Becoming-sound: Affect and assemblage in improvisational digital music making

Abstract

The concepts of affect and assemblage proposed by thinkers such as Gilles Deleuze and Brian Massumi can help us to understand the interaction between users and artefacts in interactive systems, particularly in the context of computer-supported improvisation and creativity. In this paper I provide an introduction to affect and assemblage theory for HCI practitioners. I then use a case study of Viscotheque, an iOS-based interface for group musical collaboration, to demonstrate the application of affective analysis in making sense of improvisational group music making. Show more