DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF AN AUGMENTED SAXOPHONE USING A CYCLIC ENGINEERING METHODOLOGY

Human musical expression often relies on musical instruments.
These instruments can be seen as means to access a physical sonic field. This access is restrained by the musical instrument's sound possibilities and its construction characteristics. These restrains can be modified by coupling electronic sensors to existing musical instruments. However, the choice and use of electronic sensors are bounded to the problem of finding a musically meaningful mapping between the sensors and their audible results. This problem was approached in this work by constructing an augmented saxophone, namely HyperSax, which was developed in a cyclic implementation-rehearsal process. In this process, device prototype revisions were tested in musical rehearsal sessions. These sessions produced feedback that allowed implementing further revisions. As a result, the HyperSax and its musical repertoire were constructed simultaneously. After this process, it was used in live concerts. Also, its software and hardware were made freely available online. Therefore, the HyperSax itself and the documentation of its creation process present an inspiring contribution to the new interfaces for musical expression community.