‘The Plucker’: A Case Study in Interface Specific Control Signal Processing

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Session Title:
  • Media Control Interfaces

Presentation Title:
  • ‘The Plucker’: A Case Study in Interface Specific Control Signal Processing

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Abstract:

  • In this paper the applications of musical control signal processing algorithms are discussed. A generic classification of these signals is used to provide a set of basic processing strategies. ‘The Plucker’ musical interface is discussed and used to present a variety of interaction models that can be conceived for specific purposes. Basic algorithms for a variety of aspects that can be analyzed from the interface data are presented. These include continuous aspects such as speed, energy, regularity and also time instances such as attack, direction change and activity thresholds among others. The specific controllers in focus are joysticks, potentiometers and buttons as can be found on ‘The Plucker’. These are analyzed in the light of physical convenience and virtuosity as well as available data streams, compatibility and calibration. The described processing algorithms are real-time implementations using max for live environment and thereby easily translatable to max/msp and pure data environments.

    Further control signal processing functionalities are presented that form the building blocks of more complex gesture following and interaction analysis implementations. Also, musical aspects of control rate signal processing are discussed in the light of the various musical parameters, the hierarchy of descriptive layers achievable and the mapping. A projection on the future of control signal processing is established as the commercial software increasingly supports these strategies. The paper presentation includes both technical and musical demonstration of the interface and the control signal processing described.

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