SCUBA: The Self-Contained Unified Bass Augmenter

The Self-Contained Unified Bass Augmenter (SCUBA) is a new augmentative OSC (Open Sound Control) [5] controller for the tuba. SCUBA adds new expressive possibilities to the existing tuba interface through onboard sensors. These sensors provide continuous and discrete user-controlled parametric data to be mapped at will to signal processing parameters, virtual instrument control parameters, sound playback, and various other functions. In its current manifestation, control data is mapped to change the processing of the instrument’s natural sound in Pd (Pure Data) [3]. SCUBA preserves the unity of the solo instrument interface by acoustically mixing direct and processed sound in the instrument’s bell via mounted satellite speakers, which are driven by a subwoofer below the performer’s chair. The end result augments the existing interface while preserving its original unity and functionality. Keywords Interactive music, electro-acoustic musical instruments, musical instrument design...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2005
• Where: NIME
• Authors: Juan Pablo Cáceres, Gautham J. Mysore, Jeffrey Treviño
• Keywords: Instrument Control Parameters, Instrument’s Natural Sound, Music, NIME 2005, Open Sound Control