Creating Music Through Body Movements

A team of researchers from the Input Devices and Music Interaction Lab (IDMIL) at McGill University have developed “prosthetic digital instruments”. The instruments resemble spines and rib cages, designed to be worn on the body to create music that relates to the body movement.

The resulting computer music control interfaces can function as both hand-held controllers and wearable, movement-tracking extensions of the body. The team made around 30 working instruments in total, each with power supplies, embedded sensors, and wireless data transceivers to allow performers to control and fine-tune their music through intricate touch, movement, and location. Signals from each individual instrument are sent to an open-source peer-to-peer software system that transforms the gestures into sound.
“We thought that might make it more believable, something that’s closer to a material than a collection of parts,” explains Malloch, IDMIL director in a documentary about the project.