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The Cube is a recently built facility that features a high-density loudspeaker array. The Cube is designed to support spatial computer music research and performance, art installations, immersive environments, scientific research, and all manner of experimental formats and projects. We recount here the design process, implementation, and initial projects undertaken in the Cube during the years 2013–2015.

The mapping problem is inherent to digital musical instruments (DMIs), which require, at the very least, an association between physical gestures and digital synthesis algorithms to transform human bodily performance into sound. This article considers the DMI mapping problem in the context of the creation and performance of a heterogeneous computer chamber music piece, a trio for violin, biosensors, and computer. Our discussion situates the DMI mapping problem within the broader set of interdependent musical interaction issues that surfaced during the composition and rehearsal of the trio. Through descriptions of the development of the piece, development of the hardware and software interfaces, lessons learned through rehearsal, and self-reporting by the participants, the rich musical possibilities and technical challenges of the integration of digital musical instruments into computer chamber music are demonstrated.

A composer who has worked in the field of computer music for the last 25 years reflects on how technological developments during that time have affected his work in computer music, instrumental music and hybrid combinations of the two. The compositional trajectories traced here often run parallel to opportunities afforded by the evolution of computer technology suitable for the generation of digital audio.

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