Hacking new musical instruments and considerations of disability in design

Abstract

We report our findings of an instrumental case study of the ‘New Musical Instruments Hackathon’, which was hosted by Monthly Music Hackathon New York City. Our article commences with an overview of research literature on hackathons in general and then proceeds with a discussion of research on making accessible musical instruments, which occurs in multiple fields. Following, we outline our methodological approach that employed video-recorded observations and semi-structured interviews to examine how participants displayed and discussed hacking new musical instruments, and how, if at all, they designed with disability in mind. Our findings provide a description of the various activities that took place over the course of the hackathon event, two vignettes that detail the working processes of participants working on projects, and participants’ responses to semi-structured interview questions. While we are situated in the field of music education, our theoretical framework is rooted in disability studies, and our findings from this study may be applicable to those with an interest in the intersection of disability, music and technology. Our analyses and discussion confirm how many of the activities that occurred within this hackathon align with previous research on non-music hackathons; however, there are some notable differences that may be attributable to music hackathons and/or this specific hacking community in New York City. Finally, we make clear the conspicuous absence of design discussions and actions that centre disability and how this issue might be addressed in future research and practice.