Workflow of a Modern Digital Luthier
California Institute of the Arts
Process Report — in submission to ROTURA: Revista de Comunicação, Cultura e Artes
Abstract
The parallel maturation of single-board computers, microcontrollers, audio-visual programming languages, fabrication techniques, and access to information has created an environment where form emerges as a coherent system rather than in sequential layers. This convergence enables individuals to rapidly develop self-contained interfaces where gesture, sound, graphics, and physical structure are implemented as direct extensions of artistic intention. This paper presents two case studies demonstrating this methodology: NEPTR, a handheld performance instrument with dense sensor input and synchronized audiovisual feedback, along with BOUBA, a quadraphonic tactile sound object designed for therapeutic ambient synthesis. These examples illustrate how story-driven design across integrated domains produces coherent interactive identity and indicate where this practice is heading as these tools continue to mature.
Keywords: digital lutherie; rapid prototyping; embedded audiovisual computing; story-driven design
Note: the NEPTR documented in this manuscript is an earlier instrument — ChucK synthesis with a Python GUI over OSC. The current one runs Csound on DEMIURGE. The case study captures the prototype at the moment it demonstrated the workflow; the performance-system paper documents what it became.
Resources
- Full rendered manuscript — all sections, figures, and bibliography
- NEPTR — case study one, as it exists today
- BOUBA — case study two
- Master’s thesis — what this methodology feeds into