ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses a variety of applications for digital musical instruments (DMIs) and interactive systems and presents a conceptual model that attempts to put them in context. A focus on Romantic-era ideals of performance can lead to missing important alternate kinds of musical activity and creation—such as playing with sequencers, "live-coding" of software and algorithmic music—or create unrealistic goals for performances with DMIs. The embodied cognition perspective can be a useful approach to the investigation of DMIs when examining many types of musical practice, even those involving high-level symbolic systems. The chapter explores the space of musical interaction contexts and activities; and presents a model adapted from the human-machine interaction literature. Many composers for DMIs choose to use dynamic mapping for their performances, in which the mapping connections change over time. Finally, the chapter addresses several pervasive beliefs regarding the design and use of DMIs, so that a more balanced approach can be taken.