About TIME: Textile Interfaces for Musical Expression

Research in new musical interfaces includes exploring sometimes unconventional materials, drawing from a wide range of sources, but typically affiliated with the computing industry. These interfaces are made out of plastic, metal, glass and rubber, built with sensors that seek precision and ergonomic control. However, there are other more unconventional interfaces, such as flexible and soft instruments that allow for different types of interaction. One of the materials that has not been explored extensively in this context, are textiles, in particular e-textiles. Here, we survey the NIME archive and provide an overview of the work on non-rigid interfaces. Further, this paper presents a new textile based musical interface and evaluates its potential as a malleable, expressive instrument through a case study with 6 musicians. The findings of the qualitative analysis conclude a set of guidelines for the development of future e-textile interfaces.