My research focuses upon electronic music, combining both theory and practice.

In theoretical terms, I have developed a new work-concept that is responsive to contemporary music; rather than accepting the prevailing philosophical paradigm, which rarely gets beyond 18^th century notions of the music work, I have argued for an updated account that acknowledges the many ways that music is now created, performed, produced and experienced. My various talks, papers and book chapters serve to demonstrate some of the many ways in which contemporary music may extend beyond traditional conceptions of works and their performances, highlighting potential links with art philosophy more generally whilst suggesting ways in which analytical philosophy might be used to explain how contemporary music exists. Overall, my theoretical work has addressed: compositional methods; analytical approaches to electronic music; the nature of performance interpretation and authenticity; the nature of digitised music; various philosophical paradoxes that electronic music seems to produce.

In practical terms, I compose and perform electronic music. My recent compositions explore the relations that hold between pitch and noise; rather than viewing them as opposites, however, my compositions address some of the many ways in which pitch and noise coalesce, planting one within the other whilst exploring continua that connect the two. I have a long-standing interest in exposing false binaries of this kind; previous pieces have explored gesture and texture, micro and macro, mimesis and abstraction, among others. For some considerable time, I have argued that there is a compositional ‘telos’ pointing at performance; although this is well-known in other musical fields, the idea has received insufficient attention in the world of electronic music. My music is intentionally composed with performance in mind and, crucially, this helps to direct acts of performance and interpretation. Although it is common for composers of electronic music to perform their own works, I maintain that these roles are distinct, uphold performance as a separate aspect of my creative practice.

I am extremely proud to supervise a number of wonderful PhD students , including:

1. Mario Cáceres – The electroacoustic song: Hybridisation of electroacoustic and popular music
2. Berk Yagli – Hybridisation of Metal and Electroacoustic Music
3. Chen Wang – Playing the Voice: sampling and OSC as composition and performance technologies in new music
4. Julia Schauerman – Composing Acousmatic Stories: Hybrid strategies for exploring change, crisis and community through creative practice 
5. Gareth Mitchell – Spatial Sonification of Patterns in Nature

Successful PhD students, include:

1. Rees Archibald – successfully defended his PhD thesis in Dec 2021. Title: The Sound was Already Inside: exploring textility through sound art installations, performances and compositions. Examiner: Professor Jonathan Impett (Orpheus Institute, Belgium).
2. Chris Bevan – successfully defended his PhD thesis in Nov 2021. Title: Ambient Aesthetics in the Acousmatic Domain: a portfolio of original compositions. Examiner: Professor David Berezan (University of Manchester).
3. Alejandro Albornoz – successfully defended his PhD thesis in July 2019. Title: Voice and Poetry as inspiration and material in acousmatic composition. Examiner: Professor John Young (De Montford University)
4. Vanessa Sorce-Lévesque – successfully defended her PhD thesis in Dec 2018. Title: Environment in Electroacoustic Music Composition. Examiner: Professor David Berezan (University of Manchester).
5. Mark Summers – successfully defended his PhD thesis in Sept 2018. Title: Augmenting an Improvised Practice on the Viola da Gamba. Examiner: Professor Jonathan Impett (Orpheus Institute, Belgium).

I currently have one space available for an additional PhD student; please message me via the contact page if you would like to discuss a proposal.