Instrumental gesture vs. musical functions vs. type of transducer

Roel Vertegaal et al. [2] propose a simple classification of musical functions in three types, and relate them to type of transducer and kind of primary feedback, as shown in figure 1.2, below.
 

Absolute dynamical functions - e.g. absolute selection of pitch, amplitude or timbre;

Relative dynamical functions - e.g. modulation of a given pitch, amplitude or timbre;

Static functions - e.g. selection of pitch range, duration, scale or transposition. 7

The authors [2] state that " ... when we design the physical interface of a computer music instrument , we need to carefully match transducers with the musical function they perform, taking feedback requirements into account". Then, based on [5], they suggest important criteria for determining the suitability of a transducer for a particular musical function according to: physical variable sensed (position, movement, force), resolution (discrete or continuous, both in time -sampling rate (discrete) for digital or continuous time for analogue signals, and in amplitude - number of available values - finite (discrete) or infinite (continuous)), agent of control (hand, fingers, lungs) and type of primary feedback (tactile, kinesthetic, visual). (See a deeper discussion of these topics in [5]).
 

• Case example 2: The violin and the clarinet.

Wed Feb 10 10:07:20 MET 1999