TY - JOUR
T1 - Preparing the digital piano
T2 - Introducing bitklavier
AU - Trueman, Dan
AU - Mulshine, Michael
N1 - Funding Information:
We are grateful to Adam Sliwinski for his insights and dedication to the development of bitKlavier, and to Rebecca Sutton Koeser for her close read of the manuscript and her suggestions. Support for bitKlavier has come from the American Council of Learned Societies, the Center for the Digital Humanities, the Council on Science andTechnology, and the Music Department at Princeton University.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
PY - 2020/6/1
Y1 - 2020/6/1
N2 - This article describes a new kind of digital musical instrument, a novel assemblage of the familiar MIDI keyboard with custom interactive software. Inspired by John Cage’s prepared piano, our instrument both takes advantage of and subverts the pianist’s hard-earned, embodied training, while also inviting an extended configuration stage that “prepares” the instrument to behave in composition-specific, idiosyncratic ways. Through its flexible— though constrained—design, the instrument aims to inspire a playful approach to instrument building, composition, and performance.We outline the development history of our instrument, called bitKlavier, its current design, and some of its musical possibilities.
AB - This article describes a new kind of digital musical instrument, a novel assemblage of the familiar MIDI keyboard with custom interactive software. Inspired by John Cage’s prepared piano, our instrument both takes advantage of and subverts the pianist’s hard-earned, embodied training, while also inviting an extended configuration stage that “prepares” the instrument to behave in composition-specific, idiosyncratic ways. Through its flexible— though constrained—design, the instrument aims to inspire a playful approach to instrument building, composition, and performance.We outline the development history of our instrument, called bitKlavier, its current design, and some of its musical possibilities.
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U2 - 10.1162/COMJ_a_00518
DO - 10.1162/COMJ_a_00518
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85087588161
SN - 0148-9267
VL - 43
SP - 48
EP - 66
JO - Computer Music Journal
JF - Computer Music Journal
IS - 2-3
ER -