Playing with resistance

Instrument design is not just a matter of hardware, it also concerns strategies for software mapping of input to output data. I will in this paper report on how an augmented clarinet that I, together with a team at LTU began developing in 2015 has continued to develop over the past seven years. The focus will be on the development of artistic applications within the system. Performers frequently describe the resistance of their instrument as a manifestation of the challenges they encounter when playing. One can argue that the goal of a skilled performer is to get rid of resistance, but it is in fact a central part of the relationship between performer and instrument. Acquiring technique and skill seems to be a way for the performer not to overcome resistance but to learn how the instrument responds to force. Realizing the importance of resistance in the artistic process we need to ask ourselves; how can we use this knowledge when creating new instruments? Returning to video documentation of performances with two different mappings and through stimulated recall analysis I seek a deeper understanding of how software, mapping and performance practice interacts, forming the basis of the artistic expression.