactions in an audio-centered and audio-first perspective, providing the fundamental notions related to the creation and evaluation of immersive sonic experiences. The key elements that enhance the sensation of place in a virtual environment (VE) are: Immersive audio: the computational aspects of the acoustical-space properties of Virutal Reality (VR) technologies Sonic interaction: the human-computer interplay through auditory feedback in VE VR systems: naturally support multimodal integration, impacting different application domains Sonic Interactions in Virtual Environments will feature state-of-the-art research on real-time auralization, sonic interaction design in VR, quality of the experience in multimodal scenarios, and applications. Contributors and editors include interdisciplinary experts from the fields of computer science, engineering, acoustics, psychology, design, humanities, and beyond. Their mission is to shape an emerging new field of study at the intersection of sonic interaction design and immersive media, embracing an archipelago of existing research spread in different audio communities and to increase among the VR communities, researchers, and practitioners, the awareness of the importance of sonic elements when designing immersive environments