Assistive Technology and Performance Behaviours in Music Improvisation

The findings from three trial workshops with a group of music-learners with physical disabilities have culminated in an initial design for a novel interactive music-generation system. Using a variety of commercially available music- technologies in a synchronised set-up, the target group identified those aspects of both music production and accessible interaction that were most appealing and productive. The proposed design places equal emphasis on improvisation and accessibility, generating rhythmic, harmonic and melodic patterns that an individual can trigger and manipulate. The system will also allow a group of improvisers to work together offering variable levels of synchronization based on individual need or preference. A prototype system is currently under development.