Digital manufacturing for musical applications: A survey of current status and future outlook

In the design of new musical instruments, from acoustic to digital, merging conventional methods with new technologies has been one of the most commonly adopted approaches. Incorporation of prior design expertise with experimental or sometimes industrial methods suggests new directions in both design for musical expression and development of new manufacturing tools. This paper describes key concepts of digital manufacturing processes in musical instrument design. It provides a review of current manufacturing techniques which are commonly used to create new musical interfaces and discusses future directions of digital fabrication which are applicable to numerous areas in music research, such as digital musical instrument (DMI) design, interaction design, acoustics, performance studies, and education. Additionally, the increasing availability of digital manufacturing tools and fabrication labs all around the world make these processes an integral part of the design and music classes. Examples of digital fabrication labs and manufacturing techniques used in education for student groups whose age ranges from elementary to university level are presented. In the context of this paper, it is important to consider how the growing fabrication technology will influence the design and fabrication of musical instruments, as well as what forms of new interaction methods and aesthetics might emerge.