In New Digital Musical Instruments Eduardo Miranda and Marcelo Wanderley focus on musical instruments that use the computer as the main sound-generating device. Such instruments often consist of a gestural controller driving the musical parameters of a sound synthesizer in real-time. With very few exceptions, electronic musical synthesizers have been designed since the very early models to be played with a piano-like keyboard. Astonishingly, the appearance of the digital synthesizer and the definition of the MIDI protocol did not change this trend. It is not by chance that in pop-music parlance, performers who played the synthesizers were often referred to as keyboard players. With the emergence of software-based synthesizers and the availability of increasingly faster and more affordable personal computers, musicians started to implement their own digital musical instruments and create demands for controllers other than the keyboard itself. Over the last decade a community that remained largely marginalized by the academy and industry for a number of years has been the source of various interesting developments in this area. Apart from a few papers scattered in various journals and the proceedings of the relatively new NIME (New Interfaces for Musical Expression) conference proceedings, there is no concise literature on this fascinating new topic. This book is an attempt to document such developments and inform researchers and musicians interested in designing new digital musical instruments with control and interaction beyond the conventional keyboard paradigm. The book is divided into five chapters. The first chapter discusses the notion of musical gestures, their acquisition and their mapping onto the variables of a synthesizer. The second chapter focuses on practical issues of gestural controller design and reviews various examples of gestural controllers. The third chapter follows with an introduction to sensors and sensor-to-computer interfaces. It reviews the application of these sensors in the design of various digital musical instruments and discusses methods for converting the sensor signals onto data that can be used to control software sound synthesizers. The following two chapters introduce the use of electrical signals produced in the body, such as nerves, muscles, and brain signals, to control music. It presents different types of biosignals and introduces basic techniques to render these signals useful for musical control. Finally, chapter five discusses an interesting route to new instrument design, which involves the provision of artificial intelligence in order to render such instruments interactive.

Frequently asked questions

Yes, you can cancel anytime from the Subscription tab in your account settings on the Perlego website. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your current billing period. Learn how to cancel your subscription.

No, books cannot be downloaded as external files, such as PDFs, for use outside of Perlego. However, you can download books within the Perlego app for offline reading on mobile or tablet. Learn more here.

Perlego offers two plans: Essential and Complete

Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.

Both plans are available with monthly, semester, or annual billing cycles.

We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn more here.

Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.

Yes! You can use the Perlego app on both iOS or Android devices to read anytime, anywhere — even offline. Perfect for commutes or when you’re on the go.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.

Yes, you can access New Digital Musical Instruments by Mirando, Eduardo Reck,Wanderley, Marcelo M. in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Media & Performing Arts & Music. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.