Research Interests and Composition
Staff research in music takes place in the fields of musicology and composition. In musicology, we are principally interested in the relationships between musical texts and their contexts, within a repertoire covering the late nineteenth century to the present. Analysis is the methodological foundation of this work, which issues principally in the areas of Modernist Aesthetics and Musicology and, a more recent addition, Popular Music and Film Studies. In composition, we are principally interested in developments in contemporary concert music, and have recently begun to accept students researching performance, as described in Composition and Performance.
Sound recording research
Research at our Institute of Sound Recording is in the field of psychoacoustic engineering. We are exploring and quantifying the relationships between the acoustic properties of a soundfield or audio signal, and the way in which a human listener would perceive that soundfield or audio signal, and creating peceptual models and audio tools based on our understanding of these relationships. One particular focus is the development of tools to predict perceived audio quality.
Music performance research - the Symphonova Project
The Symphonova Project is an international, cross-disciplinary effort, currently developing the next generation of technology for collaborative musical performance. Research is dedicated to developing the world’s first intelligent, individualistic and conductor-led computer based orchestra. By using new components and techniques, and with a focus on excellence in live performance, the Symphonova - with which musicians can be integrated - has the potential to revolutionise the teaching, appreciation, and reach of orchestral performance
Encompassing research into ultra-high-fidelity sound reproduction, real-time gestural control of artificial systems and musical expression in performance, the Symphonova Project maintains the University of Surrey as a leader in the field of digital orchestra design, and has established a dedicated centre for the study of musical expression in performance - MEPRIUS (Musical Expression in Performance Research Institute at the University of Surrey). One goal is to create a universal model of musical expression in performance applicable to instruments at both the individual and group levels.
Project Director Shelley Katz says, “The Symphonova is an exciting development in the creation and consumption of music: it will allow performances of the greatest works in small venues and isolated communities; it will offer a basis for understanding and stretching the limits of human orchestral expression in performance; one day, it will provide a real-time gestural interface between a human conductor and a digital orchestra that itself is responsive to human musicians."