New expressive percussion instruments

Abstract

This thesis presents several new percussion instruments that explore the ideas of musical networks; playing, recording, and developing musical material; continuous control over rhythm and timbre; pressure sensing; and electronic / acoustic hybrids. These instruments use the tools of electronics and computation to extend the role of percussion by creating new ways for people to play percussion alone, together, and in remote locations. Two projects are presented in detail. The Beatbugs are a system of eight hand-held networked instruments that are designed to let children enter simple rhythmic motifs and send those motifs to be developed further by the other players. Results from three workshops and performances are discussed. Preliminary results are also presented for the Remote Drum Network, a system that lets people play drums together over the internet even in high latency situations by synchronizing their audio streams and delaying them to match each player's next phrase.