After my initial thoughts during week 1, I started to draft some ideas for essay questions. The main theme of which focusing around Sensory Percussion drum sensors and how these sensors affect the approach of an experienced practitioner towards their instrument. Specifically the acoustic drum kit.
After developing this question I started to think of ways in which I could research this quite specific topic efficiently enough to be able to answer it as well as possible. After considering where I first discovered this piece of technology myself, through Instagram and other social medias, I thought it would be beneficial to write a a questionnaire which I could send to a wide range of users of this technology with the hope of gaining a useful insight into the technology specific to my case study. Another method I could use to study this topic would be to research the affects of Sensory Percussion on traditional music practice autoethnographically. After developing my own forms of interactive trigger made to be used alongside acoustic drums, I have some knowledge of how technology such as this can affect how someone might approach a previously entirely acoustic traditional instrument. If I were to incorporate this form of research into my studies then I would be interested in the opportunity of using sensory percussion myself for the purpose of having a more in-depth knowledge of the workings of the technology and how this relates to other areas of my research.
As well as working on my essay question I also spent this week looking at our weekly seminar topic which was focused on the design of music production tools. After searching through some papers I found some conference notes from NIME 2006 titled ‘Turntable Music in the Digital Era: Designing Alternative Tools for New Turntable Expression’.
As I was in the process of looking into how I could research the effects of a newly developed acoustic drum sensor, this paper focused on the development and regeneration of turntable performance tools seemed particularly relevant. Although over a decade out of date, this paper focused on the development of ideas aimed at creating systems visually and audibly “coherent to the audience”, an emphasis I thought was quite similar to the aim and sense of interactivity embedded in Sensory Percussion.
For the next week my aim is to continue my research into Sensory Percussion and to find journals or papers directly relating to the use of Sensory Percussion so I can gain a deeper understanding into the technology used within it.
Thanks for reading
Tim
Tim Spencer Music Tech Studies 