PhD student Edward Clijsen will be delivering a paper at the 7th BiennialResearch Conference for the International Society of Metal Music Studies (ISMMS), Seville, 3-6th June, 2025. The presentation will discuss the position of microtonality in the extreme, experimental and progressive metal musical landscape and reflect on how this has/will inform his compositional style and approach.
MTIRG members met on 9 April in the Music, Technology and Innovation Research Lab for a day-long symposium to share research.
Presentations were given by:
Robert Chafer—Mixed Reality Spatial Audio Composition: a distribution
platform for multichannel electroacoustic works
Matt Rogerson—Dromos/Autos: The Autistic
Ontology as Performance
Edward Clijsen—Redividing the Octave for
Expanded Tonal Spaces: Reflections on Recent Practical Explorations of
Formalised Approaches to Microtonal Composition
Matthew London—The Integrated Soundtrack: An Analytical
Exploration of the Auditory Elements of Music, Sound Design, and Dialogue
Within Horror Cinema
Cristiana Palandri—Materialising sound-based
composition: exploring multisensory perception and audience engagement between
tactile and sonic spheres
Stefano Catena—Analysis and findings of
Intention/Reception questionnaires on spatialisation in acousmatic music
Conor Snape—From Concept to Gameplay:
Practical Approaches to IDM Derived Sound Effect & Adaptive Audio Design in
Modern Video Game Development)
Joe Stillwell—A Study in Movers and Musicians:
A Multidisciplinary Lens of Improvisation)
John Young—The Long and Short of Acousmatic
Music).
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| Presenters at the MTIRG Symposium, clockwise, L-R: Edward Clijsen, Conor Snape, Robert Chafer, Joe Stillwell, Matt Rogerson, John Young, Matthew London. Centre: Stefano Catena, Cristiana Palandri |
PhD Student Edward Clijsen will be delivering a presentation reflecting on his recent work and processes in composing for the Kingma System Alto Flute; ‘19-div’ and ‘Quarter-tone’ Microtonal trumpets; and his upcoming project composing for 31-EDO Fokker Organ and 96-EDO Carrillo Piano.
PhD student Eddie Clijsen gave an introductory talk before the screening of Omar and Cedric : If This Ever Gets Weird at the Phoenix/DMU Festival of CINE MISFITS to a full theatre on 28 January 2025. Featuring Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez the film traces the lives and careers of the two musicians, especially in relation to their band The Mars Volta.
Clijsen's talk outlined the idea of the 'alternative' in music before going on to evaluate Bixler-Zavala's and Rodriguez-Lopez's remarkable contributions to a range of musical genres.
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| Eddie Clijsen at CINE MISFITS |
We are delighted that today two MTI PhD students start PhD funding with the AHRC-funded Midlands Four Cities Doctoral Training Partnership, a consortium of eight institutions in Nottingham, Leicester, Birmingham and Coventry/Warwick.
Matthew London will be embarking on his PhD in the area of film music and sound design in a project entitled The Integrated Soundtrack: An analytical exploration of the auditory elements of music, sound design and dialogue within horror cinema, supervised by Simon Atkinson, Leigh Landy and Laraine Porter.
Edward Clijsen is completing a practice-led PhD on microtonality in music: Practical Explorations of Formalised Approaches to Microtonal Composition, supervised by John Young, Bret Battey and Duncan MacLeod (University of Nottingham).
They join a strong contingent of M4C-funded PhD students in music at DMU with Cristiana Palandri, Stefano Catena, Rob Chafer, Sam Topley and Ross Davidson all current M4C PhD candidates.
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| Edward Clijsen (L) and Matthew London (R) |
PhD Student Edward Clijsen delivered a paper at the 6th Biennial International Conference of the Progect Network for Studies of Progressive Rock (Prog24) at the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music, Kraków, 5-7 September 2024.
The presentation discussed the position of microtonality in the progressive rock/metal musical landscape.
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| Delegates to the Prog24 Conference, Clijsen pictured standing 6th from right |