Tracking Virtuosity and Flow in Computer Music

Abstract

This paper explores the concepts of virtuosity and flow in computer music, by looking at the technological, interactive and social factors in soundtracking; a textbased, computer keyboard-manipulated notation for real-time computer-aided music composition. The role of virtuosity in both the personal user experience and the wider demoscene hacker-artist subculture are discussed. Comparisons are made to mainstream music interaction paradigms, such as performance capture and sequencing, where support for virtuosity is present in MIDI devices and episodes of live performance recording, but otherwise impeded by mouse-driven interfaces designed around visual metaphors for novice use, rather than the development of practised skill. Discussions and observations are supported by initial findings from a large-scale, 2-year user study of over 1,000 tracker and sequencer users.