Tentacle Orbits

Tara Pattenden

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Abstract

Tentacle Orbits is a participatory performance composed with malleable Tentacle Instruments that are played through manipulations such as squeezing or stretching. The performance of these custom-built instruments is supported by live electronics that build a framework for playful improvisation. During the performance, the audience is invited to don and play the instruments, squeezing and bending them to create a variety of sounds. The colourful appearance and glitchy sonic palette of the instruments inspire playful musicking, culminating in a cacophony of freeform play. The invitation techniques of the participatory performance vary in response to the performance site, considering the atmospheric and social aspects of the performance venue. The Tentacle Instruments’ sounds range from bright square waves built with digital logic circuitry to glitchy samplers built with the Daisy Seed platform. The parameters of their electronic components, the affordances of their code, and the nuanced expression afforded by the soft interface’s malleability inform each instrument’s sonic direction.

Citation

Tara Pattenden. 2025. Tentacle Orbits. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17801157 [PDF]

BibTeX Entry

@inproceedings{nime2025_music_33,
 abstract = {Tentacle Orbits is a participatory performance composed with malleable Tentacle Instruments that are played through manipulations such as squeezing or stretching. The performance of these custom-built instruments is supported by live electronics that build a framework for playful improvisation. During the performance, the audience is invited to don and play the instruments, squeezing and bending them to create a variety of sounds. The colourful appearance and glitchy sonic palette of the instruments inspire playful musicking, culminating in a cacophony of freeform play. The invitation techniques of the participatory performance vary in response to the performance site, considering the atmospheric and social aspects of the performance venue. The Tentacle Instruments’ sounds range from bright square waves built with digital logic circuitry to glitchy samplers built with the Daisy Seed platform. The parameters of their electronic components, the affordances of their code, and the nuanced expression afforded by the soft interface’s malleability inform each instrument’s sonic direction.},
 address = {Canberra, Australia},
 articleno = {33},
 author = {Tara Pattenden},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.5281/zenodo.17801157},
 editor = {Sophie Rose and Jos Mulder and Nicole Carroll},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {June},
 note = {Live Performance},
 numpages = {3},
 pages = {126--128},
 presentation-video = {https://vimeo.com/1048397360/038e6d170c},
 title = {Tentacle Orbits},
 track = {Music},
 url = {http://nime.org/proceedings/2025/nime2025_music_33.pdf},
 year = {2025}
}