id	dataset	year	title	abstract	your_trl	your_arl
nime:nime2024_63	NIME papers	2024	Querying the Ghost: AI Hauntography in NIME	The discourse around creative AI is populated by eerie and otherwordly presences, often evoked by artists to reflect on the social and cultural paradoxes that this technology embodies. This tendency of AI art to bring forth the uncanny, emerging also in my design and performative work with NIMEs, echoes the methods of an artistic movement known as sonic hauntology. In this paper I elaborate on Derrida's and Fisher's notion of hauntology, a theoretical framework investigating ontology's liminalities, and an artistic current addressing the paradoxes of postmodern aesthetics through the magnification of the technological uncanny. I then apply this paradigm to creative AI, arguing that the model's algorithmic manipulation of the training data reproduces and exponentially accelerates the processes of temporal and semantic flattening that characterise postmodern aesthetics. The frictions produced by creative AI as it operates with and within the culture bring forth hauntological disjunctures, that artists might harness as an instrument of critique, and scholars as a novel epistemic method. Finally, I introduce AI hauntography, a practice-based methodology combining artistic practice and 		
off-nime:kirlik2004human	ISIDM	2004	Human-technology Interaction and Music Perception and Performance: Toward the Robust Design of Sociotechnical Systems	A common framework for studying perception and performance in both human-technology interaction and music is presented. The framework represents the cognitive challenges faced by both musicians and human operators in technological systems. In the perceptual realm, both must infer distal or covert states from proximally available information (e.g., inferring the emotional meaning of a musical composition; inferring the functional meaning of interface displays). In the realm of action, both must select proximally available actions, or means, to achieve distal ends or goals (e.g., a conductor using hand movements to direct an orchestra, an operator using interface controls to tune an industrial process or respond to a fault). The framework represents these proximal-distal relations and enables quantitative measurement of the degree to which performers adapt to them. The framework is illustrated with a review of music and human-technology interaction research and our own study of the coordination between a professional conductor's hand movements and a concertmaster's bowing actions in the opening of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. In providing a common theoretical framework for both music 		
nime:nime2018_Schramm	NIME papers	2018	A polyphonic pitch tracking embedded system for rapid instrument augmentation	This paper presents a system for easily augmenting polyphonic pitched instruments. The entire system is designed to run on a low-cost embedded computer, suitable for live performance and easy to customise for different use cases. The core of the system implements real-time spectrum factorisation, decomposing polyphonic audio input signals into music note activations. New instruments can be easily added to the system with the help of custom spectral template dictionaries. Instrument augmentation is achieved by replacing or mixing the instrument's original sounds with a large variety of synthetic or sampled sounds, which follow the polyphonic pitch activations.		
nime:nime2020_45	NIME papers	2020	Reflections on Eight Years of Instrument Creation with Machine Learning	Machine learning (ML) has been used to create mappings for digital musical instruments for over twenty-five years, and numerous ML toolkits have been developed for the NIME community. However, little published work has studied how ML has been used in sustained instrument building and performance practices. This paper examines the experiences of instrument builder and performer Laetitia Sonami, who has been using ML to build and refine her Spring Spyre instrument since 2012. Using Sonami’s current practice as a case study, this paper explores the utility, opportunities, and challenges involved in using ML in practice over many years. This paper also reports the perspective of Rebecca Fiebrink, the creator of the Wekinator ML tool used by Sonami, revealing how her work with Sonami has led to changes to the software and to her teaching. This paper thus contributes a deeper understanding of the value of ML for NIME practitioners, and it can inform design considerations for future ML toolkits as well as NIME pedagogy. Further, it provides new perspectives on familiar NIME conversations about mapping strategies, expressivity, and control, informed by a dedicated practice over many years.		
nime:nime2024_90	NIME papers	2024	Hand Turned Synthesis: A One Chip Exploration of CMOS Electronics	We discuss and give a concise overview of the historical practices and approaches to utilising budget-friendly electronic components as a foundation for constructing simple sound making circuits. Building on the work of Lunetta, Collins and Wilson we focus specifically on the use of a 40106 CMOS integrated circuit (IC). Our research goal is to provide a tool kit of circuits for common synthesis elements based around the use of a single 40106 IC that may be of use to those involved in sound installations and frugal instrument design as well as practitioners working within accessibility and workshop/pedagogical scenarios. The authors demonstrate the application of the tool kit in their own projects, such as a monophonic synthesizer as well as several hand cranked sculptures that are powered and ‘played’ by the interaction between the user and the hand crank. Overall, we gather a broad range of relevant information that is difficult to find in one place and provide a practical tool kit that is pitched at an introductory level and describe how this is incorporated into the design of interactive electronic instruments. We also attempt to highlight fundamental electronics and synthesis p		
off-nime:kapur2011machine	CMJ	2011	The Machine Orchestra: An Ensemble of Human Laptop Performers and Robotic Musical Instruments	December 01 2011 The Machine Orchestra: An Ensemble of Human Laptop Performers and Robotic Musical Instruments Ajay Kapur, Ajay Kapur *California Institute of the Arts, 24700 McBean Parkway, Valencia, California 91355 USA. ajay@karmetik.commdarling@calarts.eduddiakopoulos@gmail.comjim.w.murphy@gmail.comowensvallis@gmail.com†New Zealand School of Music at Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 2332, Wellington, 6140 New Zealand. jhochenbaum@gmail.com Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Michael Darling, Michael Darling *California Institute of the Arts, 24700 McBean Parkway, Valencia, California 91355 USA. ajay@karmetik.commdarling@calarts.eduddiakopoulos@gmail.comjim.w.murphy@gmail.comowensvallis@gmail.com Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Dimitri Diakopoulos, Dimitri Diakopoulos *California Institute of the Arts, 24700 McBean Parkway, Valencia, California 91355 USA. ajay@karmetik.commdarling@calarts.eduddiakopoulos@gmail.comjim.w.murphy@gmail.comowensvallis@gmail.com Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Jim W. Murphy, Jim W. Murphy *California Institute of the Arts, 24700 McBean Parkway		
nime:nime2010_Martin_b	NIME papers	2010	Cross-Artform Performance Using Networked Interfaces : Last Man to Die's Vital LMTD	In 2009 the cross artform group, Last Man to Die, presenteda series of performances using new interfaces and networkedperformance to integrate the three artforms of its members(actor, Hanna Cormick, visual artist, Benjamin Forster andpercussionist, Charles Martin). This paper explains ourartistic motivations and design for a computer vision surfaceand networked heartbeat sensor as well as the experience ofmounting our first major work, Vital LMTD.		
nime:nime2019_schedel	NIME papers	2019	Women's Labor: Creating NIMEs from Domestic Tools	This paper describes the creation of a NIME created from an iron and wooden ironing board. The ironing board acts as a resonator for the system which includes sensors embedded in the iron such as pressure, and piezo microphones. The iron has LEDs wired to the sides and at either end of the board are CCDs; using machine learning we can identify what kind of fabric is being ironed, and the position of the iron along the x and y-axes as well as its rotation and tilt. This instrument is part of a larger project, Women's Labor, that juxtaposes traditional musical instruments such as spinets and virginals designated for “ladies” with new interfaces for musical expression that repurpose older tools of women's work. Using embedded technologies, we reimagine domestic tools as musical interfaces, creating expressive instruments from the appliances of women's chores.		
cited:frisson2023challengesandopp	Cited	2023	Challenges and Opportunities of Force Feedback in Music	A growing body of work on musical haptics focuses on vibrotactile feedback, while musical applications of force feedback, though more than four decades old, are sparser. This paper reviews related work combining music and haptics, focusing on force feedback. We then discuss the limitations of these works and elicit the main challenges in current applications of force feedback and music (FF&M), which are as follows: modularity; replicability; affordability; and usability. We call for the following opportunities in future research works on FF&M: embedding audio and haptic software into hardware modules, networking multiple modules with distributed control, and authoring with audio-inspired and audio-coupled tools. We illustrate our review with recent efforts to develop an affordable, open-source and self-contained 1-Degree-of-Freedom (DoF) rotary force-feedback device for musical applications, i.e., the TorqueTuner, and to embed audio and haptic processing and authoring in module firmware, with ForceHost, and examine their advantages and drawbacks in light of the opportunities presented in the text.		
nime:nime2020_79	NIME papers	2020	What Makes a Good Musical Instrument? A Matter of Processes, Ecologies and Specificities	Understanding the question of what makes a good musical instrument raises several conceptual challenges. Researchers have regularly adopted tools from traditional HCI as a framework to address this issue, in which instrumental musical activities are taken to comprise a device and a user, and should be evaluated as such. We argue that this approach is not equipped to fully address the conceptual issues raised by this question. It is worth reflecting on what exactly an instrument is, and how instruments contribute toward meaningful musical experiences. Based on a theoretical framework that incorporates ideas from ecological psychology, enactivism, and phenomenology, we propose an alternative approach to studying musical instruments. According to this approach, instruments are better understood in terms of processes rather than as devices, while musicians are not users, but rather agents in musical ecologies. A consequence of this reframing is that any evaluations of instruments, if warranted, should align with the specificities of the relevant processes and ecologies concerned. We present an outline of this argument and conclude with a description of a current research project to ill		
background:gaver1999designculturalpr	Background	1999	Design: Cultural probes	article Free Access Share on Design: Cultural probes Authors: Bill Gaver Royal College of Art, London, U.K. Royal College of Art, London, U.K.View Profile , Tony Dunne Royal College of Art, London, U.K. Royal College of Art, London, U.K.View Profile , Elena Pacenti Domus Academy, Milan, Italy Domus Academy, Milan, ItalyView Profile Authors Info & Claims InteractionsVolume 6Issue 1Jan./Feb. 1999 pp 21–29https://doi.org/10.1145/291224.291235Published:01 January 1999Publication History 1,328citation38,432DownloadsMetricsTotal Citations1,328Total Downloads38,432Last 12 Months4,520Last 6 weeks604 Get Citation AlertsNew Citation Alert added!This alert has been successfully added and will be sent to:You will be notified whenever a record that you have chosen has been cited.To manage your alert preferences, click on the button below.Manage my AlertsNew Citation Alert!Please log in to your account Save to BinderSave to BinderCreate a New BinderNameCancelCreateExport CitationPublisher SiteView all FormatsPDF		
nime:nime2012_Allison	NIME papers	2012	AuRal: A Mobile Interactive System for Geo-Locative Audio Synthesis	Aural -of or relateing to the ear or hearing Aura -an invisible breath, emanation, or radiation AR -Augmented Reality AuRal is an environmental audio system in which individual participants form ad hoc ensembles based on geolocation and affect the overall sound of the music associated with the location that they are in. The AuRal environment binds physical location and the choices of multiple, simultaneous performers to act as the generative force of music tied to the region. Through a mobile device interface, musical participants, or agents, have a degree of input into the generated music essentially defining the sound of a given region. The audio landscape is superimposed onto the physical one. The resultant musical experience is not tied simply to the passage of time, but through the incorporation of participants over time and spatial proximity, it becomes an aural location as much as a piece of music. As a result, walking through the same location at different times results in unique collaborative listening experiences.		
nime:nime2010_music_Ratcliffe	NIME music	2010	Mutations	"Mutations" is an interactive work exploring notions of the DJ set and the remix through the integration of various streams of piano based material in live performance. Incorporating human and machine-generated material, a “realization” of the piece involves the management of a pool of audio files, MIDI files, and score fragments, which are drawn upon during performance. In this way, the performer is required to control and shape the various streams of material in the same way that a DJ would select and combine records during the structuring of a live set (an alternative realization of `Mutations' may involve the playback of mixed material, in which the trajectory of the narrative has been determined in advance). The supply of audio files, MIDI files, and score fragments used in the construction of the piece takes existing works from the piano repertoire as source material, both transformed and quoted intact, resulting in a spectrum of recognizability ranging from the easily identifiable, to the ambiguous, to the non-referential. The integration of this borrowed material within the three strands of the piece highlights various connections between traditional forms of musical borrow		
cited:ilsar2022inclusiveimprovi	Cited	2022	Inclusive Improvisation: Exploring the Line between Listening and Playing Music	The field of Accessible Digital Musical Instruments (ADMIs) is growing rapidly, with instrument designers recognising that adaptations to existing Digital Musical Instruments (DMIs) can foster inclusive music making. ADMIs offer opportunities to engage with a wider range of sounds than acoustic instruments. Furthermore, gestural ADMIs free the music maker from relying on screen, keyboard, and mouse-based interfaces for engaging with these sounds. This brings greater opportunities for exploration, improvisation, empowerment, and flow through music making for people with disability and the communities of practice they are part of. This article argues that developing ADMIs from existing DMIs can speed up the process and allow for more immediate access for those with diverse needs. It presents three case studies of a gestural DMI, originally designed by the first author for his own creative practice, played by people with disability in diverse contexts. The article shows that system-based considerations that enabled an expert percussionist to achieve virtuoso performances with the instrument required minimal hardware and software changes to facilitate greater inclusivity. Understanding		
nime:nime2008_Freed	NIME papers	2008	Application of new Fiber and Malleable Materials for Agile Development of Augmented Instruments and Controllers	The paper introduces new fiber and malleable materials,including piezoresistive fabric and conductive heat-shrinktubing, and shows techniques and examples of how they maybe used for rapid prototyping and agile development of musicalinstrument controllers. New implementations of well-knowndesigns are covered as well as enhancements of existingcontrollers. Finally, two new controllers are introduced that aremade possible by these recently available materials andconstruction techniques.		
off-nime:petersen2009development	ISIDM	2009	Development of a Aural Real-Time Rhythmical and Harmonic Tracking to Enable the Musical Interaction with the Waseda Flutist Robot	The Waseda flutist robot is able to play the flute at the level of an intermediate human player. This ability opens a wide field of possibilities to research human-robot musical interaction. This research is focused on enabling the flutist robot to interact more naturally with musical partners in the context of a Jazz band. For this purpose a musical-based interaction system (MbIS) has been proposed to enable the robot to process both visual and aural cues coming throughout the interaction with musicians. In a previous publication, we have concentrated on the implementation of visual communication techniques. We created an interaction interface that enabled the robot to detect instrument gestures of partner musicians during a musical performance. Two computer vision approaches were implemented to create a two-skill-level interface for visual human-robot interaction in a musical context. In this paper we focus on the aural perception system of the robot. The method introduced here enables the robot to, a suitable environment provided, detect the tempo and harmony of a partner musician's play, with a specific focus on improvisation. We achieve this by examining the rhythmical and har		
nime:nime2022_10	NIME papers	2022	Mapper4Live: Using Control Structures to Embed Complex Mapping Tools into Ableton Live	This paper presents Mapper4Live, a software plugin made for the popular digital audio workstation software Ableton Live. Mapper4Live exposes Ableton’s synthesis and effect parameters on the distributed libmapper signal mapping network, providing new opportunities for interaction between software and hardware synths, audio effects, and controllers. The plugin’s uses and relevance in research, music production and musical performance settings are explored, detailing the development journey and ideas for future work on the project.		
nime:nime2020_74	NIME papers	2020	Immersive Dreams: A Shared VR Experience	This paper reports on a project that aimed to break apart the isolation of VR and share an experience between both the wearer of a headset and a room of observers. It presented the user with an acoustically playable virtual environment in which their interactions with objects spawned audio events from the room’s 80 loudspeakers and animations on the room’s 3 display walls. This required the use of several Unity engines running on separate machines and SuperCollider running as the audio engine. The perspectives into what the wearer of the headset was doing allowed the audience to connect their movements to the sounds and images being experienced, effectively allowing them all to participate in the installation simultaneously.		
nime:nime2014_gdublon	NIME papers	2014	FingerSynth: Wearable Transducers for Exploring the Environment and Playing Music Everywhere	We present the FingerSynth, a wearable musical instrument made up of a bracelet and set of rings that enable its player to produce sound by touching nearly any surface in their environment. Each ring contains a small, independently controlled exciter transducer commonly used for auditory bone conduction. The rings sound loudly when they touch a hard object, and are practically silent otherwise. When a wearer touches their own (or someone else's) head, the contacted person hears the sound through bone conduction, inaudible to others. The bracelet contains a microcontroller, a set of FET transistors, an accelerometer, and a battery. The microcontroller generates a separate audio signal for each ring, switched through the FETs, and can take user input through the accelerometer in the form of taps, flicks, and other gestures. The player controls the envelope and timbre of the sound by varying the physical pressure and the angle of their finger on the surface, or by touching differently resonant surfaces. Because its sound is shaped by direct, physical contact with objects and people, the FingerSynth encourages players to experiment with the materials around them and with one another, m		
nime:nime2003_Jorda	NIME papers	2003	Sonigraphical Instruments: From FMOL to the reacTable*	This paper first introduces two previous software-based musicinstruments designed by the author, and analyses the crucialimportance of the visual feedback introduced by theirinterfaces. A quick taxonomy and analysis of the visualcomponents in current trends of interactive music software isthen proposed, before introducing the reacTable*, a newproject that is currently under development. The reacTable* isa collaborative music instrument, aimed both at novices andadvanced musicians, which employs computer vision andtangible interfaces technologies, and pushes further the visualfeedback interface ideas and techniques aforementioned.		
nime:nime2011_Donald	NIME papers	2011	Designing the EP Trio: Instrument Identities, Control and Performance Practice in an Electronic Chamber Music Ensemble	This paper outlines the formation of the Expanded Performance (EP) trio, a chamber ensemble comprised of electriccello with sensor bow, augmented digital percussion, anddigital turntable with mixer. Decisions relating to physical set-ups and control capabilities, sonic identities, andmappings of each instrument, as well as their roles withinthe ensemble, are explored. The contributions of these factors to the design of a coherent, expressive ensemble andits emerging performance practice are considered. The trioproposes solutions to creation, rehearsal and performanceissues in ensemble live electronics.		
thesis:landry2019interactivesonif	Theses	2019	INTERACTIVE SONIFICATION STRATEGIES FOR THE MOTION AND EMOTION OF DANCE PERFORMANCES	The Immersive Interactive SOnification Platform, or iISoP for short, is a research platform for the creation of novel multimedia art, as well as exploratory research in the fields of sonification, affective computing, and gesture-based user interfaces. The goal of the iISoP’s dancer sonification system is to “sonify the motion and emotion” of a dance performance via musical auditory display. An additional goal of this dissertation is to develop and evaluate musical strategies for adding layer of emotional mappings to data sonification. The result of the series of dancer sonification design exercises led to the development of a novel musical sonification framework. The overall design process is divided into three main iterative phases: requirement gathering, prototype generation, and system evaluation. For the first phase help was provided from dancers and musicians in a participatory design fashion as domain experts in the field of non-verbal affective communication. Knowledge extraction procedures took the form of semi-structured interviews, stimuli feature evaluation, workshops, and think aloud protocols. For phase two, the expert dancers and musicians helped create test-able sti		
thesis:longden2019inclusivepartici	Theses	2019	Inclusive participatory design of bespoke music instruments and auxiliary access equipment, as emancipatory arts interventions advocating for equality and wellbeing	This practice-based research aims to increase participation in community music making, by exploring the production and use of bespoke instruments and associated access equipment designed to meet the personal needs and preferences of disabled people, who participate as co-designers and players. \n \nGrounded in the tradition of participatory community arts, and using emancipatory approaches, the research challenges disabling attitudes and practices that inhibit social inclusion. \n \nThree case studies demonstrate inclusive approaches to instrument design and making, contributing to the medical humanities and social sciences, and to the fields of community music, organology, inclusive design research and disability studies. \n \nBespoke music instruments are significant to Arts for Wellbeing practices and to the emerging Social Prescribing agenda; the possibility of Music Instruments on Prescription is proposed. \n \nThe inclusive methods used offer therapeutic benefit to individuals and society; by facilitating pathways for participation in product design and innovation, knowledge creation and transfer, and community music making. \n \nBespoke Music Instruments embody social, cultu		
nime:nime2026_music_48	NIME music	2026	Quadrumvibrate	This performance is a duet which may also be understood as a quartet of interacting human and machine actors. The work explores the sonic and rhythmic possibilities of generated and algorithmically modulated rhythmic sequences that trigger layered, synthesised percussive sounds. Performers shape these processes through direct manipulation and by initiating generative and regenerative processes. The performers each play a NIME called the Beat Machine, which is a bespoke, handmade instrument they designed and built from affordable electronic components, including an ESP32 microcontroller, multiplex chips, accelerometer, and digital to analog converter. It incorporates a LiPo battery and charging circuitry, plus a small amplifier and speaker to support portable performance. The instrument is housed in an elegant, laser-cut wooden enclosure using a living hinge design with panel‑mounted interface controls. A more compact, machine-assembled/printed-circuit-board version of the Beat Machine has also been developed for wider distribution. The instrument offers a range of rhythm‑generation algorithms, including Euclidean [1], polymetric, geometric [2], and probabilistic approaches enabling		
nime:nime2015_fcalegario	NIME papers	2015	Designing DMIs for Popular Music in the Brazilian Northeast: Lessons Learned	Regarding the design of new DMIs, it is possible to fit the majority of projects into two main cases: those developed by the academic research centers, which focus on North American and European contemporary classical and experimental music; and the DIY projects, in which the luthier also plays the roles of performer and/or composer. In both cases, the design process is not focused on creating DMIs for a community with a particular culture --- with established instruments, repertoire and playing styles --- outside European and North American traditions. This challenge motivated our research. In this paper, we discuss lessons learned during an one-year project called Batebit. Our approach was based on Design Thinking methodology, comprising cycles of inspiration, ideation and implementation. It resulted in two new DMIs developed collaboratively with musicians from the Brazilian Northeast.		
off-nime:mulder1996getting	ISIDM	1996	Getting a Grip on Alternate Controllers: Addressing the Variability of Gestural Expression in Musical Instrument Design	Existing musical instrument designs require the performer to adapt to the instrument rather than stretching the parameters of the instrument to make it adaptable to the needs or preferences of the performer. The author proposes a new approach to musical instrument design that addresses the variability and extent of gestural expression and movement capabilities of individual performers. The role of representation of musical performance in optimizing performer-instrument compatibility is discussed. The author then focuses on musical performance involving use of the human hand. Forms of hand movements are examined and separated into two types. This analysis leads to the definition of GRIP instruments, which allow a performer to reconfigure the instrument to accommodate his or her gestural preferences and/or capabilities.		
nime:nime2017_rnakagawa	NIME papers	2017	AEVE: An Audiovisual Experience Using VRHMD and EEG	The AEVE provides for a brain-computer-interface (BCI) controlled audiovisual experience, presented through a virtual reality head-mounted display (VRHMD). We have developed an audiovisual art piece where progression through 3 sections and 1 extra section occurs using an “Attention” value derived from the Electroencephalography (EEG) data. The only interaction in this work is perspective that is participant's view, and the EEG data. However, we believe the simple interaction amplifies the participant's feeling of immersion. Through the narrative of the work and the simple interaction, we attempt to connect some concepts such as audiovisual experience, virtual reality (VR), BCI, grid, consciousness, memory, universe, etc. in a minimal way.		
thesis:thordarson2019condisconducting	Theses	2019	ConDiS – Conducting Digital System Extended role of the conductor in mixed music performance	Hilmar Thordarson presents his work a doctoral project in the Norwegian Fellowship Programme for Artistic Research, carried out at NTNU Department of Music.\n\nConDiS - Conducting Digital System is a personal artistic research project in which I have tried to solve certain practical and artistic problems through the application of my own artistic vision. This vision is based on the desire to combine electronic sound processing with the conductor's expressive gestures shaping the musical material of the orchestra. This has long been a dream of mine: to find a way to treat the electronics with the same precision and expression as the notes of the written instrumental score. For these reasons, the ConDiS artistic research project has been from the beginning an exciting journey exploring what happens when these tools are put in the “hands” of the conductor.\n\nWith a custom-made conducting glove – “Con Glove” – the conductor can conduct and control the overall balance, volume, tempo, and synchronization of the electronic sounds written in the musical score. That way extending the role of the conductor in mixed music performance.\n\nConDiS – Conducting Digital System is, in its artistic		
nime:nime2007_Aimi	NIME papers	2007	Percussion Instruments Using Realtime Convolution : Physical Controllers	This paper describes several example hybrid acoustic / electronic percussion instruments using realtime convolution toaugment and modify the apparent acoustics of damped physical objects. Examples of cymbal, frame drum, practice pad,brush, and bass drum controllers are described.		
nime:nime2026_3	NIME papers	2026	Anywhere and here: zcreative a toolkit for distributed control	This paper is about sound and by extension the design of musical instruments through the window of shared play, memory, place, and materiality. It looks at NIME design within the context of folktales and storytelling. Exploring the design of a distributedmusical controller and its entangled use for performance andtabletop role-playing games that incorporate sound. What doesit mean for a musical performance to be a community or a gameto create a story on the one hand and be an instrument on theother?We play with this question through the design of a new musicalinstrument toolkit, zcreative, which is a set of autonomouslyentangled controls, forming a network of concurrent controllers,that manipulate a whole.zcreative is explored through three examples, considering whata NIME might be in an ever entangled web of interactions. FMfor 8 phones is a multi-channel spatial sound peformance, wherethe listeners are also performers; radical interaction opens up aNIME themed podcast through community listening; and pebblesis a sound driven tabletop role-playing game, where sound is firstclass and forms an additional creative axis for story telling.