SnapTunes: An Introductory Cross-device Application for Collaborative Music Production

Music creation has shifted from a collaborative, social experience to an individual and technical process through the use of digital audio workstations (DAWs), which often have steep learning curves that deter novice users. To address this, many new music creation applications prioritize social play through collaboration and exploration. However, tools that combine the structured concepts of traditional music production with social play remain relatively unexplored. This paper introduces SnapTunes, a tablet-based application where users individually create music tracks and connect their devices to form a combined composition. SnapTunes allows users to spatially arrange their devices, changing how the individual tracks are layered and sequenced. We playtested a Wizard-of-Oz-style prototype of SnapTunes in a workshop with 15 university students to gather insight on usability and social engagement. Findings demonstrate that SnapTunes was intuitive, enjoyable and created opportunities for playful collaboration. Usability feedback and directions for future development are discussed.