437 | 2013 ICMC idea | POSTERS INTEGRATING MOBILE MUSIC WITH PERCUSSION PERFORMANCE PRACTICE Charles Martin Research School of Computer Science Australian National University, Canberra, Australia cpm@charlesmartin.com.au ABSTRACT This paper describes a series of musical works de- signed to integrate mobile computer instruments into a percussion ensemble performance practice. The works were motivated by the author’s desire to introduce com- puter music elements to non-programmer members of the percussion group Ensemble Evolution. Each of the works used simple setups with Apple iOS devices in order to facilitate rehearsals and increase the performers’ engage- ment with the computer elements of the works. This artis- tic research considers the performance practices that are enabled and demanded when complementing acoustic per- cussion instruments with mobile music devices. The first two works, 3p3p and Nordlig Vinter used computer music elements composed in Pure Data running on iPhones using RjDj in the context of semi-composed works for percussion. The third work, Snow Music was a collaboratively developed improvised work using percus- sion and a native iOS app developed with libpd. An ethnographic analysis of the preparation and per- formance of the three works shows a development in the role of mobile devices in the performances and the emer- gence of performance practices using both natural inter- actions and control of generative processes. 1. INTRODUCTION This paper describes three musical works for percussion and Apple iOS devices developed by the author in order to integrate mobile computer instruments into a percussion ensemble performance practice. The works were moti- vated by the author’s desire to introduce computer based instruments to collaborators with no experience in com- puter music. The focus in this paper is on the evolving performance practices that emerged in response to differ- ent modes of interaction in the mobile computer instru- ments used in the three works. Two of the works were developed with Ensemble Evo- lution 1 , a percussion ensemble based in Pite˚ a, Sweden, consisting of Maria Finkelmeier, Jacob Remington and the author. This ensemble was resident in Pite˚ a from Oc- tober 2010 to June 2012 and was formed in order to pursue the members’ interests in composition, improvisation and performance. 1 http://www.ensemble-evolution.com The three works exploit the new capabilities afforded by smartphones and tablets to allow computer music el- ements to be integrated into percussion setups featuring a variety of instruments as well as collaborative music- making environments and busy rehearsal and performance schedules. Our use of the mobile devices was inspired by a variety of previous work. Tanaka’s four-hand iPhone performances [10] demonstrates a collaborative improvised practice afforded by sensor-rich and portable mobile de- vices. Swift’s Viscotheque [9] system demonstrates the potential for new users to engage in collaborative music- making with mobile devices. This research was part of my master’s thesis Mobile Computer Music for Percussionists, completed in June 2012 at Lule˚ a University of Technology[5]. This thesis con- tains more thorough ethnographic analysis of the works described here and an examination of the current state of research into mobile computer music. 2. 3P3P Figure 1. Ensemble Evolution rehearsing 3p3p 3p3p 2 was the earliest experiment to integrate mobile music into a percussion work for Ensemble Evolution. The work consisted of three RjDj [8] “scenes” 3 , one for each member of the ensemble’s iPhone, and a score that sets down a basic structure to the otherwise improvised work. 2 For: 3 percussionists, 3 phones 3 RjDj “scenes” are special Pure Data patches that can be loaded into the RjDj app over a network.