research-article

Playing with Feedback: Unpredictability, Immediacy, and Entangled Agency in the No-input Mixing Desk

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Tom MuddAuthors Info & Claims

CHI '23: Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Article No.: 243, Pages 1 - 11

https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3580662

Published: 19 April 2023 Publication History

Abstract

Feedback is a process that is common in both acoustic and electronic musical instruments, but rare in digital musical tools or creative digital tools more generally. This paper examines the musical use of the ’no-input mixing desk’—or ’feedback mixer’, a sound mixing desk fed back on itself—to explore how and why feedback is appealing for musicians. Twenty interviews were conducted with musicians who have used no-input mixing desk in their practice. Thematic analysis is used to explore the interview data. Results highlight the enjoyment and creative fulfilment of working with systems that can’t be fully predicted or understood, a sense of gestural immediacy, sensitivity and tactility often perceived as lacking in digital instruments, and an affinity with acoustic instruments in terms of the scope for surprise and exploration.

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Cited By

Loor Paredes M(2025)Emerging paradigms in music technology: valuing mistakes, glitches and uncertainty in the age of generative AI and automationAI & SOCIETY10.1007/s00146-025-02209-wOnline publication date: 12-Feb-2025
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-025-02209-w
Symons S(2024)The Perceptron: A Multi-player Entangled Instrument based on Interpretive Mapping and Intra-action.Proceedings of the 19th International Audio Mostly Conference: Explorations in Sonic Cultures10.1145/3678299.3678338(385-391)Online publication date: 18-Sep-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3678299.3678338
Elia GOverholt D(2024)Musicking with dynamical systems: introducing a digitally-controlled analog no-input mixerProceedings of the 19th International Audio Mostly Conference: Explorations in Sonic Cultures10.1145/3678299.3678302(22-36)Online publication date: 18-Sep-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3678299.3678302
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

Playing with Feedback: Unpredictability, Immediacy, and Entangled Agency in the No-input Mixing Desk
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Human computer interaction (HCI)
    1. HCI theory, concepts and models
    2. Interaction techniques

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cover image ACM Conferences

CHI '23: Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

April 2023

14911 pages

ISBN:9781450394215

DOI:10.1145/3544548

Editors:
Albrecht Schmidt
LMU Munich, Germany60028717
,
Kaisa Väänänen
Tampere University, Finland60011170
,
Tesh Goyal
Google Research, USA60006191
,
Per Ola Kristensson
University of Cambridge, UK60031101
,
Anicia Peters
University of Namibia, Namibia60072704
,
Stefanie Mueller
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA60022195
,
Julie R. Williamson
University of Glasgow, UK60001490
,
Max L. Wilson
University of Nottingham, UK60015138

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Cited By

Loor Paredes M(2025)Emerging paradigms in music technology: valuing mistakes, glitches and uncertainty in the age of generative AI and automationAI & SOCIETY10.1007/s00146-025-02209-wOnline publication date: 12-Feb-2025
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-025-02209-w
Symons S(2024)The Perceptron: A Multi-player Entangled Instrument based on Interpretive Mapping and Intra-action.Proceedings of the 19th International Audio Mostly Conference: Explorations in Sonic Cultures10.1145/3678299.3678338(385-391)Online publication date: 18-Sep-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3678299.3678338
Elia GOverholt D(2024)Musicking with dynamical systems: introducing a digitally-controlled analog no-input mixerProceedings of the 19th International Audio Mostly Conference: Explorations in Sonic Cultures10.1145/3678299.3678302(22-36)Online publication date: 18-Sep-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3678299.3678302
Zeqiri AJansen PRixen JRietzler MRukzio E(2024)'Eco Is Just Marketing'Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies10.1145/36435588:1(1-27)Online publication date: 6-Mar-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3643558
Robson NMcPherson ABryan-Kinns N(2024)Thinking with Sound: Exploring the Experience of Listening to an Ultrasonic Art InstallationProceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642616(1-14)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642616
Morrison LMcPherson A(2024)Entangling Entanglement: A Diffractive Dialogue on HCI and Musical InteractionsProceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642171(1-17)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642171

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