Physicality and Feedback: A Focus on the Body in the Performance of Electronic Music

Musical performance in a cultural context has always been inextricably linked to the human body, yet, the body has played only a minor role in the creation and performance of electronic music. This paper will consider aesthetic and technical issues relating to: (1) the social/cultural construction of contexts for chamber music and dance; (2) our construction of gestural “composed instruments” and integrated sonic display devices; (3) concepts of the integration of the dancing body and the musical body; and (4) new approaches to interactive music and improvisation in a “composed context.” Our approach prioritizes music as “activity” in both instrument design and sonic display. We find physicality, feedback, and gesture—the reintegration of the body in electronic music—are all key to maintaining and extending musical/social traditions within a technological context.

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