State Change: Merging Adaptive Music Technology with Disability Aesthetics

Molly Joyce

State Change: Merging Adaptive Music Technology with Disability Aesthetics
Image credit: Molly Joyce

Abstract:

State Change is a forthcoming album that transforms surgical records into musical lyrics and uses aural material generated by accelerometers and motion capture systems. By intertwining the medical and the aural, the album offers a sonic exploration of acquired disability, transforming personal and embodied experiences into a musical language. My interest in disability is rooted in my own lived experience. At the age of seven, I was involved in a car accident that nearly resulted in the amputation of my left hand. This life-altering event set me on a journey of adapting my relationship with music, leading me to experiment with different instruments and, more recently, to explore music technologies that align with my physical capabilities. These include accelerometers and motion capture devices, which have become central to my creative process. The featured track from the album, August 6, 1999, utilizes the MUGIC (Music/User Gesture Interface Control) device, an innovative motion sensor developed by violinist and composer Mari Kimura. The MUGIC translates hand movements into software parameters: “rotation” (pronation and supination) triggers high-frequency sine tones, while “yaw” (vertical axis rotation) triggers low-frequency sine tones. This track integrates lyrical text drawn from the surgical records of my first post-accident operation, alongside layered vocal elements that convey the emotional weight of that experience. Together, these elements create a deeply personal and evocative sonic representation of my journey with disability.