thinking lately about (musical) “instruments” as a design metaphor for digital creative tools

we often assume that we want *general* tools, but instruments are specifically valued for the distinctive “voice” they impart on the music they’re used to make https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226353490_Interaction_Experience_and_the_Future_of_Music

similarly, a lot of the most beloved digital game creation tools (eg Flash, Twine, Bitsy) have a distinctive “grain” or “personality” by which all of the games made with the tool are influenced. sometimes these tools effectively define new micro-mediums https://twitter.com/maxkreminski/status/1293341976905920512

also compare Robert Yang on speculative devtools as drugs. BECOME A GREAT ARTIST IN JUST 10 SECONDS has the strongest, most distinctive personality of any art tool i’ve ever used, & has become a cult favorite as a result https://twitter.com/maxkreminski/status/1325544432712601600

instruments are also neat as a design metaphor because they’re a form of *playable media* distinct from both games & toys. see eg @noahwf on “textual instruments”, or playable texts designed to invite expressive use http://www.dichtung-digital.de/2005/1/Wardrip-Fruin/index.htm

(btw, this thread is basically a teaser for a series of papers i hope to publish over the course of the next year or so – stay tuned for more)