MNT2: A Longitudinal Evaluation of an Open-Source Mapping Software

Abstract

El mapa no es el territorio (henceforth MNT) is an open-source application developed to control synthesizers and audiovisual materials through gestures. It was designed by the author to consolidate strategies involved in creating interactive installations and audiovisual environments for performances. It offers six interconnectable modules, each centered around a different two-dimensional map. These maps feature different approaches to mapping gestures to synthesis parameters, including techniques such as graphical interpolation techniques and corpus-based concatenative synthesis. They can be configured manually or configured manually or rearranged through dimensionality-reduction techniques. This article briefly introduces MNT2 and focuses on its evaluation process. It reviews literature on the evaluation of new musical interfaces, discussing both longitudinal and practice-based approaches. These approaches were used to design a study in which five experienced musicians and sound artists used MNT2 over several weeks, integrating it into their workflows and creative practices. In the final stage of this process, they were asked to compose a piece using MNT2 and participated in semi-structured interviews. Finally, the article presents the results of this evaluation.