From Push Buttons to Notes: A Hardware/Software Ecosystem for Inclusive Music Education

Luca Andrea Ludovico, Vanessa Faschi, Federico Avanzini, Emanuele Parravicini, Manuele Maestri

2025

Abstract

This paper explores several ways to drive a music-oriented computer system by push-button controls, with a particular focus on music education for young children and individuals with disabilities. The research investigates a range of interaction paradigms where heterogeneous push-button actions can be mapped onto musical functions, such as triggering Note-On/Note-Off events, dynamically controlling other musical parameters, or playing and stopping pre-recorded sequences. The ultimate goal is to propose a hardware/software ecosystem that utilizes button-based human-computer interfaces that are not specialized for music (e.g., joypads or colored computer keyboards). These paradigms are designed to lower the barrier to entry for engaging with music, making it accessible even to those with limited motor skills or no prior musical training. To this end, we propose an implementation where multiple push-button devices can be connected to a hub that communicates with a computer, and the role of the latter is to associate a customizable musical meaning to button events in the framework of inclusive music education.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Ludovico L., Faschi V., Avanzini F., Parravicini E. and Maestri M. (2025). From Push Buttons to Notes: A Hardware/Software Ecosystem for Inclusive Music Education. In Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Computer Supported Education - Volume 1: CSME; ISBN 978-989-758-746-7, SciTePress, pages 650-660. DOI: 10.5220/0013489300003932

in Bibtex Style

@conference{csme25,
author={Luca Andrea Ludovico and Vanessa Faschi and Federico Avanzini and Emanuele Parravicini and Manuele Maestri},
title={From Push Buttons to Notes: A Hardware/Software Ecosystem for Inclusive Music Education},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Computer Supported Education - Volume 1: CSME},
year={2025},
pages={650-660},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0013489300003932},
isbn={978-989-758-746-7},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Computer Supported Education - Volume 1: CSME
TI - From Push Buttons to Notes: A Hardware/Software Ecosystem for Inclusive Music Education
SN - 978-989-758-746-7
AU - Ludovico L.
AU - Faschi V.
AU - Avanzini F.
AU - Parravicini E.
AU - Maestri M.
PY - 2025
SP - 650
EP - 660
DO - 10.5220/0013489300003932
PB - SciTePress