The smartphone ensemble. exploring mobile computer mediation in collaborative musical performance

This paper reports the goals, procedures and recent activities of the Smartphone Ensemble, an academic group of musicians and designers exploring mobile phones social mediation in musical contexts. The SE was created in the Design and Creation program at the Caldas University in Manizales, Colombia and includes six regular members. The group intends to enhance links among musicians, and between the musicians and their audience, by leveraging the network capabilities and mobility of smart phones, and exploring the expressivity of urban space. Through the creation of pieces and interventions that are related to urban experiences, the Smartphone Ensemble envisions alternatives to the standard musical performance space. In this regard, the performances intend to be urban interventions, not traditional concerts, they progress according to previously defined tours around the city that the group embarks while playing.