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New Interfaces for Musical Expression is a graduate level course taught at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts Interactive Telecommunications Program. It was started in Spring 2002 by Gideon D'Arcangelo and has developed and changed with the times.

Current Instructors

Greg Shakar (greg.shakar <at> nyu) and Hans-Christoph Steiner (hansi <at> nyu <dot> edu)

Previous Instructors

Gideon D'Arcangelo (gideon <at> nyu <dot> edu) and Jamie Allen (jamie <at> nyu <dot> edu)

Media

• NIME 2005: New Interfaces for Musical Expression review in Computer Music Journal, Spring 2006, Vol. 30, No. 1, p86

Papers from NIME class projects

• Modal Kombat: Competition and Choreography in Synesthetic Musical Performance, by David Hindman, 2006
• Creating a Context for Musical Innovation: A NIME Curriculum, by Gideon D'Arcangelo, 2005
• Sonictroller, by Spencer Kiser and David Hindman, 2005
• Bubbaboard and Mommaspeaker: Creating Digital Tonal Sounds from an Acoustic Percussive Instrument, by Derek Wang, 2005
• boomBox, by Jamie Allen, 2005
• Realtime Sample System for the Turntablist version 2: 16padjoystickcontroller, by Takuro Mizuta Lippet, 2004
• The Stranglophone: Enhancing Expressiveness in Live Electronic Music, by Michael Eyal Sharon, 2004
• The Slidepipe: A Timeline-Based Controller for Real-Time Sample Manipulation, by Mark Argo, 2004
• StickMusic: Using haptic feedback with a phase vocoder, by Hans-Christoph Steiner, 2004
• NIME03@ITP: Demonstration of Student Prototypes, by Gideon D'Arcangelo, Mark Argo, Takuro

Mizuta Lippit, and Michael Sharon, 2003

Course Description

The course will focus on the design and creation of digital musical instruments. Music in performance is the primary subject of this class. We will approach questions such as "What is performance?", "What makes a musical interface intuitive and emotionally immediate?" and "How do we create meaningful correlations between performance gestures and their musical consequences?" Over the semester, we will look at many examples of current work by creators of musical interfaces, and discuss a wide range of issues facing technology-enabled performance - such as novice versus virtuoso performers, discrete versus continuous data control, the importance of haptic responsiveness as well as the relationship between musical performance and visual display. Extensive readings and case studies will provide background for class discussions on the theory and practice of designing gestural controllers for musical performance.

Students will design and prototype a musical instrument - a complete system encompassing musical controller, algorithm for mapping input to sound, and the sound output itself. A technical framework for prototyping performance controllers will be made available. Students will focus on musical composition and improvisation techniques as they prepare their prototypes for live performance. The class will culminate in a musical performance where students will demonstrate their instruments. Students are also permitted to invite other performance to join them on stage.

Prerequisites: (Introduction to Computational Media) and (Physical Computing)

Laptops in Class

Laptops are very useful tools, but they are also very effective instruments of distraction. Everyone benefits if we all pay attention. I'll do my best to keep the class interesting, I hope you'll join me in this pursuit. You are welcome to use your laptop in class when I am speaking, or when it is relevant to the classwork being presented. However, during discussions and when your fellow students are talking, please be respectful of everyone's time and close the lid. If necessary, I'll remind of this, but even better would be if everyone does so naturally.