Computer Mediated Music Production: a Study of Abstraction and Activity

Human Computer Interaction research has a unique challenge in understanding the activity systems of creative professionals, and designing the user-interfaces to support their work. In these activities, the user is involved in the process of building and editing complex digital artefacts through a process of continued refinement, as is seen in computer aided architecture, design, animation, movie-making, 3D modelling, interactive media (such as shockwave-flash), as well as audio and music production. This thesis examines the ways in which abstraction mechanisms present in music production systems interplay with producers' activity through a collective case study of seventeen professional producers. From the basis of detailed observations and interviews we examine common abstractions provided by the ubiquitous multitrack-mixing metaphor and present design implications for future systems.