The Feedback Mop Cello: An Instrument for Interacting with Acoustic Feedback Loops

This paper presents the Feedback Mop Cello, a feedback instrument integrating acoustic feedback loops generated through a microphone and loudspeaker combination with a control interface inspired by the cello. Current paradigms of interaction with feedback instruments are based around ideas of negotiation with autonomous systems rather than control. We explore the possibility of integration of negotiated and controlled elements through a design focused on isolating the acoustic feedback loop signal path from the signal path to which sound processing is applied. We focus on three musical parameters of timbre, pitch, and dynamics. We present timbre as a parameter to mainly be negotiated within the feedback loop, while pitch and dynamics are parameters that can be explicitly controlled through the interface. An approach is taken to minimize components within the feedback loop in order to foreground the choice of loudspeaker as an integral part of the instrument's sound. A preliminary user study is carried out involving five semi-professional musicians, focusing on their reflection regarding their interaction with the acoustic feedback loop.