In mapping for computer music and interactive media, flocking algorithms represent a special case, offering dynamic, self-organized domain translations. In this article we attempt a classification of fundamental mapping relationships that can be established with the help of swarm simulations. By regarding flocks as systems of abstract entities, a number of models arise that deal with the reassignment of perceptual and semantic qualities to the simulated entities. These models represent basic mapping processes, but become domain-specific when used for music and interactive art. To illustrate these concepts, we outline a number of strategies that relate to musical practice, fostering an understanding of the role of swarm simulations in mapping. We show two artistic use cases where these concepts are applied in an exemplary manner. In the first artwork, swarms play a central role in the compositions presented in an audiovisual installation, and serve as an intermediate translation space between audience and artwork. In the second realization, swarms interact with dancers and together they control the visual and musical aspects of the piece. Both examples show how the emergent behavior of flocks can be mapped conceptually and can evoke natural phenomena, thus making the mapping relationships less predictable and more organic.

Gesture-to-sound mapping is generally defined as the association between gestural and sound parameters. This article describes an approach that brings forward the perception–action loop as a fundamental design principle for gesture–sound mapping in digital music instrument. Our approach considers the processes of listening as the foundation—and the first step—in the design of action–sound relationships. In this design process, the relationship between action and sound is derived from actions that can be perceived in the sound. Building on previous work on listening modes and gestural descriptions, we propose to distinguish between three mapping strategies: instantaneous, temporal, and metaphorical. Our approach makes use of machine-learning techniques for building prototypes, from digital music instruments to interactive installations. Four different examples of scenarios and prototypes are described and discussed.

This article presents an interface for navigating a musical parameter space. The entire combinatorial space of a ten-parameter synthesizer is laid out as a two-dimensional surface on a multi-touch screen. The surface can be scrolled and zoomed using touch-screen swipe and pinch gestures, reminiscent of a map application. The user can place markers on the surface to flag favorites and to explore regions of different sizes around these points. The mapping from the two-dimensional surface to the higher-dimensional parameter space uses a space-filling curve. Hilbert curves constructed from Gray codes with long bit runs can be used to preserve locality as much as is possible, while still maintaining access to all possibilities. A user study was performed to compare this parameter mapping with a more traditional one-slider-per-parameter interface. Questionnaire responses indicate that different mapping strategies suit different stages of the creative process. The combination of the two interfaces was deemed more useful than either individually, reinforcing the notion that a combination of divergent and convergent processes is important for creative tasks.

This article contributes a holistic conceptual framework for the notion of “mapping” that extends the classical view of mapping as parameter association. In presenting this holistic approach to mapping techniques, we apply the framework to existing works from the literature as well as to new implementations that consider this approach in their construction. As any mapping control structure for a given digital instrument is determined by the musical context in which it is used, we present musical examples that relate the relatively abstract realm of mapping design to the physically and perceptually grounded notions of control and sonic gesture. Making this connection allows mapping to be more clearly seen as a linkage between a physical action and a sonic result. In this sense, the purpose of this work is to translate the discussion on mapping so that it links an abstract and formalized approach—intended for representation and conceptualization—with a viewpoint that considers mapping in its role as a perceived correspondence between physical materials (i.e., those that act on controllers and transducers) and sonic events. This correspondence is, at its heart, driven by our cognitive and embodied understanding of the acoustic world.

The mapping problem is inherent to digital musical instruments (DMIs), which require, at the very least, an association between physical gestures and digital synthesis algorithms to transform human bodily performance into sound. This article considers the DMI mapping problem in the context of the creation and performance of a heterogeneous computer chamber music piece, a trio for violin, biosensors, and computer. Our discussion situates the DMI mapping problem within the broader set of interdependent musical interaction issues that surfaced during the composition and rehearsal of the trio. Through descriptions of the development of the piece, development of the hardware and software interfaces, lessons learned through rehearsal, and self-reporting by the participants, the rich musical possibilities and technical challenges of the integration of digital musical instruments into computer chamber music are demonstrated.