Interface[s] Montréal

Motion Capture

Marcelo Wanderley

McGill University, Devices and Music Interaction Laboratory

The analysis of performer-instrument interaction with applications to gestural control of sound synthesis

View the presentation [In French]

My main research interest focuses on the analysis of performer-instrument interaction with applications to gestural control of sound synthesis. This goal is pursued through a two-pronged approach:
• the study of a generic digital musical instrument (DMI), its constituent parts, and the suggestion of novel approaches to its design
• the analysis of acoustic instrument performances with the aim of eventually finding cues to improve the design of current DMIs.

In the first approach I explore the notion of gesture in music and consider ways to devise gestural acquisition and the design of input devices, including the proposition of evaluation techniques derived from human-computer interaction suitable in a musical context. This is complemented by the analysis of mapping strategies between controller variables and synthesis variables. Applications include the prototyping of novel gestural controllers and digital musical instruments.

In the second approach I perform motion capture of instrumentalists' expressive movements – those not produced in order to generate sound – during the execution of pieces. I also focus on the acoustical influence of performer expressive movements, and the modeling of this effect.

This research suggests that expressive movements can be used as extra synthesis parameter and eventually improve the design of existing digital musical instruments that simulate traditional ones.

For more information on specific projects: Input Devices and Music Interaction Laboratory

Marcelo M. Wanderley holds the B.Eng. degree in electrical engineering from the Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, Brazil, the M.Eng. degree in integrated analog circuit design from the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC), Florianópolis, Brazil, and the Ph.D. degree from the Université Pierre et Marie Curie—Paris VI, Paris, France, on acoustics, signal processing, and
computer science applied to music. From 1996 to 2001, Dr. Wanderley was with the Analysis/Synthesis Team at Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique Musique (IRCAM), Paris, France, where he studied ways of designing new musical instruments based on computer-generated sound. Specifically, he focused on performer-instrument interaction and its applications to gestural control of sound synthesis. He is currently Assistant Professor and Music Technology Area Chair, Faculty of Music, McGill University , Montreal, QB, Canada. He has published several book chapters and papers and is the coeditor, with Prof. M. Battier, of the electronic publication Trends in Gestural Control of Music. He was also the Guest Editor of the Special Issue of Organized Sound on mapping strategies for real-time computer music. His main research interests include human–computer interaction, input device design and evaluation, gestural control of sound synthesis, and musical acoustics. Dr. Wanderley was the Chair of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME03) that was held at McGill University in May 2003.