Neurodiversity, Muscle Sensing, and Modular Synthesis Performance

Prof Atau Tanaka, Goldsmiths University of London, UK and Robin Dussurget, France

We propose a practitioner presentation of an experimental electronic music duo exploring neurodiversity and electromyogram muscle sensing. Robin Dussurget (aka Cicanoise) is a young French musician from the French brut-pop scene. He is autistic and has lived with motor control issues of the lower body since birth and is in a wheelchair. Atau Tanaka is a composer and music-human-computer-interaction researcher. Together, they have performed as a duo since 2021 in academic conferences, art schools, and music festivals. They perform using an electromyogram interface, the EAVI EMG, developed by Tanaka that translates electrical signals of the central nervous system resulting from muscle exertion into MIDI data to articulate sound on electronic musical instruments. Robin’s condition means that his dexterity and motor control of the hands and fingers make turning the small knobs on a syntheiser difficult. By placing EMG electrodes on his arms and patching the system into the modular allows him to gain an expressive freedom in performance. Tanaka is an able-bodied musician who has explored the use of embodied interaction technologies for musical performance. He integrates aspects of somatic practices, including yoga, in musical performance via the EMG. Together, Atau and Cicanoise form an electronic duo using gestures to playfully perform experimental electronic sound. 

We will begin with a brief presentation of the EAVI EMG device and documentation of our past performances with it, including at the Sonic Protest and Instants Fertiles festivals in France. We will show how we have, together, delivered workshops to groups of autistic conservatory students. We will finish with a live performance on the system. This consists of Robin and Atau each wearing two channels of EMG electrodes on their arms, communicating over Bluetooth with the modular synthesizer system. Their limb gestures and musical ensemble communication create an engaging, if not raucous, musical moment.

References
https://vimeo.com/953580496
https://www.univ-paris8.fr/Concert-du-projet-BBDMI-Faire-de-la-musique-avec-l-electricite-du-corps-muscle
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3643834.3661572 
https://www.nime.org/proc/nime2023_80/