Presented to music composition faculty and students at BYU February 9, 2015. Topics include mobile phone ensembles, mobile music apps, and networked instruments. Long setup times for networked mobile music configurations make for barriers to wider adoption among the public. Proposed solutions via OpenSoundControl are discussed.

1. Mobile Phone Instruments, the
Possibilities of Networks, and OSC
Nathan Bowen, PhD
Moorpark College
nbowen@vcccd.edu

4. isolation vs. community
passive vs. active music making

5. Nathan Bowen, PhD
Moorpark College
nbowen@vcccd.edu

6. What is the landscape of mobile music
today?
T. Kell & M.Wanderley, ICMC | SMC 2014 poster

8. What does this survey tell us?
• Most ‘music’ apps do not engage user as
primary music maker
• Most music app instruments are ‘pocket’
versions of existing instruments
• Emphasis of mobility and novelty
• Still, significant sector that leverage unique
qualities of mobile phones (network!)
• Potential is there for truly new forms of
expression
(infant stages)

9. Mobile Phone Ensembles

12. • Set up time.
• Ubiquitous music hardware lacks a ubiquitous
software layer for music.
• Does the instrument support sustained
practice and mastery? (and is it interesting to
watch someone perform?)
Challenges for mobile music

13. • OpenSoundControl (OSC) version 1.0 does
not support instrument profiles or zero-
configuration.
• This must be built manually at the application
layer.
• Most OSC-based apps require a knowledge of
ip addresses and ports by end-user
Set up time

14. • Exchange of state
• Management of services
• Header plus data
• Zero configuration
– Advertisements by devices
– Three-way handshake
• (Wireless devices talk behind the scenes)
Solution: OSC as Protocol

16. • OSC is a data format built for flexibility, but
rarely encourages interoperability
• /mrmr/acceleratedX/3/Nathans-iPhone .002 -
.514 .288
• /accxyz/ .002 -.514 .288
• /sensor/accel/ .002 -.514 .288
• Everyone is accessing same data, but calling it
different things
Lack of Standardization

17. • Standardize (through community consensus) the
order of tokens
• /public vs. /vendor
• /public/sensor/accelerometer
• /vendor/mrmr/acceleratedX/3/Nathans-iPhone
.002 -.514 .288
• /vendor/touchosc/accxyz/ .002 -.514 .288
• Preserve flexibility while encouraging
interoperability
Solution: OSC as Global Namespace

18. • Must be physically demanding to master
• Must still reward novices and cursory
exploration
• Performance practice needs authentic
physical movement that communicates well
to audience
Building an instrument worth
practicing

19. Other challenges for mobile music
• Mobile phones are disposable. We typically
associate instruments as valuable and precious
(heirlooms)
• Just because everyone has a mobile phone
doesn’t mean they’re interested in making music
– (not all people like to use their voices to sing)
• Sound quality: amplification, timbre
• Instrument needs to be carved out from a device
normally associated with phone calls
• Mobile phones are rapidly evolving. Will phones
of future even be physical handheld devices?

20. Nathan Bowen, PhD
Moorpark College
nbowen@vcccd.edu