Experiments with Virtual Reality Instruments
Teemu Mäki-Patola
Juha Laitinen, Aki Kanerva
Tapio Takala
MSc, researcher
Laboratory of Telecommunications
Software and Multimedia, Helsinki
University of Technology
+358 9 451 5849
Research assistant
Laboratory of Telecommunications
Software and Multimedia, Helsinki
University of Technology
+358 50 {353 1243, 544 8673}
Professor
Laboratory of Telecommunications
Software and Multimedia, Helsinki
University of Technology
+358 9 451 3222
[email protected]
{jmlaitin,aki.kanerva}@tml.hut.fi
[email protected]
ABSTRACT
In this paper, we introduce and analyze four gesture-controlled
musical instruments. We briefly discuss the test platform designed
to allow for rapid experimentation of new interfaces and control
mappings. We describe our design experiences and discuss the
effects of system features such as latency, resolution and lack of
tactile feedback. The instruments use virtual reality hardware and
computer vision for user input, and three-dimensional stereo
vision as well as simple desktop displays for providing visual
feedback. The instrument sounds are synthesized in real-time
using physical sound modeling.
Keywords
Musical instrument design, virtual instrument, gesture, widgets,
physical sound modeling, control mapping.
1. INTRODUCTION
Physical sound modeling is an active research area. Real-time
implementations of these models make it possible to alter any
parameter of the model while playing, offering more freedom for
lively performances. This creates a need for controllers whose
input flexibility matches the control complexity of the sound
models. Virtual reality (VR) input technology, such as data gloves
and location/orientation trackers with gesture analysis, is one way
of offering several natural degrees of freedom. We have created
several musical instruments that use this approach. See our project
web site for additional information and videos [20].
An article by Paradiso [13] and a book edited by Wanderley and
Battier [17] offer a good introduction to existing electronic
interfaces and gestural controllers. Many of them have been
created during the last few decades, even a few commercial ones
[23], [27]. However, there has been little research on virtual
reality interfaces for sound control [1], [8], [10]. The interfaces
presented in this paper are perhaps more “instrument-like” than
most of the other virtual reality interfaces, which have been more
of the type of interactive sound environments or interactive filters.
There are few quantitative studies that compare sound control
interfaces [16], [19]. Also, the importance of parameter mappings
Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for
personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are
not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that
copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. To copy
otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists,
requires prior specific permission and/or a fee.
Conference’04, Month 1–2, 2004, City, State, Country.
Copyright 2004 ACM 1-58113-000-0/00/0004…$5.00.
has only lately become a topic of active study [3], [4]. On the
other hand, there is a lot of literature on how to design musical
interfaces [2], [5], [9], [10], [18]. However, more research on the
effects of individual interface properties is needed. For instance,
virtual reality interfaces are bound to differ from classical
instruments, as the medium and its properties are fundamentally
different. VR technology introduces some latency, cannot easily
simulate tactile feedback, and is limited in both spatial and
temporal resolution. For instrument design in VR, it is important
to know the effects of these properties. Only then can we find out
the strengths and weaknesses of the approach, and give
suggestions on the kinds of interfaces it is well-suited for.
Our analyses of the presented instruments have two emphases.
First, we state our design experiences and research on the above
concepts. Second, we use Sergi Jorda’s theoretical framework [6]
to evaluate the potential and expressiveness of the instruments.
The presented instruments utilize two interaction approaches:
gestural control, and interaction with virtual objects called
widgets. In this context, gestural control means control by body
motion without directly interacting with any physical or virtual
objects. Virtual widgets are computer graphic objects the users
can interact with. For example, a Virtual Xylophone instrument
includes mallet and plate widgets.
2. HARDWARE
Most of the instruments were created in a Cave-like virtual room,
called EVE, in our laboratory [22]. Visualization of the virtual
environment is back projected onto three walls and a floor of a
three-by-three meters large cube-shaped room. The users perceive
the visualization three-dimensionally through active stereo shutter
glasses. Virtual objects can be created to be perceived at any
distance around the user. The rendering is done by an SGI
InfiniteReality Onyx2 running an IRIX 6.5 operating system.
User input comes from data gloves (5DT) and a magnetic motion
tracker (Ascension Technologies MotionStar). MIDI devices can
also be used. The motion tracker has six sensors. It samples the
three-dimensional location and orientation of each sensor at a rate
of 100Hz. The spatial resolution is about 1cm/2 degrees. Both
gloves measure the user’s finger flexure and return one integer
number for each finger defining how much the finger is bent. The
gloves are not able to simulate tactile feedback.
EVE’s sound system consists of 15 loudspeakers surrounding the
cube-shaped room, behind the screen walls. Vector Based
Amplitude Panning [14] is used to make the sounds originate
from any desired direction.
Two of the instruments were also implemented in a desktop
environment. Their user interface is based on a web camera and
computer vision technology, and they run on a typical Linux PC.
For ease of use, we made a graphical editor for creating and
editing the control mappings. Its visual node tree gives the user a
clear view of each mapping and of the parameters in it.
3. INSTRUMENT INTERFACE SYSTEM
4. ANALYSIS FRAMEWORK
The main goal of the instrument interface system was to make
prototyping quick and easy. Any input from any interface can be
easily mapped to any parameter(s) of the controlled sound
model(s). Next, we describe the main components of the system.
In Jorda’s analysis framework [6], efficiency and learning curve
are the main concepts. The framework is aimed at analyzing
professional instruments, and does not directly take into account
user satisfaction or the appeal of the experience. Our instruments
were mostly show cases inspecting possibilities, designed to offer
inspiring experiences. Despite this, we use the framework in our
analysis, as it offers one useful perspective. We also share our
design experiences in the analysis part.
• Input devices. The system can use a variety of input devices,
such as data gloves, magnetic trackers, computer vision and MIDI
controllers. Input is acquired from input devices at a high and
constant rate, allowing for precise rhythmic control of sound.
• Input processing. The user interface components can access all
collected input data, and process it in any way to extract desirable
features, such as gestures, and produce any number of new output
values/events. For instance, a xylophone plate component may
send its distance from a mallet, collision speed with the mallet,
location of the collision in 3D space, and so on.
• Control parameter mapping module. The parameters from the
interface components control the parameters of the sound models
through a mapping module. The mappings can be created using a
visual mapping editor application.
• Control language. We developed an expressive control
language that contains MIDI as a subset. As physical sound
models can be computationally heavy, controlling was made
possible over a network.
• Visual feedback. The performer is surrounded by a 270 degree
virtual reality view, able to produce any kind of stereoscopic
computer graphics.
• Collision detection and other object interaction. We now use a
simple collision detection library [21] but we are in the process of
integrating a more physically realistic one [25] to the system.
• Sound models or MIDI synthesizer. A plug-in based software
called Mustajuuri [24] is used as a DSP platform. Each sound
synthesis model is converted into a Mustajuuri plug-in. As MIDI
is a subset of our control language, MIDI synthesizers can be
controlled as well. However, in the instruments presented here,
we did not use commercial MIDI devices, but concentrated on VR
interfaces and physical sound models instead.
4.1 Efficiency
The efficiency of a musical instrument measures the relation of
musical output complexity to control input complexity. This value
is scaled with performer freedom, which represents how much
control the performer has over the output. Although a CD player
produces great music, its performer freedom is low, as the user
can do little to influence the music. The equation parameters are
not easily quantifiable, and we will only attempt to estimate them
in our analysis.
instEffici ency =
outputComp lexity * performerFreedom
ControlInp utComplexi ty
(1) [6]
4.2 Learning curve
Learning curve represents the behavior of efficiency as a function
of practice time. Simple instruments, such as a Tibetan Singing
Bowl, will likely not allow one to find new levels of expression
after years of playing in the way a piano or a violin will. A good
balance between challenge, boredom and frustration is sought [6].
Classical already established instruments are accepted to have a
long learning curve. People are also accustomed to notice
subtleties in their playing. However, new instruments are likely to
require a shorter learning curve in order to become accepted.
5. INSTRUMENTS
We will now describe four instruments created with the system
presented earlier. Each description is followed by design
experiences and a short analysis of the instrument in question.
3.1 Mapping the Control Parameters
5.1 Virtual Xylophone
Control parameter mapping means routing the user interface
parameters into the control parameters of the sound model(s). Our
configurable mapping module allows any amount of input
parameters to influence any amount of output parameters.
The Virtual Xylophone interface consists of a user-definable
number of virtual xylophone plates and two virtual mallets. In his
hands, the performer holds two magnetic sensors, from which the
VR mallet visualizations extend. The mallets inherit the location
and orientation of the sensors and cast shadows on the plates.
Collisions are detected between the virtual mallets and the
xylophone plates, controlling the corresponding DSP objects
accordingly. Hit velocity is mapped to the amplitude of an
impulse sent to the sound model. The hit location on each plate
affects the decay time of the sound. The instrument allows a
polyphony of several sound models.
Figure 1. Screen shot of a mapping from the mapping editor.
The mappings are created as node trees (the Nx+y node in the
figure performs a scaling and offsets the input signal).
On the left side of the performer, the interface displays a large
piano keyboard. The performer can grab keys with their left data
glove. This creates a new xylophone plate of the chosen note,
attached to the user's hand. The note name, such as C5, is also
displayed above the plate. The performer can then move the plate
to any place and orientation in 3D space. Grabbing and moving
existing plates is also possible. The arrangement can be saved and
loaded. Figure 2 shows a performer playing a complex layout.
placing the plates optimally for each musical piece. This increases
the efficiency considerably. Yet it also interferes with learning, as
each interface is different and usable mostly for a particular piece.
We do not yet know if some layout would be a good general
solution. Possibly some core of the layout could stay the same.
The possibility of moving plates and creating new ones allows the
user interface to be customized even for the needs of individual
pieces of music. Chords can be constructed by piling plates on top
of each other. Short passages can be made by stacking plates
further apart, played with one swift motion that goes through
them all. Thus, difficult passages can be made easier to play.
The learning curve of the instrument is gentle in the beginning.
The concepts of playing and modifying the interface are easy to
grasp. The instrument is likely to stay interesting for a long time.
Unlike with the traditional xylophone, this does not come so
much from acquiring kinaesthetic mastery, but from discovering
the possibilities of the interface, and from better understanding of
how individual interfaces should be designed.
5.2 Gestural FM Synthesizer
The Gestural FM Synthesizer is an evolution of the somewhat
famous Theremin instrument [26]. The original Theremin,
invented in 1919, is considered to be the first gesture controlled
instrument. It is played by moving one's hands in the air near two
antennae. The right hand controls the pitch of the instrument’s
simple sine wave oscillator. Moving the hand closer to the
antenna increases pitch, and moving it away decreases it.
Amplitude is controlled by moving the left hand relative to a
loop-shaped antenna located on the left side of the instrument.
Figure 2. A performer playing the Virtual Xylophone. By
moving and creating new plates, the performer has created a
custom interface for playing a particular musical piece.
5.1.1 Analyses
Because both the mallets and the plates exist only virtually, the
mallets can pass through the plates without resistance or recoil.
While at first this seemed to bother some users, it elicited a new
playing style, where plates could be struck from both sides by
moving hands on smooth, elliptical paths. This is markedly
different from traditional Xylophone playing, and allows for
playing with continuous motion.
Due to the tracker’s limited spatial resolution, the motion paths in
playing the Virtual Xylophone are larger than with a normal
xylophone. There is a latency of approximately 60ms between
striking and hearing the sound. Yet, without tactile feedback, the
sound and visualization, both delayed, are the only cues of the
exact collision time. Thus, the delay is not so noticeable.
The Virtual Xylophone is effectively a different instrument than
the traditional xylophone. Plates can fill the entire space around
the user, and are relatively large. Moving between them is not as
fast as with a traditional xylophone. The sound is more flexible,
and the configurable user interface offers possibilities to make
playing easier, and for making effects, such as patterns and
chords. The instrument is intuitive to anyone familiar with the
traditional xylophone.
Based on initial feedback from early user tests, the configurable
interface considerably increased the appeal of the instrument.
Making chords and short sequences was seen to be very
rewarding. The people testing it were excited and inspired.
The efficiency of the Virtual Xylophone can be altered by
creating different layouts of plates. The performer has real-time
control over three parameters: amplitude, note and decay time. All
are controlled by varying the style of striking. The performer can
also create chords and sequences and improve the interface by
Playing the original Theremin is difficult, and requires perfect
pitch hearing, because the only feedback is aural. Finding notes
on the instrument requires recognizing them through hearing. The
basic sine wave sound also limits expressiveness.
We created the Gestural FM Synthesizer in the spirit of the
original Theremin. For a more interesting sound, we replaced the
sine wave with a preconfigured FM synthesizer. The sound was
set to simulate brass with infinite sustain for a continuous sound.
The instrument is played with data gloves. The pitch of the sound
is controlled by moving the right hand up and down, and the
amplitude by opening and closing the fingers of the right hand as if the performer was letting the sound out from his hand. When
closed, the left hand’s relative position alters the timbre by slight
changes in modulation indexes. When the left hand is open, the
modulation indexes remain unchanged.
The instrument also offers a visualization of a musical scale as a
vertical piano keyboard. A thin line is projected from the
performer’s hand to the current pitch on the keyboard. The pitch
is continuous; the keyboard is only a visual aid.
5.2.1 Analyses
As a result of the visual feedback, users found it much easier to
find particular notes on the Gestural FM Synthesizer, compared to
the original Theremin. We suspect that the visual feedback is of
considerable help in early rehearsal of the instrument. Its
importance is likely to lessen as the performer learns the
instrument better and comes to rely on their inner presentation.
With continuous sound instruments, system latency is less
noticeable than with percussion instruments. We conducted a user
test of the just noticeable latency on a normal Theremin [12]. The
first latency that the subjects statistically noticed was 30ms.
However, they were not certain of their answers until latencies
reached the length of 60 to 70ms. We also tested how latency
affects playing accuracy, and time to reach desired notes on a
Theremin and on a Virtual Reality Theremin [11]. The study
suggested that latencies up to 60ms do not impair playing these
instruments. Mostly, this is because the instruments do not offer
tactile feedback. As a function of latency, time to reach notes
increased roughly five times as much as the introduced latency. In
light of these tests, virtual reality interfaces seem feasible for
controlling continuous sound, despite the latency. With better
hardware the latency can also be considerably reduced.
The membrane allows the user to experiment with a highly
flexible sound model. Its sound is realistic, and the material
options range from leather to wood, to metal and beyond. The
sound propagation can also be visualized as an animated wave
grid on the virtual plate (see Figure 3). This visualizes how the
impulse propagates on the surface of the membrane.
As mentioned, a traditional Theremin is a difficult instrument.
The few virtuoso performers have years of intensive rehearsal
behind them. The learning curve of the Gestural FM Synthesizer
is likely to be steeper in the beginning as the visual feedback
supports learning. Seeing where the absolute notes are makes it
possible to play the instrument without perfect pitch hearing.
5.3.1 Analyses
Vibrato is easy to produce on the traditional Theremin by waving
the fingers of the pitch hand. However, because of the low
resolution of our tracker, the required motion is slightly larger on
our instrument. As a result, it is more tiring to produce vibrato.
Thus, we added the option of automatic halftone vibrato, switched
on when the performer moves the right hand away from their
body. After a threshold, the distance alters the vibrato speed
between 4Hz and 8Hz. This option can be switched off at the
performer's preference. The pitch scale can be modified, but
because of the limited resolution, should not be too small.
The ability to alter physical parameters while the plate is vibrating
opens up interesting possibilities that are not readily available in
the real world. The material can be continuously changed while
waves are travelling on it. For instance, tension can be low as the
user hits the membrane, resulting in a sound of so low a frequency
that it is not audible. Increasing the tension after the hit makes the
waves faster and creates powerful, rumbling sounds. Thus, the
attack can be omitted, and only the decay used for special effects.
The performer controls four parameters with the hand motions.
Pitch and amplitude are controlled more than modulation indexes,
which alter the timbre of the sound. However, all of them can be
controlled in real-time. Total mastery of controlling all parameters
fluently and meaningfully is likely to require a lot of practice.
Because of the extra sound parameters, the instrument efficiency
is likely to be higher than that of a traditional Theremin.
5.3 Virtual Membrane
The Virtual Membrane is an interface built around a sound model
of a rectangular membrane [15], supported at the edges. Its
physical properties, such as dimensions, tension, damping and a
few other material properties, can be modified in real-time. It is
visualized as a simple, textured rectangular plate matching the
physical dimension parameters of the sound model.
Figure 3. Playing the Virtual Membrane with a waveform
visualization and playing the exhibition version.
The user interacts with the membrane with two mallets, one in
each hand. The hit location is mapped to the excitation point of
the sound model. Hitting different locations produces a different
timbre. Hit velocity is mapped to the amplitude of the impulse
given to the excitation location. Plate dimensions, tension and the
speed of the sound in the material are controlled by virtual slider
widgets. These are mapped directly to the parameters of the sound
model. The sliders can be moved by touching them with a virtual
mallet held in the performer’s left hand. It is possible to quickly
“scratch” the sliders even when the sound is playing after a hit.
Because of the flexible and realistic sound model the instrument
attracts ones interest. Test users remained fascinated with the
instrument for a long time. Also, hitting a leather membrane a
hundred square feet in size produces a magnificent, thunder-like
sound. The user really feels that he is making something happen.
Another version of the membrane, based on a web camera and
displayed at a science exhibition, uses one slider for interpolating
between predefined material sets. The interpolation is also
visualized by morphing the drum plate material on screen.
Another slider is used for modifying decay length (material
friction), and a third one for modifying the size of the plate. Each
slider can be “scratched” while playing.
In the VR room version, the performer has simultaneous real-time
control over four parameters, impulse amplitude, two-dimensional
hit location, and one of four sound model parameters in the form
of sliders. Additionally, the other three parameters can be
controlled by focusing on a different slider
It is not clear what a performer could learn to do when practicing
the instrument for a long time. In addition for using it as a drum
with a large sound scale it offers possibilities for interesting and
uncommon sound effects. Currently it could be used as an
atmospheric sound generation tool for movies, as an example.
Tactile feedback could be added to the interface by using a MIDI
drum set for inputting amplitude and hit location. The MIDI drum
could then be expanded with gestural control of the material
parameters. Tactile feedback would allow for faster and more
accurate playing. Material parameters could be controlled with
feet, similar to a kettle drum, or with body location. This would
free both hands for drumming. With a MIDI interface the
efficiency of the instrument would be that of a normal drum
expanded with larger control complexity and performer freedom
in the form of additional control of the sound.
5.4 Virtual Air Guitar
Playing an air guitar is to imitate rock guitar gestures along music
without the actual physical instrument. It is more showmanship
than musical performance and does not require real musical skills.
Nevertheless, the musical component is always present. The goal
of our Virtual Air Guitar (VAG) project was to create a more
interactive version of the experience, something that the users
could control instead of just acting along with. The Virtual Air
Guitar [7] is actually playable. It has an electric guitar sound and
is controlled with guitar playing gestures performed in the air.
We have made two versions of the Virtual Air Guitar. One is
implemented in the virtual room, and the other one on a generic
desktop Linux PC with a web camera interface. Both versions use
the distance between the user's hands to determine pitch, and
plucking is done by moving the right hand in a strumming motion.
The pitch scale can be either fret-based or continuous. Slides are
made by moving the left hand along the imaginary guitar neck,
and vibrato is produced by shaking the left hand.
The instrument uses an extended Karplus-Strong sound model,
which is tuned to match a Stratocaster guitar. The sound goes
through a simulated tube amplifier and effects chain to produce
the distorted electric guitar sound.
In order to achieve a realistic result that sounds like real guitar
playing, we implemented a guitar control language, and created a
software component that is controlled with this language. The
component controls the six strings of the sound model, and keeps
track of the state of each string and the performer. The controller
understands elementary playing techniques such as hammer-ons,
pull-offs, vibrato, fret-based slides and mute. The component then
modifies the parameters of the sound model accordingly.
The Virtual Air Guitar interface offers different play modes such
as free play, pentatonic scale play, strumming and rock solo
modes. The desktop version became a major attraction in
Finland’s largest science exhibition. For more information on the
Virtual Air Guitar, see our comprehensive article about it [7].
Figure 4. Left: rocking on with the VR version of the Virtual
Air Guitar. Right: computer vision view of the desktop version. A web camera interface tracks the yellow gloves and uses
gesture recognition to detect plucks, vibrato, slide and mute.
5.4.1 Analyses
From the selection of instruments we have created, the VAG has
proven to be the most popular. It is thrilling for people to produce
guitar music out of thin air. Also, the electric guitar is a “cool”
performance instrument. Who hasn't dreamed of being a rock star,
even for a short while?
The VAG is made so that even an unskilled performer can map
his motion intensity into relatively good sounding rock guitar
playing. A built in scale quantization makes sure only notes or
chords that fit well together are produced.
Naturally, the quantization gets in the way of playing actual
songs. However, without quantization, finding specific notes is
difficult, because there is only air between the hands. The right
hand’s motion also causes the distance to fluctuate. Thus, we
cannot use too accurate a scale, even though the location of the
right hand is lowpass-filtered. On the exhibition version, the two
play modes include the four chords of the intro to Smoke on the
Water, and a more free solo mode on a pentatonic minor scale.
The performer controls pitch and volume. In most of the modes
this control is limited to a predefined scale. Thus, the actual
efficiency of the instrument is not near that of a normal guitar.
However, the VAG is an entertainment device rather than a
professional instrument. And as such it functions well. We have
witnessed users of all ages play the instrument. They have been
curious and enthusiastic about it and have almost always walked
away with a smile on their face.
As the VAG was designed to be playable for a beginner its
learning curve is likely to flatten already after a short practice.
However, as it supports the playing, even a beginner can have lots
of fun with it and experience what it is like to play a rock guitar.
6. DISCUSSION
Virtual reality is a different medium compared to our physical
world. Replicating interfaces of traditional instruments in virtual
reality may not bring about useful results unless we are extending
existing instruments with additional control. Familiarity with a
real-world counterpart helps to grasp the concept and supports
playing in the beginning. However, it may not be easy to find new
ways of playing, which is needed as the instruments are different.
Users of traditional instruments may not even be interested in
using virtual replicas, as the original ones work fine. Instead, we
should discover the kinds of interfaces that are best suited for the
VR medium. For instance, the presented Gestural FM Synthesizer
extends the expressiveness of the Theremin, and is not hampered
by latency or lack of tactile feedback. For making instruments in a
new medium the properties of the medium and their musical
effects should be well understood in order to work around the
limitations and utilize the strengths.
The efficiency of our instruments is reduced by low spatial and
temporal resolution, as well as by latency. Low resolution
requires larger motion paths. Together with latency, it makes fast
and accurate playing difficult. However, these properties could be
improved with existing technology. Lifting the limitations would
also allow for faster instruments with vast possibilities.
One of the most promising features of virtual reality interfaces is
the potential for visualization. Unlike in physical instruments,
where visual feedback can only directly correspond to the physics
of sound production, such as vibrating strings, virtual instruments
allow for intelligent visual feedback. A physical instrument's
appearance is static, but a virtual instrument can modify its visual
features in real-time. For example, the Gestural FM Synthesizer
includes visualization that helps users reach correct pitches.
In addition to providing visual cues, visualization could be used to
teach the user how to play an instrument. For example, the FM
Synthesizer could include a scrolling musical score that marks the
correct position of the hand in the air.
In addition to teaching music, features of the instrument sound
can also be visualized. For example, a virtual widget could
change color and texture according to the properties of the sound
it is linked to while playing. Visualizing sound has been studied
already, but there is little research available on visualizing the
interpreted concepts that humans make of sounds. For example,
the term "brightness" is subjective. The meanings of these terms
and how to visualize these concepts could offer interesting
knowledge for computer instrument design.
[8] Lanier, J. Virtual Reality and Music.
http://www.advanced.org/jaron/vr.html (visited 20.1.2005)
In addition to adding to the usability of an instrument,
visualization can also affect the entire performance. Playing a
musical instrument is not an isolated act, but most often placed in
the context of a concert or other performance. The performer is
not only producing music, but creating a multimedia show for the
audience. By visualizing sounds in an aesthetically appealing
way, artists are given more possibilities for engrossing the
audience. At the time of writing, music visualization based on
audio analysis is gaining increased attention, especially in the
music style of electronica. These are most often abstract patterns
that change color and shape to the rhythm and spectral content of
music. By linking visualization to the instruments that produce
the sound, it can be made much more detailed, reacting to changes
in individual sounds. Basically, this generalizes the concept of
mapping to cover the routing of control parameters also to the
visualization as well as to the sound model.
[9] Machover, T. Instruments, Interactivity, and Inevitability.
Proceedings of the NIME International Conference, 2002.
7. CONCLUSIONS
In this paper, we have presented a virtual reality software system
designed for making musical instruments. Four instruments
created with the system were presented. The instruments were
analysed against a framework that considers the learning curve
and efficiency of an instrument. Each instrument’s analysis was
also accompanied with our design experiences. The effects of
several interface properties were discussed in relation to design of
musical instruments using novel input and output hardware.
8. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This research was supported by Pythagoras Graduate School
funded by the Finnish Ministry of Education and the Academy of
Finland and by an EU IST program (IST-2001-33059) [20].
9. REFERENCES
[1] Choi, I. A Manifold Interface for Kinesthetic Notation in
High-Dimensional Systems. in Trends in Gestural Control of
Music. Battier and Wanderley, eds., IRCAM, Centre George
Pompidou, Paris. 2000.
[2] Cook. P. Principles for Designing Computer Music
Controllers. NIME Workshop – CHI, 2001.
[3] Hunt, A., Wanderley, M., Paradis, M. The Importance of
Parameter Mapping in Electronic Instrument Design. In
Proceedings of the Conference on New Interfaces for
Musical Expression (NIME), 2002.
[10] Mulder, A. (1998) Design of Virtual Three-Dimensional
Instruments for Sound Control. PhD Thesis, Simon Fraser
University.
[11] Mäki-Patola, T. and Hämäläinen, P. Effect of Latency on
Playing Accuracy of Two Continuous Sound Instruments
Without Tactile Feedback. Proc. Int. Conference on Digital
Audio Effects (DAFx'04), Naples, Italy, 2004.
[12] Mäki-Patola, T. and Hämäläinen, P. Latency Tolerance for
Gesture Controlled Continuous Sound Instrument Without
Tactile Feedback. Proc. International Computer Music
Conference (ICMC), Miami, USA, November 1-5, 2004.
[13] Paradiso, J. Electronic Music Interfaces: New Ways to Play.
IEEE Spectrum, 34(12), 18-30, 1997. Later expanded as an
online article, 1998. (visited 20.1.2005):
http://web.media.mit.edu/~joep/SpectrumWeb/SpectrumX.html
[14] Pulkki, V. Spatial sound generation and perception by
amplitude panning techniques. PhD thesis, Helsinki
University of Technology, Espoo, Finland, 2001.
[15] Trautmann, L., Petrausch, S., Rabenstein, R. Physical
Modeling of Drums by Transfer Function Methods. Proc.
Int. Conf. on Acoustics, Speech & Signal Processing
(ICASSP), Salt Lake City, Utah, May 2001.
[16] Vertegaal, R. Eaglestone, B. Comparison of Input Devices in
an ISEE Direct Timbre Manipulation Task. Interacting with
Computers 8, 1, pp.113-30, 1996.
[17] Wanderley, M., Battier, M. Eds. Trends in Gestural Control
of Music. Ircam - Centre Pompidou - 2000.
[18] Wanderley, M. Performer-Instrument Interaction:
Applications to Gestural Control of Music. PhD Thesis.
Paris, France: Univ. Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris VI, 2001.
[19] Wanderley, M., Orio, N. Evaluation of Input Devices for
Musical Expression: Borrowing Tools from HCI. Computer
Music Journal, 26:3, pp. 62-76, Fall 2002.
[20] ALMA project instruments page (visited 13.4.2005):
http://www.tml.hut.fi/~tmakipat/alma/almawebisivu/HUTT
MLIndex.html
[21] ColDet Library website. (Visited 20.1.2005)
http://photoneffect.com/coldet/
[4] Hunt, A., Wanderley, M., Kirk, R. Towards a Model for
Instrumental Mapping in Expert Musical Interaction. Proc.
of the International Computer Music Conference, 2000.
[22] EVE home page. http://eve.hut.fi/ (Visited 30.1.2005)
[5] Hunt, A. Radical User Interfaces for Real-time Musical
Control. PhD Thesis, University of York UK.
[24] Mustajuuri DSP software webpage (Visited 19.1.2005)
http://www.tml.hut.fi/~tilmonen/mustajuuri/
[6] Jordà, S. Digital Instruments and Players: Part I – Efficiency
and Apprenticeship. Proceedings of the Conference on New
Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME04), Hamamatsu,
Japan, 2004.
[7] Karjalainen, M., Mäki-Patola, T., Kanerva, A., Huovilainen,
A. and Jänis, P. Virtual Air Guitar. Proc. AES 117th
Convention, San Francisco, CA, October 28-31, 2004.
[23] I-Cube website. (Visited 18.1.2005)
http://infusionsystems.com/catalog/index.php
[25] Open Dynamics Engine (Visited 20.1.2005) http://ode.org/
[26] Theremin info pages. (Visited 19.1.2005)
http://www.theremin.info/
[27] The Yamaha Miburi System (visited 20.1.2005)
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/select/1297/miburi.html