Jacdac-for-Max: Plug-and-Play Physical Prototyping of Musical Interfaces

Kobi Hartley, Steve Hodges, and Joe Finney

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Abstract

This article presents Jacdac-for-Max: a cross-platform, open-source set of node.js scripts and custom Cycling ’74 Max objects which enable the use of Jacdac, an open, modular plug-and-play hardware prototyping platform, with Max visual programming language frequently used for audio-visual applications. We discuss the design and implementation of Jacdac-for-Max, and explore a number of example applications. Through this we show how Jacdac-for-Max can be used to rapidly prototype digital musical interfaces based on a range of input devices. Additionally, we discuss these qualities within the context of established principles for designing musical hardware, and the emerging concepts of long-tail hardware and frugal innovation. We believe that through Jacdac-for-Max, Jacdac provides a compelling approach to prototyping musical interfaces while supporting the evolution beyond a prototype with more robust and scalable solutions.

Citation

Kobi Hartley, Steve Hodges, and Joe Finney. 2023. Jacdac-for-Max: Plug-and-Play Physical Prototyping of Musical Interfaces. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.11189216 [PDF]

BibTeX Entry

@inproceedings{nime2023_53,
 abstract = {This article presents Jacdac-for-Max: a cross-platform, open-source set of node.js scripts and custom Cycling ’74 Max objects which enable the use of Jacdac, an open, modular plug-and-play hardware prototyping platform, with Max visual programming language frequently used for audio-visual applications. We discuss the design and implementation of Jacdac-for-Max, and explore a number of example applications. Through this we show how Jacdac-for-Max can be used to rapidly prototype digital musical interfaces based on a range of input devices. Additionally, we discuss these qualities within the context of established principles for designing musical hardware, and the emerging concepts of long-tail hardware and frugal innovation. We believe that through Jacdac-for-Max, Jacdac provides a compelling approach to prototyping musical interfaces while supporting the evolution beyond a prototype with more robust and scalable solutions.},
 address = {Mexico City, Mexico},
 articleno = {53},
 author = {Kobi Hartley and Steve Hodges and Joe Finney},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.5281/zenodo.11189216},
 editor = {Miguel Ortiz and Adnan Marquez-Borbon},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {May},
 numpages = {8},
 pages = {379--386},
 title = {Jacdac-for-Max: Plug-and-Play Physical Prototyping of Musical Interfaces},
 track = {Papers},
 url = {http://nime.org/proceedings/2023/nime2023_53.pdf},
 year = {2023}
}