Body as instrument - performing with gestural interfaces

This paper explores the challenge of achieving nuanced control and physical engagement with gestural interfaces in performance. Performances with a prototype gestural performance system, Gestate, provide the basis for insights into the application of gestural systems in live contexts. These reflections stem from a performer's perspective, summarising the experience of prototyping and performing with augmented instruments that extend vocal or instrumental technique through gestural control. Successful implementation of rapidly evolving gestural technologies in real-time performance calls for new approaches to performing and musicianship, centred on a growing understanding of the body's physical and creative potential. For musicians hoping to incorporate gestural control seamlessly into their performance practice, a balance of technical mastery and kinaesthetic awareness is needed to adapt existing approaches to their own purposes. Within non-tactile systems, visual feedback mechanisms can support this process by providing explicit visual cues that compensate for the absence of haptic feedback. Experience gained through prototyping and performance can yield a deeper understanding of the broader nature of gestural control and the way in which performers inhabit their own bodies.