A network-based framework for collaborative development and performance of digital musical instruments

Abstract

This paper describes the design and implementation of a framework designed to aid collaborative development of a digital musical instrument mapping layer. The goal was to create a system that allows mapping between controller and sound parameters without requiring a high level of technical knowledge, and which needs minimal manual intervention for tasks such as configuring the network and assigning identifiers to devices. Ease of implementation was also considered, to encourage future developers of devices to adopt a compatible protocol. System development included the design of a decentralized network for the management of peer-to-peer data connections using OpenSound Control. Example implementations were constructed using several different programming languages and environments. A graphical user interface for dynamically creating, modifying, and destroying mappings between control data streams and synthesis parameters is also presented. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.