After successful completion of the course, students are able to...

This course is centred on building interactive musical objects. It is articulated around three poles (i.e. theory, experimentation and practice) which will be permanently interwoven:

1) Theory: an introduction to recent trends in Philosophy of Technology and Interaction Design.

2) Experimentation: students will design and build a DIY musical controller (musical interface) with sensors.

3) Practice: students will create a small improvisation or composition for the musical controller they have built (solo or within a band).

Objective: students will get the necessary competences to design and build basic electronic systems able to capture data from sensors and transmit this information to synthesizers using MIDI or OpenSoundControl protocols.

At the theory, a strong effort will be done in understanding technological mediation: how technologies shape our understanding of the world and musical cultures. We will depart from post-phenomenology and will evaluate the 4E cognitive schema: embodied, embedded, enactive and extended

Students will learn the basics for using sensors and programming microcontrollers with Arduino. In particular, students can choose to build an OpenSoundControl controller using the ESP32 microprocessor or a USB MIDI controller with Teensy boards. Students will learn the different types of sensors, how to program a microcontroller and how to transmit this data to a computer to synthesize sound.

Finally, students will have to improvise (solo or within a band) a musical piece with the musical controllers they have designed.

• Musical Interfaces (musical controllers) design and programming
• Sensor systems for musical expression
• MIDI and OpenSoundControl protocol programming.
• Hardware programming with Arduino: ESP32 microprocessor and Teensy board
• Data mapping: from sensor data to musical result
• Sound synthesis (software-based)
• Expression and musicality with musical interfaces

This semester the class will be held online.

Teaching will be distributed among live sessions, video tutorials and research sessions.

Class attendance: 25% of the note

Assignments: 25% of the note

Final project: 50% of the note

The number of attendants is restricted to 20. If there are more than 20 applicants it is only possible to take part if anotherone gets off. With personal signature at the info meeting on the beginning of the first lecture your registration is complete.

No previous knowledge is required to attend this course