UX reading/discussions for electronic music hardware?

I’ve always been really interested in web/software UX as a casual observer, and enjoy reading things like Nielsen articles on usability.

It’s really noticeable when some companies (e.g. Elektron) do a great job with making interfaces inviting and a pleasure to use.

Wondering if anyone’s got any pointers to books/studies/articles etc. about UX for music hardware/synth design?

E.g. things like:

  • what are the benefits/tradeoffs between using a fader vs. a knob to control something?
  • how much does menu diving hurt usability?
  • buttons vs. switches for toggle controls?
  • why were certain design decisions made for synth X?

I’ve got no skin in the game and not planning on making anything, just seems like an interesting topic (to me at least :smiley: ).

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I found this in a quick search. Seems really interesting. Maybe you can dig deeper into Synthux Academy.

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that article seems quite generic…
I think designing a music instrument is quite unique in some ways, though like all hardware also has to factor in various compromises… due to things like panel space, price poin, size of unitt etc.
bare in mind, for some, even having a screen is a no-no… .so your target market affects the design too.
(eurorack is quite interesting to look at, as there are so many modules, and so, plenty of examples of design choices)

the book “Push Turn Move” , is an interesting read, has some nice examples of different approaches. (I think there are different versions of this book now?)

also, I listen (eagerly!) to anything that Vlad Kreimer of Soma has to say on instrument design.
what I love about Vlad’s approach is the hyper focus on creating something that musical in a particular way … not trying to be all things to all men.
I think this is the heart of instrument design… pianos/guitars cannot do everything, (they only have one preset ;)) yet we love playing them.

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Here an interesting one, but unfortunately in german…

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