Playing digital music by waving hands in the air

Abstract

This project explores the usage of the Leap Motion Controller to serve as a tool to play a digital Theremin. The Theremin is an electronic instrument that is controlled by the performer’s hands without any physical contact. It consists of 2 antennae that sense the relative positions of the performer’s hands and controls the pitch and volume of the sound produced. It is considered as one of the most difficult musical instruments to learn and play. The proposed method was to implement a computer graphics-based solution for a digital Theremin in C# using the Leap Motion Software Development Kit (SDK) and the audio library, NAudio. The application allows the user to use the Leap Motion Controller to play sounds like a Theremin. This paper looks at what the important considerations are when designing the application, how these considerations are implemented, implementation issues faced during implementation and a user study to test whether the application could help users pick up the digital Theremin easier. The results of the user study showed that the computer graphics-based solution did help users with various musical backgrounds to learn the digital Theremin much faster. Further studies can be conducted on implementing the digital Theremin with other VR devices as some VR devices may outperform the Leap Motion Controller.