Michael Gurevich, from the School of Music and Sonic Arts of Queen's University Belfast, will give a seminar on "Style and Constraint in Electronic Musical Instruments" on Wednesday 24th of February 2010 in room 52.S31 at 18h. This seminar takes place in the context of the Postgraduate Programme in Sonology.

Abstract:
Style is the ability to impart a unique and personal imprint on an activity; it is what distinguished a virtuosic performer from a highly skilled one. To experience a performance with style, one must be able to assess not only what the performer is doing, but how they are doing it, or how they are doing it differently than someone else would. But digital musical instruments, and digital devices in general, present significant challenges to the cultivation of style and our ability to perceive it. In this talk, I will present our concept of style and its impact in the user experience and the spectator experience, both in the context of music performance and in interactions with a wide array new technologies. I will report on the results of a recent study of performers that explored the relationship between constraint in design and the development of style. 

Michael Gurrevich website