Digitizing North Indian Performance

This paper discusses an evolution in North Indian instruments in the designing of technology to capture gestures from a performing artist. Modified traditional instruments use sensor technology and microcontrollers to digitize gestures, enabling a computer to analyze performance to synthesize sound and visual meaning. Specifically, systems were built to capture data from three traditional North Indian instruments: the tabla (a pair of tonal hand drums), the dholak (a barrel shaped folk drum played by two people), and the sitar (a 19-stringed, gourdshelled instrument). This paper will discuss how these instruments are modified to capture gestural movement, how these signals are mapped to sounds and graphical feedback, and show examples of the new instruments being used in live performance. The hardware is built to try and preserve the techniques passed down from generations of tradition; however, modified performance techniques with the aid of a laptop are also introduced.