Event overview
Visiting Research and Knowledge Exchange Fellowship (VRKEF) inaugural lecture
Many digital musical instruments, both commercial and otherwise, share similar interface design characteristics like rectangular rubber pads, piano interfaces, sliders, and grids of controls. These conventions are useful, but where do they come from, and why are they so ubiquitous? In this talk I dive deep into how the design conventions of music interfaces have evolved, and how traditionally they're deeply rooted in the culture in which they're created ... until recently. I discuss how this decoupling of musical interfaces from cultural context has developed alongside the larger contemporary trend of "ultra-processing", a way of creating consumable products, from food to media to devices, that are engineered for maximum consumption. I describe how this idea of ultra-processing can be observed in digital musical interfaces, as well as the larger social, economic, and cultural effects of ultra-processing on our musical outputs. Along with a historical and theoretical perspective on interface design, this talk discusses ways that we might adopt an informed and critical standpoint when creating interfaces for ourselves, and for others.
Dr Astrid Bin is an artist, technologist and researcher working across academia and industry. She is a founding developer of Bela, a platform for building beautiful interaction with sensors and sound, and has been its director of design since 2016. She builds software and hardware interfaces for creative pursuits, makes big noises with drums, and regularly writes and speaks about design, technology and music culture. She lives in Berlin. In September 2024 she started a Visiting Research and Knowledge Exchange Fellowship at Goldsmiths, Computing Department, following nomination by Dr Eleonora Oreggia.
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 15 Nov 2024 | 5:00pm - 6:00pm |
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