Towards an evaluation methodology for digital musical instruments considering performer’s view: a case study

2. Towards an evaluation
methodology for digital musical
instruments considering
performer’s view: a case study
jeronimo filipe francisco giordano veronica geber
barbosa calegario magalhaes cabral teichrieb ramalho

3. d
M usT C
music technology interactivity creativity
augmenting experiences for a better life

4. Digital Musical Instrument
controller
mapping
sound synthesis

5. but how can we
evaluate those
instruments?

6. !
Stowell et al. 2009

7. O’Modhrain 2011
Orio et al. 2002
Hsu and Sosnick 2009
Stowell et al. 2009
Birnbaum et al. 2005
state of the art

8. O’Modhrain 2011
performer Orio et al. 2002
views Hsu and Sosnick 2009
audience Stowell et al. 2009
manufacturer Birnbaum et al. 2005
state of the art

9. O’Modhrain 2011
Orio et al. 2002
task-based Hsu and Sosnick 2009
approach Stowell et al. 2009
Birnbaum et al. 2005
state of the art

10. O’Modhrain 2011
quantitative approach Orio et al. 2002
Hsu and Sosnick 2009
Stowell et al. 2009
rehearsals
Birnbaum et al. 2005
performances
state of the art

11. qualitative approach O’Modhrain 2011
Orio et al. 2002
individual sessions Hsu and Sosnick 2009
free and guided explorations Stowell et al. 2009
semi-structured interviews Birnbaum et al. 2005
discourse analysis
state of the art

12. O’Modhrain 2011
Orio et al. 2002
Hsu and Sosnick 2009
Stowell et al. 2009
Birnbaum et al. 2005
!
state of the art

13. methodology proposal
Data Collection Data Analysis Data Visualization
• Rehearsals • Discourse Analysis • Dimension Spaces
• Performances
• Interviews

14. prototype
/parameter1
0.7
0.1
OSCeleton
re.scalla
/joint/r_hand/1
0.7
0.1
5.9
OSCulator
note
on
note
off
SimpleSynth

17. prototype
/parameter1
0.7
0.1
OSCeleton
re.scalla
/joint/r_hand/1
0.7
0.1
5.9
OSCulator
note
on
note
off
SimpleSynth

18. prototype: mappings

19. prototype demo

20. !
data collection
4 people, aged 18-25, familiarity with technology and music
rehearsals:free and guided
performances

21. data analysis

22. data analysis
User 2 is familiar technology, constantly listens to music and despite playing acoustic guitar
for years, does not consider himself as a professional musician. He described his relation
with the system making an analogy with a tamed animal: "the system tamed me, when I
was supposed to tame it”. This description emerged from his perception of system's notes
flow control. He found the sound feedback and latency between gesture and sound
synthesis in a good level but stressed that the note sequence is "boring", suggesting to
apply effects, such as pitch bending, to complete this gap. His main concern was about
visual feedback, naming it as the priority improvement the system could have. According to
him, the influence of the space in the system would reflect in a greater freedom of
actions, as "running and jumping". The tiredness to use the system was also highlighted by
him as a disadvantage, ironically saying that "I'm not athlete yet" for using the instrument.

23. data analysis
User 2 is familiar technology, constantly listens to music and despite playing acoustic guitar
for years, does not consider himself as a professional musician. He described his relation
sound making an analogyanda latency is"the system tamed me, when I
with the system
feedback with tamed animal: OK
was supposed to tame it”. This description emerged from his perception of system's notes
note sequence is boring
flow control. He found the sound feedback and latency between gesture and sound
synthesis in a good level but stressed that the note sequence is "boring", suggesting to
visual naming it as the priority improvement the system could have. According to
feedback is missing
apply effects, such as pitch bending, to complete this gap. His main concern was about
visual feedback,
him, the influence of the space in the system would reflect in a greater freedom of
tiredness to use the system
actions, as "running and jumping". The tiredness to use the system was also highlighted by
him as a disadvantage, ironically saying that "I'm not athlete yet" for using the instrument.

24. data visualization

25. data visualization
!

26. discussion
The combination of different ideas, methods and techniques has enriched the
evaluation process as a whole providing more complete qualitative results and
tools for comparison.

27. discussion
Data Collection Data Analysis Data Visualization
• Rehearsals • Discourse Analysis • Dimension Spaces
• Performances
• Interviews

28. discussion
Data Collection Data Analysis Data Visualization
• Rehearsals • Discourse Analysis • Dimension Spaces
• Performances
• Interviews

29. discussion
Data Collection Data Analysis Data Visualization
• Rehearsals • Discourse Analysis • Dimension Spaces
• Performances
• Interviews

30. future work
the method is still under continuous development
include the audience’s view
improve the prototype based on the user feedback
compare with other case studies
towards a step in the development cycle of a DMI

31. references
D.
Birnbaum,
R.
Fiebrink,
J.W.
Malloch,
and
M.M.
Wanderley,
“Towards
a
dimension
space
for
musical
devices,”
Proceedings
of
the
2005
Conference
on
New
interfaces
for
musical
expression,
National
University
of
Singapore,
2005,
p.
192–195.
N.
Orio,
I.
Stravinsky,
N.
Schnell,
and
M.M.
Wanderley,
“Input
Devices
for
Musical
Expression:
Borrowing
Tools
from
HCI,”
Real-­‐Time
Systems,
2002.
W.
Hsu
and
M.
Sosnick,
“Evaluating
interactive
music
systems:
An
HCI
approach,”
Proceedings
of
the
2009
Conference
on
New
Interfaces
for
Musical
Expression,
2009,
pp.
25-­‐28.
S.
O’Modhrain,
“A
framework
for
the
evaluation
of
digital
musical
instruments,”
Computer
Music
Journal,
vol.
35,
2011,
p.
28–42.
D.
Stowell,
A.
Robertson,
N.
Bryan-­‐Kinns,
and
M.D.
Plumbley,
“Evaluation
of
live
human–computer
music-­‐making:
Quantitative
and
qualitative
approaches,”
International
Journal
of
Human-­‐Computer
Studies,
vol.
67,
Nov.
2009,
pp.
960-­‐975.
Website
containing
files
mentioned
in
this
work.http://www.cin.ufpe.br/~fcac/sbcm2011.
Microsoft
Xbox
Kinect
website.
http://www.xbox.com/kinect.
Re.Scallax
project
website.
http://code.google.com/p/rescalax/.
SimpleSynth
application
website.
http://notahat.com/simplesynth.

32. contact
d
M usT C
http://mustic.net
fcac@cin.ufpe.br