The role of timbre in performer-instrument interactions: auditory-motor perception, learning and the emergence of meaning for players of new digital musical instruments

This thesis takes an exploratory approach to understanding interaction with new Digital Musical Instruments (DMIs) for musicians of different levels of expertise, based on theories of perceptual learning founded in psychological approaches of sensory-motor perception, ecology and enactivism.

It focuses specifically on auditory-motor perception, exploring the role of timbre in informing musical gestures, learning and meaningful player experience.<br><br>I conducted three studies using a percussive physical model DMI to obtain qualitative and quantitative assessments of the role of timbral feedback on playing accuracy, gestural choices and the emergence of “meaning” during musical interaction. I created lab-based experimental conditions to compare contrasting timbres, varying in levels of physicality and complexity whilst instrumental controls and mappings remained unchanged.<br><br>The first study of the thesis focused on timbral feedback for musical learning, here I used quantitative methods to assess the effects of timbral physicality on the percussive timing accuracy of beginner musicians.