Sustainable digital fabrication in NIME: Nine sustainability strategies for DMI production

Nicolo Merendino, Mela Bettega, Adam Pultz Melbye, John D. Sullivan, Antonio Rodà, and Raul Masu

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Abstract:

Sustainable NIME practices have gained significant attention in the past few years. This article further develops this perspective by proposing a set of strategies for sustainable digital fabrication processes, which is an important aspect of Digital Musical Instruments (DMIs) creation. We grounded our strategies on recent literature presented at NIME combined with state-of-the-art literature and policy on sustainable products. To start understanding how these strategies could be perceived and adopted by DMI makers, we run a workshop at iii (Instruments Inventors Initiative) - an incubator of musicians/makers. In the workshop we discussed some of these strategies in order to understand how they resonated with our participants. The article concludes by positioning our contributions within the broader context of research within the NIME community and related fields, offering a perspective on how these strategies might influence sustainable practices in DMI production.

Citation:

Nicolo Merendino, Mela Bettega, Adam Pultz Melbye, John D. Sullivan, Antonio Rodà, and Raul Masu. 2024. Sustainable digital fabrication in NIME: Nine sustainability strategies for DMI production. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.13904850

BibTeX Entry:

  @article{nime2024_40,
 abstract = {Sustainable NIME practices have gained significant attention in the past few years. This article further develops this perspective by proposing a set of strategies for sustainable digital fabrication processes, which is an important aspect of Digital Musical Instruments (DMIs) creation. We grounded our strategies on recent literature presented at NIME combined with state-of-the-art literature and policy on sustainable products. To start understanding how these strategies could be perceived and adopted by DMI makers, we run a workshop at iii (Instruments Inventors Initiative) - an incubator of musicians/makers. In the workshop we discussed some of these strategies in order to understand how they resonated with our participants. The article concludes by positioning our contributions within the broader context of research within the NIME community and related fields, offering a perspective on how these strategies might influence sustainable practices in DMI production.},
 address = {Utrecht, Netherlands},
 articleno = {40},
 author = {Nicolo Merendino and Mela Bettega and Adam Pultz Melbye and John D. Sullivan and Antonio Rodà and Raul Masu},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.5281/zenodo.13904850},
 editor = {S M Astrid Bin and Courtney N. Reed},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {September},
 numpages = {9},
 pages = {266--274},
 presentation-video = {https://youtu.be/xTGQpNpzD3s?si=AWFat36fHE3BYHCw},
 title = {Sustainable digital fabrication in NIME: Nine sustainability strategies for DMI production},
 track = {Papers},
 url = {http://nime.org/proceedings/2024/nime2024_40.pdf},
 year = {2024}
}