Performing with a Sonic Tool - An approach to designing and analysing new instruments

Abstract

In recent decades, digital technology has accelerated the development of new musical instruments, not only establishing new techniques for creating sound but also enabling new performance practices. Audiences have been exposed to new ways of performing music ranging from more or less static laptop performances to expressive use of bodily gestures to control sounds. These changes are becoming even more acute since contemporary artists are increasingly using software and open-hardware platforms to create their own one-of-a-kind instruments. While much research has focused on these new creative possibilities from the perspective of composers and performers, less attention has been directed towards how audiences perceive them. In most musical performances, the audience’s comprehension of how an instrument functions is vital (Tanaka 2000: 398; Medeiros and others 2014: 645). In a traditional setting, when an artist performs with an instrument, the audience can build on their cumulative experience and knowledge to evaluate the skill of an artist, but how does this change when a performance is based around a new one-of-a-kind instrument?