Surfing the Landscape of Physical Computing Platforms to Develop Electroacoustic Musical Instruments

There has been an increasing number, development, and availability of platforms choices to prototype electroacoustic instruments in the last decade. This demonstrates a growing interest in physical computing among the “technological-music” community. Bela and Daisy are nowadays among the most popular and widespread platforms specifically developed for out-of-the-box music technology purposes. Each of these platforms has its own unique features, capabilities, and community, providing options for different preferences and requirements and exhibiting an increasing adaptability in terms of computer music languages. This raises the question: which one is the ideal to develop an electroacoustic instrument? In this article, we present an overview of these platforms, among others that have been used since 2000, from the viewpoint of the performer-luthier at the development stage for an electroacoustic instrument to perform music in the wilderness. In addition, based on a specific project the authors are developing, we propose some design guidelines which considers the musical and technological possibilities and implications of these platforms.