The LSU Center for Computation & Technology and School of Music will host the 2015 International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression, or NIME, May 31–June 3, 2015.

This will be the 14th year that researchers and musicians from all over the world come together to share state-of-the-art musical interfaces and interactions for musical performance.

The NIME conference is a unique and wonderful beast. Equal parts academic research, composition, technological discovery, performance art, interaction design, demonstration, theoretical discourse, art exhibition, and music, the conference is unified by an overriding understanding of the unique ways that music can touch us as listener and we can touch music as performer.

We are very happy to host the keynote presentations of R. Luke DuBois and Sile O’Modhrain this year. Sile O’Modhrain’s work has focused on understanding the roles of haptic and auditory feedback in defining and influencing our interactions with music. Luke Dubois has approached the interface for musical expression through visual and data modalities. His works explore interfacing with all three media sources through beautiful and profound interactions.

We are excited to have the participation of the Shaw Center for the Arts, Glassell Gallery, Manship Theatre, and the digital art faculty of the LSU School of Art. We were able to curate a large number of sonic artworks that engage sound and interactivity in ways that extend beyond the stage and beyond a single performer. These works hold an interesting perspective on what our interaction with music might look like and what makes an interface expressive. A number of artworks will remain in exhibition at the Shaw Center for the Arts, Manship Theatre, and Glassell Gallery through the month of June.

The concerts are a place for NIME interfaces and music to shine. Twenty-seven performances and an open-mic session will be distributed across the campus. The LSU School of Music’s Shaver Theatre will present traditional stage oriented pieces to excellent effect. The off-campus Varsity Theatre will host intimate late night concerts. A special concert in the Digital Media Center Theatre will utilize the 92-speaker array to showcase various approaches to interfacing with space.

Workshops include:

• Digital Stompbox Design using Satellite CCRMA
• BeagleRT Embedded Audio Workshop
• A Nime Primer
• Cloud
• Crafting Computational Percussion with Everyday Materials
• Learning to Program Haptic Interactions using Max: Applications With Sound
• Citygram
• Making Music with Robotic Instruments
• Performing with NIMEs

And, finally, at the core of the conference, the Digital Media Center will host the presentation of 106 papers, posters, and demonstrations of exploration in the world of musical interface. We were incredibly impressed by the quality and diversity of submissions. Through a thorough process of reviewers and meta-reviewers, we have collected an excellent array of cutting edge and innovative projects that both define the current state of musical interface and help shape the future of our discipline.

To view the full schedule or to register, visit nime2015.lsu.edu.

NIME Conference Chairs: Jesse Allison, Stephen David Beck, Edgar Berdahl, Derick Ostrenko, Hye Yeon Nam, Daniel Shannahan