Augmenting Guitars for Performance Preparation

A substantial number of Digital Musical Instruments (DMIs) are built upon existing musical instruments by digitally and physically intervening in their design and functionality to augment their sonic and expressive capabilities. These are commonly known as Augmented Musical Instruments (AMIs). In this paper we survey different degress of invasiveness and transformation within augmentations made to musical instruments across research and commercial settings. We also observe a common design rationale among various AMI projects, where augmentations are intended to support the performer's interaction and expression with the instrument. Consequently, we put forward a series of minimally-invasive supportive Guitar-based AMI designs that emerge from observational studies with a community of practicing musicians preparing to perform which reveal different types of physical encumbrances that arise from the introduction of additional resources beyond their instrument. We then reflect on such designs and discuss how both academic and commercially-developed DMI technologies may be employed to facilitate the design of supportive AMIs.