NIME Conference 2025
Taking part in a panel to exchange ideas about somatic design practices at the New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME) Conference got me thinking about new ways to harness body awareness in composition and instrument design.
Image credit: Juan Martinez Avila; Doga Cavdir; Courtney Reed; Mary Mainsbridge; Kelsey Cotton; Tove Grimstad Bang; Lucia Montesinos Garcia
I talked about how vocal sketching helps me observe and understand upper body sensations throughout the chest, throat and lungs so that I can regulate my posture and tone. To become more attuned to these sensations, not only do I record embryonic and developing ideas, I also document the sensations that accompany them. Later, when I listen to them, I note the link between particular feelings and vocal features, from tightness and resistance causing thin and strained tones to relaxed humming leading to fluid and unfettered drones.
I eventually want to depict these connections in an application that can be used to improvise, compose and design vocal systems.