Movement-based Music Making: An Aesthetics-based Evaluation

This proposed research investigates movement-based interaction techniques for designing new musical instruments. It provides an aesthetics-based evaluation of a case study, Bodyharp, a new digital musical instrument at the intersection of music and dance. My dissertation examines not only developing new musical instruments but also performance practices that can be shared across diverse skill sets and abilities. In this project, I investigate this approach by bringing both the musician’s and the mover’s experiences closer to each other. In this paper, the design of the instrument and its earlier iterations are provided as well as an ongoing user study. The preliminary results of the user study, the future directions of this dissertation project, and its anticipated contributions are discussed.