In the first instance, my route to starting this PhD was musing on Twitter about that prospect and my now supervisor (Dr Seán Clancy) getting in touch to express an interest in supervising me should I ever decide that was something I wanted to pursue.

After chatting with Seán about what this would entail and what I hoped to focus on, I decided to go for it. The theme of my PhD matches my existing work closely but I hope it will be provide focus and framing by formalising my research goals. My research study title is:

Beyond the one-man band: Exploring analogue, acoustic systems and technologies for solo musical performance.

Unfortunately, I was unsuccessful in securing M4C funding this time and other possible funding options were scuppered by Covid, so I am only working on this part-time for the first year. That seems to be working well so far, though I do relish the prospect of hopefully switching to full-time from September 2021.

Aside from formalising and framing my work better, there are various aspects of completing this work at BCU that I really relish. Firstly, my supervisors are stellar. It’s not automatic that people in music departments get what my work is about. Secondly, the opportunity to engage with the wider PhD and student community is a significant boon. My instruments are often developed in abstract and without anyone to play them, provide feedback and help develop them. The access to university resources will similarly help greatly. Lastly, my membership of STEAMhouse (also part of BCU) is central to my PhD, both the (rapid-prototyping) facilities and the knowledge of the technicians has been key in my development as a designer/maker over the past 18 months.

The research and development I undertake will be largely practice-based, which fits nicely with how I operate as a musical instrument designer but the more formal requirement to provide documentation and evidence is one I relish.

If this sounds of interest, please check back here for updates, or sign-up to my mailing list, or drop me an email if you’d like to discuss anything specific.