Different Strokes is a software system for performing music on a computer. It aims to allow a performer to create much of his or her performance sequences on-stage instead of relying on prepared control material.

The program resembles a freehand drawing application. The drawn strokes create animated figures whose motion is mapped to sample playback. The musician performs by assembling networks of strokes live, generating audio patterns.

• Different Strokes

• Mark Zadel. “Graphical Performance Software in Contexts: Explorations with Different Strokes”, Ph.D. thesis. Co-supervisors: Marcelo M. Wanderley and Gary Scavone. Thesis defended on November 12, 2012.
• Mark Zadel, Stephen Sinclair and Marcelo M. Wanderley. "Haptic feedback for Different Strokes using DIMPLE". In Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC), pp. 291-294, Montreal, Qc., Canada, 2009.
• Mark Zadel and Gary Scavone. "Laptop Performance: Techniques, Tools, and a New Interface Design". In Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC), New Orleans, USA, 2006.
• Mark Zadel and Gary Scavone. "Different Strokes: a Prototype Software System for Laptop Performance and Improvisation". In Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME), pp. 168-171, Paris, France, 2006.
• Mark Zadel. "A Software System for Laptop Performance and Improvisation". M.A. Thesis, McGill University. May 2006. (1.8 MBytes)