Daisyphone: The Design and Impact of a Novel Environment for Remote Group Music Improvisation

Music has lost its role as a central part of many people's everyday action. This paper reports on the design and impact of a novel environment for remote group music improvisation with the view to understanding how we could design more engaging, social, and serendipitous musical environments. The design reported here focuses on the representation of looping music, support for remote collaboration, and support for idea formulation. Observations of use suggest that the environment developed does encourage some group music, and we identify clear areas for future design consideration.