Contrasting approaches to the no-input mixer

This paper examines the use of the no-input mixing desk—or feedback mixer—across a range of musical practices. The research draws on twenty two artist interviews conducted by the authors, and on magazine and forum archives. We focus particularly on how the properties of the no-input mixer connect with the musical, aesthetic and practical concerns of these practices. The affordability, accessibility, and non-hierarchical nature of the instrument are examined as factors that help the idea spread, and that can be important political dimensions for artists. The material, social and cultural aspects are brought together to provide a detailed picture of the instrument that goes beyond technical description. This provides a useful case study for NIME in thinking through these intercon- nections, particularly in looking outwards to how musical instruments and associated musical ideas travel, and how they can effect change and be changed themselves in their encounters with real-world musical contexts.