Abstract The Terpsichora Pressure-Sensitive Floors are a set of wooden platforms serving as the user interface for a digital musical instrument. The performer operates the instrument by standing on the floors and shifting weight across the platforms, with the resultant bending of the wood being translated into control voltage and MIDI signals. This instrument’s design started by revisiting previous pressure-sensitive floors made in the early 1970s for the pioneering Australian dancer Philippa Cullen. This article outlines the design and development of the Terpsichora Pressure- Sensitive Floors (2015-present). It details the iterations in their hardware and software and the continued use of the instrument. In doing so, it shows the refinement of the design of each element in relation to the aesthetics and design values of the creators. This work argues for continuing development on a digital musical instrument in a collaborative team, with collaborative projects, as a method towards building sustained, musically rich, living practices with new interfaces.

Abstract Online concerts and music conferences are becoming increasingly necessary. Although online events bring numerous benefits, many event attendees find the online format unsatisfying, mainly because of the lack of human connections and social interactions in comparison with in-person music events. Guided by literature on networked music performance, online social presence, and social computing design principles, the authors designed and developed Deck 10 Intermedia, an online music event platform that aims to replicate human connections from in-person music events. The effectiveness of the system design and overall user satisfaction are evaluated using data collected from two global music events: the International Computer Music Conference 2021, and the Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice 2021. The results indicate that the system was effective at restoring human connections and that users found the participation experience socially connected and satisfying. The results also led to design recommendations for future online music event systems.

Abstract Although extensive research has been conducted over the past two decades on the development and implementation of sensors using inertial movement units for violin bows, most of these new interfaces share a common drawback—bulky and user-unfriendly design. Despite the advancements in sensor data processing for composition, performance, and pedagogy, interface design remains a critical bottleneck for the real-world implementation of these sensor-embedded devices. Our study introduces MetaBow, a low-cost, nonintrusive frog design for violin bows that can accommodate either a standard sensor kit or a custom-designed board. This interface eliminates the need for additional physical training and maintains the integrity of traditional violin performance mechanisms. We thus view MetaBow as heralding a new era in digital music interface design for the violin family with the potential for seamless human-computer and human-machine collaboration in music practice and performance.

The Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) hosted the Guthman Musical Instrument Competition in Atlanta, 7–8 March 2025. Ten finalists were invited to the Georgia Tech campus to present their work to the judges and perform a public concert. The first place award went to Passepartout Duo and KOMA Elektronik for the chromaplane, an analog instrument that uses two electromagnetic pickup coils among an array of electromagnetic fields. Luckruf Music won the second place award and the people's choice award with the mulatar, a multifaced string instrument with expressively movable bridges.Web: guthman.gatech.edu/2025-competitionPurdue University hosted the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS) conference in West Lafayette, Indiana, 21–24 March 2025. It continued the theme of “Spaces, Places, Traces” from the 2024 Web Audio Conference at Purdue, encouraging participants to consider how audio can explore, reflect, or reshape modern environments that transcend traditional senses of place and time in technology-based interactions. Among the 14 concerts, Stephen Marotto performed Morton Subotnik's Axolotl for cello and electronic ghost score, and Hubert Howe presented Inharmonic Fantasy No. 19, exploring 19-tone equal temperament. There were 44 works in listening space, 18 papers, eight installations, and four workshops, including Nick Hwang and Anthony T. Marasco presenting a mobile node controller (MoNoDeC), which uses Internet of Things speakers and an audience's mobile devices for immersive audio. (See their article in this issue.)Web: cla.purdue.edu/academic/rueffschool/music/events/conferences-festivals/seamus-25/seamus-25.htmlThe sixth SPLICE Festival took place at Western Michigan University, 23–25 January 2025, in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Among the five concerts, Drew Whiting performed a baritone saxophone adaptation of Pamela Z's Four Movements for Cello and Delays, and among four lectures, Christopher Cresswell reflected on the 40th anniversary of John Oswald's lecture “Plunderphonics, or Audio Piracy as a Compositional Prerogative,” in light of the culture of sampling and Internet memes that emerged since that time. In two workshops, Per Bloland presented a collection of Max objects for computer-assisted orchestration called MaxOrch and Orchidea, and Dmitri Volkov presented the Pivotuner plug-in for managing tuning systems.Web: splicemusic.org/festival/program

This edition of the Computer Music Journal’s Sound and Video Anthology features music composed in Norway, apart from one work by a young Finnish composer. Although the compositions vary in their methods and musical outcomes, the collection reveals several common threads that reflect the preoccupations of Nordic artists. Thematically, three of the works draw inspiration from the ecology of water and land, and in some instances explicitly encapsulate humans’ effect on the environment. All pieces, in one way or another, delve into the realities hidden from our everyday experience, whether through the careful selection of recording location and microphone technique, or via signal processing. Spatialization is also a key feature: Ambisonics has become a ubiquitous element in the compositional language of contemporary electroacoustic and electronic music, particularly in Norway, and although this anthology is presented in stereo, most of the works originate from Ambisonics concert versions.The collection begins by seemingly immersing our ears underwater to hear Jana Winderen's precisely recorded sounds in

The first two articles from this Computer Music Journal issue are the continuation of the special issue on musical interactivity in human–AI and AI–AI partnerships. This special issue examines the role of AI in computational creativity and music generation, with a focus on mixed-initiative cocreative systems that facilitate collaboration between human and AI agents in music. Through its articles, coauthored by computer scientists, artists, musicologists, and media theorists, it addresses the implications of these AI-driven creative processes for performance, composition, music recommendation, and other related issues, and confronts the conceptual, analytical, and ethical challenges arising from the integration of AI in various musical contexts and practices.The first article, by Thelle and Wærstad, describes the artistic research project Co-Creative Spaces, involving three Norwegian and one Kenyan artist engaging cocreatively with artificial agents trained on the humans' previous improvisations. The authors describe the impact of the artificial agents in their creative process during two workshops in which they gathered data through audio recordings and transcribed focus group discussions. They examine the evolution of the musical content, and of the interactions, but also observe the shift in the musicians' attitudes towards the artificial agents: from initially viewing them as tools to be manipulated to later recognizing their potential as cocreative partners. Given the context of this cross-cultural project, the authors also address the issue of cultural biases inherent in the technology and in the musicians themselves. To counter biases and the reproduction of cultural asymmetry, the team collectively adjusted the AI agents to be less agnostic and curated the training data to make the agents more tailored and inclusive.The second article, by Gonzalez-Inostroza and Cádiz, presents an AI-driven system used to control sound synthesis in multitouch digital musical instruments (DMIs) through expressive finger movements. They define both low-level (e.g., position, velocity, and acceleration) and high-level (e.g., effort and shape) descriptors to capture the expressiveness of finger gestures on a touch surface. These descriptors serve as inputs to a fuzzy logic system that maps them to sound-synthesis parameters, allowing musicians to create rules that link their expressive gestures with the resulting sounds. The system is implemented in Max and is evaluated by means of a user test in which participants engaged with and improvised using the system.This brings to a close this special issue of seven articles on the topic of musical interactivity in human–AI and AI–AI partnerships. As guest editors, we wish to thank all the authors who responded to our call, and all the anonymous reviewers for their assistance in helping us review and select from the 17 articles submitted. We would also like to thank the editor of Computer Music Journal, Doug Keislar, for approaching us in the first place with the idea of a special issue, and for his guidance throughout this process.—Ken Déguernel, Bob L. T. Sturm, Artemi-Maria Gioti, and Georgina Born, guest editors

Abstract In a jazz ensemble, the timing patterns within each instrument and between instruments vary systematically depending on the instrument, tempo, style, and other parameters. A set of computer tools is described to modify these timing parameters according to previous measurements, allowing a large flexibility to account for individual differences and preferences. Four different jazz trio recordings were transcribed and annotated, and the tools were then used to recreate or modify the timing patterns in synthesized versions. These tools can be used for pedagogical purposes in which a music example can be played with different timing interpretations. It can also be used as a tool for research in which controlled factorial experiments can be designed.

Abstract One of the main research areas in the field of musical human–AI interactivity is how to incorporate expressiveness into interactive digital musical instruments (DMIs). In this study we analyzed gestures rooted in expressiveness by using AI techniques that can enhance the mapping stage of multitouch DMIs. This approach not only considers the geometric information of various gestures but also incorporates expressiveness, which is a crucial element of musicality. Our focus is specifically on multitouch DMIs, and we use expressive descriptors and a fuzzy logic model to mathematically analyze performers' finger movements. By incorporating commonly used features from the literature and adapting some of Rudolf Laban's descriptors—originally intended for full-body analysis—to finger-based multitouch systems, we aim to enrich the mapping process. To achieve this, we developed an AI algorithm based on a fuzzy control system that takes these descriptors as inputs and maps them to synthesis variables. This tool empowers DMI designers to define their own mapping rules based on expressive gestural descriptions, using musical metaphors in a simple and intuitive way. Through a user evaluation, we demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach in capturing and representing gestural expressiveness in the case of multitouch DMIs.

This issue’s guest editors—Ken Déguernel, Bob L. T. Sturm, Artemi-Maria Gioti, and Georgina Born—had issued a call in 2022 for papers with the theme “Musical Interactivity in Human–AI and AI–AI Partnerships.” The call requested submissions that address how people interact with artificial intelligence software and how these interactions shape and impact creative and artistic musical practices (and vice versa). Seven submissions were chosen for a special issue of Computer Music Journal, spanning both the present issue and the next one. In this issue’s Editors' Notes, the guest editors provide insights into the special issue’s theme, followed by descriptions of the five articles that appear in the current issue.The issue’s guest editors were also the curators for the accompanying Sound and Video Anthology, containing computer music compositions that correspond to the special issue. See the anthology’s program notes near the end of this issue, and hear the anthology’s media files at https://doi.org/10.1162/COMJ_e_00660.Front cover. Setup for “Prestidigitation” for percussion and 3-D electronics by Aaron Einbond, from the article by Einbond et al. The composition uses a machine learning model trained on a database of acoustic instruments' radiation patterns. It also incorporates a computer improvisation algorithm that reacts in real time to the timbres of the percussionist’s instruments. For further information, see the articles by Einbond et al. and Gioti, Einbond, and Born.We extend our thanks to the guest editors, the authors of the articles, and the composers and performers of the works in the anthology.As usual, Jeff Morris has assembled this issue’s News section, Ross Feller has edited the annual anthology’s program notes, and Margaret Cahill has handled the Products of Interest. We welcome a new managing editor, Louise Harris of the University of Glasgow, who during the production of this issue has taken the reins from Peter Castine. Peter decided to retire from that position, whose responsibilities he had executed capably and diligently, and we are glad that he is continuing in his other role as a manuscript editor par excellence.— Douglas KeislarBack cover. In this illustration from the article by Erdem et al., the first author improvises on electric guitar while interacting with a “coadaptive audiovisual instrument” (CAVI), seen at right. Based on the performer’s muscle and motion data, CAVI controls signal-processing modules that alter the sound of the performer’s instrument (which need not be a guitar). In this performance, six self-playing guitars enrich the musical texture.