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New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME): Creating and Composing Unique Interactive Performances

Description

This course will walk students through the process of creating a New Interface for Musical Expression, or nime, and use it to compose and perform an original musical work. Students will learn skills in both technical and creative fields in order to effectively capture sensory data and transform them into sound. Various topics in electronic music composition will be covered to give students a wide range of possible directions in which to develop their nimes. This includes computer programming for audio, sound design and effects processing, musical structure, fabrication, and electronic circuitry. The course concludes with a concert in which students perform original compositions for their nimes.

Prerequisite

A laptop running macOS or Windows will be required for the course. Chromebooks will not suffice.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students will understand...

  • How to create a New Interface for Musical Expression, or NIME;
  • How to play and perform their NIMEs;
  • How to map sensory data onto custom interfaces designed to generate sound as an expressive musical instrument;
  • And, how to compose elementary electronic compositions.

Assignments

  • A mid-course presentation of the development of your NIME project (25%)
  • A final performance, complete with score, of your NIME (55%)

Grading

  • Mid-course presentation of the development of your NIME project (25%)
  • NIME showcase as a final performance, complete with score, (55%)
  • Score/sketch associated with your NIME (10%)
  • Attendance (10%)

Software Requirements/Associated Costs

The costs associated with this course depends on the kind of NIME you choose to create. A software-based NIME, for example, might involve Max and an Arduino microcomputer, both of which are standard for this course. Together, they will cost about $99.

If, on the other hand, you design an analog-based NIME, one where you might be striking a membrane with a physical device, then your costs would depend on whether you’re using found objects, building the items from off-the-shelf parts, or a combination of the aforementioned.

Schedule

Week 01

  • Listen/watch previous NIMEs
  • Introductions
  • Introduction to the course
  • Demo: Max/MSP/Jitter/Processing/Arduino

Week 02

  • Listen to music at the very beginning of class, something related to a NIME
  • History of NIMEs
  • Intro to electronics
  • Hands-on practice: electronics

Week 03

  • Listen/watch previous NIMEs
  • Fundamentals of computer programming
  • Intro to Processing
  • Hands-on practice: Processing

Week 04

  • Listen/watch previous NIMEs
  • Creating sound with Processing
  • Intro to Max/MSP/Jitter
  • Hands-on practice: Max/MSP/Jitter

Week 05

  • Listen/watch previous NIMEs
  • Departing from traditional Western musical constructs
  • Pitch ideas

Week 06

  • Listen/watch previous NIMEs
  • Shaping sound electronically
  • Mapping spatial data, such as light, climate, proximity, temperature, or moisture to audio/video

Week 07

  • Midterm presentations

Week 08

  • Listen/watch previous NIMEs
  • Project check-ins
  • Using unconventional methods to trigger NIMEs
  • OpenSoundProtocol, or OSC

Week 09

  • Listen/watch previous NIMEs
  • Project check-ins
  • Thinking ergonomically about your NIMEs

Week 10

  • Listen/watch previous NIMEs
  • Project check-ins
  • Mapping body movement to analog or digital audio

Week 11

  • Listen/watch previous NIMEs
  • Project check-ins
  • Processing and filtering audio through Max and/or plugins

Week 12

  • Listen/watch previous NIMEs
  • Project check-ins
  • Scoring your NIME compositions

Week 13

  • Open lab

Week 14

  • Final project performances (on campus, or in the Hartford environs)