Art of Record Production 2019

The emerging Internet of Things (IoT) facilitates a major paradigm shift through the development of ubiquitous interconnected devices, where electronic devices across the world can be connected over wired and wireless computing networks to accept, collect, and exchange data; enabling, for example, smart homes and the sharing of environmental data from remote locations. To date, IoT has not been substantially developed or evaluated with respect to creative applications, and even less so with respect to music and music production applications.

Given that early and traditional music production techniques were largely applied with use of analogue audio hardware, the IoT paradigm presents a unique opportunity to maintain past (and perhaps lost or disappearing) music production processes. With IoT connected hardware, for example, it is possible to enable remote digital connectivity to rare, expensive and bespoke audio systems, as well as unique spaces for use as reverb and echo chambers. Furthermore, the IoT paradigm allows the possibility of a ‘virtually-extended music studio’, where a producer may work remotely on a project whilst still accessing processors and devices that are located in their personal studio. IoT for music production could therefore revolutionize the equipment hire market, enable new forms of creative collaboration, and redefine the technical boundaries for software plugins and audio equipment design.

This research investigates novel IoT-based approaches to physical and analogue music composition and production, exploring how hardware audio systems can be controlled in a hybrid manner, bringing the ‘best of both worlds’ in terms of analogue and digital benefits, and presenting new opportunities for music production, by virtually extending these devices into personal workspaces. The research is practice based, including the development of an IoT- enabled music processing system, which has been utilized to gather qualitative and quantitative feedback from music production professionals and focus groups of creative practitioners.