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Music technology can provide unique opportunities to allow access to music-making for clients with complex needs. While there is a growing trend of research in this area, technology has been shown to face a variety of issues leading to underuse in this context. This literature review is a collation of information from peer-reviewed publications, gray literature, and practice. Focusing on active music-making using new types of alternate controllers, this review aims to bring together information regarding the types of technology available, categorizes music technology and its use within the music therapy setting for clients with complex needs, catalogues work occurring within the field, and explores the issues and potentials surrounding music technology and its use in practice.

This article seeks to form a deeper understanding of the performance ecosystem by drawing parallels with Bourriaud's Relational Aesthetics and Guattari's conception of subjectivity as outlined in Chaosmosis. Through an examination of participation within performance, and a recognition of the mutability of the roles of performer, listener, instrument and environment in the creation of the music event, this article examines the place of subjectivity, the capacity for self-creation, in the formation of a group aesthetic. Such a concept places the creation of meaning not within the individual participant but rather within the relationship between participants in a situation, a relationship that recognises the interaction between individuals, societies and institutions in its production. Such a discussion helps further our understanding of the performance ecosystem as a conceptual tool.

This paper describes the development of a set of three video games designed to reduce the high drop-off rates associated with learning to play the piano/keyboard by gamifying rote tasks that require monotonous practice. By defining our own understanding of what musicianship is and creating a custom framework for assessment through the use of existing curriculum, we have chosen specific areas which require the most rote learning and are critical to developing motor skills and to building an understanding of music; these include learning and practicing scales, keeping in time with tempo and the basics of hand coordination and fingering styles. Existing solutions that attempt to resolve the issue of high drop off rates observed with beginner instrument learners use elements of gamification in order to enrich their learning experiences and also help increase motivation. These approaches do work but in most cases they offer short term solutions; a key issue is retaining users over long periods of time and ensuring that they practice consistently and regularly. We developed solutions which offer a way for learners to practice in an engaging and entertaining way, with the intention to reduce the drop-off rates and lower the barrier for entry to learning piano/keyboard.

This paper describes the development of a set of video games designed to reduce the high drop-off rates associated with learning to play the keyboard by gamifying rote tasks that require monotonous practice. By defining our own understanding of what musicianship is and creating a custom framework for assessment through the use of existing curriculums and learning applications, we have chosen specific areas which require the most rote learning, are critical to developing motor skills and to building an understanding of music; these include learning and practicing musical scales, keeping in time with tempo and the basics of hand coordination and fingering styles. We developed solutions which offer a new way for learners to practice in an engaging and entertaining way with the aim to reduce the drop-off rates and lower the barrier for entry to learning keyboard. Developing games requires an iterative process of development, testing, isolating key issues and solving them through further development. Therefore, through a pilot study (using observations, screen recordings and semi-structured interviews as data collection methods), we have observed that whilst this novel method of learning and practicing using video games is positively accepted by learners and teachers alike, the games themselves and the process of validation requires refinement in order to truly gauge each game relating to engagement, motivation and educational benefit. This paper describes the findings of this pilot study regarding the improvements and changes of each developed game as well how to improve future user studies.