Studio SEMI(Simple and Easy-to-use Musical Interfaces) Installations and Concerts with digital musical interfaces

Abstract

This report documents on Studio SEMI (Simple and Easy-to-use Musical Interface) project, launched by AIM (Audio and Interactive Media) lab, GSCT (Graduate School of Culture Technology), KAIST, that aims to set up a platform for designing and utilizing digital interfaces, sound mapping, synthesis algorithm and performance planning for interactive musical interfaces. Compare to previous works involved with the musical interfaces, I focused on effective sound mapping of gestural controllers such as smartphone to investigate the advantages as a replacement of the musical instruments. Also I explored possibilities of interactive sound installations with conducting music concert in the use of SEMI. Thus, this work is to present multimedia performance within feasible contents and to facilitate musical sound with developed interfaces as the way that studio SEMI is aimed at. Furthermore, Studio SEMI reflects contemporary social trend to link and communicate one another in vari-ous ways throughout network technologies with alternative mobile devices. Music is no longer only for skilled musicians but it can also be generated by anyone since technology has made it possible for ideal to come real. I therefore assume that this project with individual study on musical interfaces will be a catalyst for upcoming paradigm shift in terms of music making. As a consequence of outlined framework, studio SEMI project was held in the public gallery space at Sang-sangmadang in Seoul in October, 2010. In this paper, I reviewed the details on every procedure of Studio SEMI that augments creativities in multimedia environment and strengths the benefits of musical interfaces. In addition, I suggested futuristic strategies for further development to be referred for the next SEMI project.