The Terpsichora Pressure-Sensitive Floors: Design, Implementation, and Refinement from 2015 to 2025

Abstract The Terpsichora Pressure-Sensitive Floors are a set of wooden platforms serving as the user interface for a digital musical instrument. The performer operates the instrument by standing on the floors and shifting weight across the platforms, with the resultant bending of the wood being translated into control voltage and MIDI signals. This instrument’s design started by revisiting previous pressure-sensitive floors made in the early 1970s for the pioneering Australian dancer Philippa Cullen. This article outlines the design and development of the Terpsichora Pressure- Sensitive Floors (2015-present). It details the iterations in their hardware and software and the continued use of the instrument. In doing so, it shows the refinement of the design of each element in relation to the aesthetics and design values of the creators. This work argues for continuing development on a digital musical instrument in a collaborative team, with collaborative projects, as a method towards building sustained, musically rich, living practices with new interfaces.