Collaboration and embodiment in networked music interfaces for live performance

Research regarding liveness and embodiment in electronic music has tended to explore the relationship of bodies and instruments, audience perception, interfaces, and shifting definitions, less theoretical and empirical study has considered network situations, perhaps given their relative cultural novelty. Network music has seen many advances since the time of the Telharmonium, including the invention of the personal computer and the widespread proliferation of internet connectivity. These advances have fostered a unique approach to live electronic music that facilitates collaboration in a field where solo performance is perhaps more common. This thesis explores the design of network music interfaces, and how those interfaces mediate collaborations. Three new network music system interfaces, each using different a different paradigm for interface design are presented in this study. One an instrument for creating modular feedback lattices. Another is a three dimensional virtual pattern sequencer. And the last is a web based collaborative live coding language. Accompanying each system is an evaluation using quantitative and qualitative analysis to frame these instruments in a larger context regarding network music. The results highlight important themes concerning the design of networked interfaces, and the attitudes of musicians regarding networked collaborations.