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Beat Machine: Embracing the Creative Limitations and Opportunities of Low-Cost Computers.

The Beat Machine is a handheld music synthesizer and sequencer. The authors discuss the development of the Beat Machine and how creative constraints and opportunities were introduced by the particularities of low-cost microprocessors and associated electronics. The discussion is framed as an exempla...

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Published in:Leonardo Music Journal Vol. 30; pp. 8 - 14
Main Authors: Brown, Andrew R., Ferguson, John R.
Format: Article
Published: MIT Press Dec2020
Subjects:
Synthesizer (Musical instrument)
Rapid prototyping
Digital media
Machinery
Microprocessors
Computers
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Summary:The Beat Machine is a handheld music synthesizer and sequencer. The authors discuss the development of the Beat Machine and how creative constraints and opportunities were introduced by the particularities of low-cost microprocessors and associated electronics. The discussion is framed as an exemplar of Kåre Poulsgaard's concept of enactive individuation, a framework for relating material engagement to digital design and fabrication. In reflecting on the design and making of the Beat Machine the authors connect this framework with more established notions of creative interaction and the affordances of digital media.