Exploring audio and tactile qualities of instrumentality with bowed string simulations

Force-feedback and physical modeling technologies now allow to achieve the same kind of relation with virtual instruments as with acoustic instruments, but the design of such elaborate models needs guidelines based on the study of the human sensory-motor system and behaviour. This article presents a qualitative study of a simulated instrumental interaction in the case of the virtual bowed string, using both waveguide and mass-interaction models. Subjects were invited to explore the possibilities of the simulations and to express themselves verbally at the same time, allowing us to identify key qualities of the proposed systems that determine the construction of an intimate and rich relationship with the users