Warping sound with gesturing : sensor-based tracking for expressive control of guitar effects in live performance

Sammanfattning

Guitar pedals are used conventionally in a live performance, but restricts where and how these effects are controlled. Additionally, most effect-controlling devices lack the expressive, visual and communicative aspect, or more specifically, emphasizing the representation of the effects and giving them a greater purpose, as opposed to practical and efficient use. Which suggests the use of gesture control in a guitar performance and seeing it as an added tool for expression beyond conventional guitar practice. Previous works have researched gesture control technology for guitar use, but the research for this paper focuses on expression and movement, pointing towards increased freedom of movement in order to allow sound-producing gestures that excludes the guitar itself and never practiced normally. Furthermore, the design makes use of hand and wrist movement that are tracked by a glove with a mounted inertial measurement unit, which in turn control effect parameters based on the rotations. It also deactivates when picking, meaning that traditional playing is possible and gesture control can be used when notes ring out or when playing legato. This resulted in a variety of different manoeuvres alongside the guitar performance, including short fast swinging motions between picking and gesturing and slow careful movements while playing legato simultaneously. These interactions suggested a design that introduced complexity, emphasized dance-like motion, and promoted congruent gesturing.