Welcome

As a composer and workshop leader I run music classes at GENERATOR MUSIC for groups of adults with moderate learning and physical disabilities. As a music workshop leader with a professional interest in digital technology I often incorporate electronics into my workshop compositions. The purpose of my project was to dedicate time to this endeavour by working in an environment among leading experts in the field, in order to absorb practical and aesthetic techniques and apply this knowledge to hands on design. The benefit to the community of this work is manifold; Tools that facilitate and empower music making in individuals that may otherwise struggle with more traditional instruments can greatly improve lives, not only during the music making process but by encour- aging communication, co-ordination skills and neurological activity.

Digital technology can put the power of infinite musical landscapes into interfaces that are sim- ple and effective for a user, and to mediate this technology to other workshop practitioners would be of great benefit to clients and teachers alike. The benefit to my own work is also ex- plicit in terms of raising my programming skills as well as understanding not just what can be used, but reasons why this might be appropriate. This study of simple compositional methods is also contributory to my understanding of musical structural and elemental features that can sometimes be overlooked.

This year I embarked on a research project, funded by the WINSTON CHURCHILL MEMORIAL TRUST with the following aims:

• To learn and understand new research taking place at an independent specialist centre in Amsterdam for the design of electronic musical instruments.

• To use my current expertise in community music and digital composition to contribute to the development of simple, flexible and affordable musical interfaces for use in group music workshops.

• To return to the UK and disseminate the knowledge and practical applications I had learned in the form of my own music workshops, with an additional paper and web site to share with other workshop leaders.

This documentation website provides audio files, descriptions of instruments and downloadable software. There are also links detailing other projects in a similar field. VOLT is intended to serve as a document of my research based at STEIM and provide documentation for workshop musicians and digital composers interested in exploring the field of accessible and economical workshop instruments.

Please find my fellowship report Here