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produced by their instrument, there exists a second path through which valuable information about the
instrument's behavior can be observed - namely the feedback received via the haptic senses, the senses
of touch and kinesthesia. A violinist, for example, uses their sensitivity to pressure and vibration to
control bow speed. A trombone player can "feel" where the resonant modes of their instrument are by
all increase in vibrations fed back to their lips via the mouthpiece.
In our work, we are leveraging off the musician s unconscious use of combined haptic and auditory cues to
design music controllers that combine both forms of sensory feedback We are developing a prototyping
environment which allows us to design the "feel" as well as the sound of an instrument Using a variety
of haptic display devices, we can control parameters of physical models running in STK. and use output
from these models to generate forces or vibrations which the player can feel. We are currently running
a series of studies to assess the utility of such haptic feedback in musical instrument controllers.
6.3.5 Improv: Computer/Performer Interaction Programming with MIDI in C+ +
Craig Stuart Sapp
Improv is an environment for writing programs that enable musician/computer interation using MIDI
instruments. There are two components to Improv.
• a library of C++ classes for accessing and handling MIDI Input and output from the computer.
• a set of example programs using the library classes that demonstrate programming possibilities.
Example programs are categorized by environment. Each type of environment is set up for a particular
hardwired MIDI I/O configuration. For example, there is an environment for interaction with
synthesizers (synthImprov). Max Mathews' Radio Batons (batonlmprov). as well as an interaction
environment between computers via MIDI.
The Improv environments have been used in two Stanford courses: Introduction to Music Composition
and Programming Using MIDI-Based Systems, and Topics in Interactive Computer-Music Performance.
Also, the environment was used this past summer (1998) at a Summer Workshop in Germany at ZKM.
The programming library and environments are designed to be portable to different computer operating
systems. Currently example programs can be compiled and run in the Windows 95/N'T and Linux
operating systems with Intel 75 MHz Pentium CPU's or better.
For more information about Improv. visit http://vw-ccrma.Stanford.edu/"craig/improv/
6.3.6 Alternative Controllers for Physical Model Development (and Fun!)
Gary P. Scavone
Two special purpose MIDI controllers, the Holey Controller and the Phoney Controller, have been
created using BASIC Stamp II microprocessors by Parallax Inc. The design of these controllers was
inspired by recent work of Perry Cook.
• The Holey Controller
The Holey Controller is a modified Yamaha WXll MIDI wind controller that I created for use
in playing my digital waveguide woodwind instruments. Using digital waveguide techniques. I
developed an efficient model of a woodwind tonehole that accurately simulates all the states of
the hole from fully open to closed. I then implemented an eight-hole woodwind model using the
Svnthesis ToolKit (STK). which allowed me to manipulate the various toneholes in realtime. The
problem then became. "How do I control this model?" All currently available MIDI wind controllers
output a single MIDI note number for any particular fingering ... no matter how unconventional this
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