Expressive digital musical instruments for children

Abstract

This thesis proposes to use technology to introduce children to musical expressivity and creativity. It describes a set of digital musical instruments that were developed in an effort to provide children with new tools for interaction, exploration and enjoyment of music. The thesis unfolds a multidisciplinary theoretical background, which reviews a number of philosophical, psychological, musical, and technological theories. The theoretical background focuses on enlightening a number of personal musical experiences and leads towards the formulation of three musical concepts that inform the design of the digital musical instruments. The musical concepts are: High and Low-level Musical Control, Immersive and Constructive Musical Experiences and Interdependent Group Playing. The thesis presents the embodiment of these concepts in digital musical instruments while emphasizing the importance of novel technology as a provider of creative and expressive musical experiences for children.