The InfiniSphere: Expanding existing electroacoustic sound principles by means of an original design application specifically for trombone

McAdara, Justin Palmer

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/107780 Copy

Description

Title

The InfiniSphere: Expanding existing electroacoustic sound principles by means of an original design application specifically for trombone

Author(s)

McAdara, Justin Palmer

Issue Date

2020

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Pugh, James

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Pugh, James

Committee Member(s)

• Fieldsteel, Eli
• Lund, Erik
• McNeill, Charles

Department of Study

School of Music

Discipline

Music

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

A.Mus.D. (doctoral)

Keyword(s)

• Trombone
• Electroacoustic
• Electro-Acoustic
• Electric Trombone
• Sound Sculpture
• InfiniSphere
• Effects
• Electronic

Language

en

Abstract

Electroacoustic devices for expanding the sonic palette of the trombone are few in number, and all of these devices exhibit certain problems or drawbacks. While successful examples of valve and keyed instruments exist, such as the Electronic Valve Instrument (EVI) and the Electronic Wind Instrument (EWI), creating a trombone specifically to be used with electronics has proven to be more difficult. One reason is, when changing the slide position into data that could be effectively used for electronics, the slide on the trombone created a problem. This is not to say that attempts have not been made. For example, magnets and lasers have been attached to the trombone slide to create data that a computer could convert to sounds; however, that equipment was heavy and a trombone slide needs to be light and agile to be effective. To address these issues, players have adopted workarounds such a microphones and powered practice mutes plugged into guitar or bass pedals that seem to be effective on the surface but problems exist related to the natural loudness of the instrument, microphone bleed, and adverse effects on intonation. These drawbacks highlighted a gap between the acoustic and electronic trombone worlds that needed to be addressed. In this paper, I discuss the conception, development, and planned future developments of the electroacoustic trombone, The InfiniSphere.

Type of Resource

• text
• still image

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/107780

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2020 Justin Palmer McAdara

Owning Collections