Musical Gaming Initiative

David Hindman

Suite of Video Games that Are Controlled With Musical Instruments Supplement Traditional Music Education Practices

Overview

http://stage.itp.nyu.edu/~dh905/thesis/

Classes

Final Project Seminar

Keywords

Video Games, Sound, Sonic Games, Music Education, Controlling Video Games With Sound

Description

Musical video game interfaces have existed for some time, but have not reached their full potential because they are game-specific and lack the versatility and tonal range of traditional musical instruments. As an answer to this problem, I have created a system entitled The Sonictroller, a device which allows traditional, full-range musical instruments to control video game characters in a wide range of console video games. So far, The Sonictroller has primarily been used to realize Avant Garde performance works, most notably Modal Kombat, The First Ever Instrument-Controlled Video Game Battle, by David Hindman and Evan Drummond. The system has achieved initial success as a multimedia performance tool, but also shows great promise in the field of primary and secondary music education. This thesis will serve as an exploration and evaluation of the educational potential of controlling pre-recorded digital animations with musical instruments.

Personal Statement

I have always wanted to play video games with the guitar

Background

www.sonictroller.com, www.modalkombat.com

Audience

Students of Single-Lined Melodic Intstruments of Any Age or Skill Level

Implementation

Students Play "Hot Cross Buns" on a recorder and are evaluated by the vidoe game.

Additional Documents