A Computational System for Violin: Synthesis and Dissolution in Windowless

Abstract

This article provides an overview of a real-time, hybrid computational system for the violin, Windowless. The system uses a custom sensor glove, the alto.glove, to track the violinist’s movements and drive a panoply of unique digital sound processing effects. The author describes the operations of the system in terms of a broad notion of synthesis, consis-tency, microintervallic motions and molecular operations. A threefold approach combining dense sonic physics, “loose” computational procedures and high system responsiveness creates a rich and thick performative medium with a vapor-like, particulate level of textural and bitwise computational detail.