Threading the Sound: The Carpet Tufting Gun as an Electroacoustic Performance Interface

Joseph Burgess; Toby Gifford

Threading the Sound: The Carpet Tufting Gun as an Electroacoustic Performance Interface
Image credit: Joseph Burgess; Toby Gifford

Abstract:

This paper explores the carpet tufting gun as a novel electroacoustic performance interface. Leveraging its distinctive acoustic properties and electromechanical kinetics, the tufting gun presents a range of physical affordances that can be creatively repurposed for musical expression. While prior intersections between textile production processes and musical practices exist, the tufting gun remains largely underexplored as a tool for structured musical composition. This work reimagines the gun’s mechanical gestures and performative affordances, transforming its utilitarian motions into expressive sonic gestures. By positioning the tufting gun as both an acoustic source and an interactive performance interface, this project works at the intersection of fibre craft and experimental sound art, where both historico-cultural context of textile making, and the ergonomics of the gun, present musical affordances.