Application: M4C2022
Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training Partnership
Application Form
Your Proposed Project
For applicants to the Open Doctoral Competition: Please provide details of your proposed
project. Read the Guidance Notes to help you. For applicants to the Collaborative
Doctoral Award (CDA) competition: Please provide details of the purpose and reasons for
undertaking research on the collaborative project. Read the Guidance Notes to help you.
Please provide a project title for your proposed programme of research
‘x For y Hours’ – Music’s Ontological Status After the Internet
Project Proposal (max.500 words)
Please outline as relevant to the stage of your research at the time of applying, and with
reference (e.g., Jones, 2017) to existing literature in the field:
The context of your project (i.e., the research or practice background to the
problem/challenge/research gap you will investigate).
The research question(s) it will answer.
The method(s) you will use to investigate your research question(s).
The impact(s) your project could make in terms of an original contribution to
knowledge in the field(s), and beyond academia (e.g., in professional and creative
practice, industry, etc).
An indicative structure/timeline for your project across the duration of the award you
are applying for.
CDA applicants will want to consider the context and research questions slightly
differently, please see the guidance notes for details.
Music is bound by time, but how has the internet and new technology transformed
duration and listening experience? My project will explore ‘open duration’ to formulate
new ideas about musical time that internet-mediation and current economic and
technological conditions allow. I will investigate how cloud-based storage has removed
the material carrier of music (e.g. CDs), meaning duration (linked to material) becomes
indeterminate. The importance of ‘completeness’ in the listening experience of music has
shifted due to the emergence of streaming services and advancement of audio
automation. Consequently, digital technologies have enabled a new conceptualisation of
duration that deconstructs existing linear structure and teleology in music. To reimagine
duration as a non-linear and undefined musical component, I will create a body of work
where parameter x (static, ambient musical material) exists to mediate y (indeterminate
time) through web-based pieces, site specific performance- and concert-installations and
notated electronic and instrumental compositions. This builds upon experience combining
scored and undefined musical elements.
Over the past 25 years, the environment for creating and consuming music has been
radically transformed by internet technologies (Born, Haworth 2017). The
‘democratisation’ of musical production online, a result of the ethic of DIY and popularity
of Bandcamp and SoundCloud, coincides with the growth of degrees in music technology
and sound art. Expanding the practices developed as a result of these changes will form
compositional methods that deconstruct musical time and structure in contemporary
music, critically engaging with conventional concert duration, effects of streaming and
web-based music (such as ambient generative music), and thus challenge further on
definitions of ‘academic’ and ‘non-academic’ composition.
By deconstructing ritualised linear listening experiences embedded in the concert-hall, I
will establish a body of work solidifying grounds for a musical practice based on open
duration. My research will contribute to active discourses on non-linearity, non-
teleological form, and fields of sound art, experimental electronic and computer music.
Recognising current research on time-perception, this project contends that these
perceptions have become increasingly indistinct in the context of live and online listening
experiences. A preliminary literature review considering how electronic music “is
changing the way we listen not only to music, but to sound itself” (Demers 2010), will
inform theoretical frameworks surrounding open duration. Concurrently, I will
contextualise existing notions of ‘open form’ (Earle Brown) and ‘moment form’ (Karlheinz
Stockhausen) “post-digital aesthetics” in computer music and sound art (Cascone 2000,
Andrews 2000, Cramer 2014), and “internet-mediated musics” (Haworth, Born 2017),
such as vaporwave and microsound, in relation to my compositional output. Adopting a
reflexive approach to practice-based research will generate a feedback loop of assessing
compositional ideas, concepts, and decisions against theoretical frameworks and relevant
literature.
The outcomes of my research will facilitate a new understanding of duration for an
emerging community of composers to question traditional forms and structures. I am
cultivating such a community through Vivid Projects’ artist development programme
Black Hole Club. Collaborating with Vivid Projects enables further dissemination of my
project, through live platforms, to a wider public. Producing work alongside BHC’s cohort
of interdisciplinary practitioners will test reflexive methodological approaches used to
assess outcomes.
AHRC Subject Remit
Please review the AHRC subject remit guidelines and indicate as far as you can a primary
research area and, if applicable, a secondary research area; these should both be from
Level 2 categories.
https://ahrc.ukri.org/funding/research/subjectcoverage/ahrc-disciplines/
Primary (Level 1): Music
Secondary (Level 2): Music Composition
Ethics (max.200 words)
All research projects must comply with relevant research ethics and integrity guidelines.
Please review your proposed home institution’s guidelines and outline:
Any Ethical considerations in the context of your project (e.g. in relation to research
participants/stakeholders, data collection and storage, archive use, copyright, intellectual
property etc.); and
How you will address potential ethical concerns (e.g., informed consent,
anonymisation, ethics training needs for yourself and/or participants, identification of
support services etc.)
In carrying out my project I will closely follow and apply both University of Birmingham
and De Montfort University’s code of practice for research. The health and safety
practices of concert halls, performance spaces, and studios within both institutions will
be adhered to. Risk assessments will be completed and health and safety procedures
followed during live performances at external venues, including Vivid Projects. All quoted
literature used to contextualise my research and practice will be referenced in
accordance with the house style guidelines of my home university. Any quoted musical
material and any contributions to compositions from collaborators (composers,
performers, other creative practitioners) will be credited and clearly acknowledged. I will
adhere to copyright law regarding any sampling of musical material used in my work.
Where relevant, anyone who took part or contributed to the research will be required to
give their consent. Visual documentation is intrinsic to the aesthetic representation of my
practice. Where there is video documentation of my work, I will ensure that all
participants are acknowledged and credited appropriately. In the case of a live
performance audiences members will forewarned and required to sign a consent form.
Research Activities (max. 200 words)
Complete this section if your proposed project will require you to undertake fieldwork,
study visits or practice (beyond routine dissemination and engagement events). For each
activity, please provide indicative details about:
Where the activity will take place (i.e., country, institute, archive, centre etc)
How long the activity will taker (i.e., days, weeks)
Why the activity is required (i.e., how will the activity support you to complete your
research? e.g., enable data collection, stakeholder engagement, language practice, test
theoretical argument etc).
What costs are likely to be incurred (travel, accommodation, room hire, training costs)
Contingency plans in the event that activity cannot go ahead due to risk assessment
outcomes (e.g., restrictions due to COVID-19).
Not applicable
Extended Funding (max. 200 words)
A standard award is for 3.5 years full-time. An award can be extended up to a maximum
of 6 months full-time or 12 months part-time.
Requests for extended funding can be made where there is a rationale for complex or
extended training, skills acquisition (e.g., research cannot be completed without
acquisition of new, high-level skills), extended research/fieldwork/extended practice
activities, visits, or extended practice or placement needs (e.g., due to significant
challenges with collaboration, access and/or logistics).
Please see application guidelines for further details. All such requests must make a case
for the need and explain how it is integral to your research.
Complete this section if you anticipate that you will require extended funding. Please
provide details of the:
Training/skills development, operational challenges or extended practice
activities you anticipate.
Planned destinations and purpose of visits for fieldwork or placements.
and indicative length of additional time you will require. The allocation of extended
funding will be confirmed after the first mid-year review.
Not applicable
Person and Preparedness
If applicable, please provide details about your qualifications.
Undergraduate Degree
Subject Classical Musical Performance
Degree BA (Hons)
Classification 2:1
Completion Date xxxx
Postgraduate Degree (Master’s or equivalent international qualification)
If you are not studying for/do not hold a Master's but have equivalent professional
experience, please proceed to the next questions and provide details there.
Subject: Music Composition
Qualification Master of Music
Classification distinction
Completion Date xxxx
Previous study and Experience (max.500 words)
Describe how you are ready to undertake your proposed doctoral research project based
on your previous study and experience. You might comment on: [max. 500 words].
Knowledge and skills developed through previous study (e.g.,
undergraduate/postgraduate studies (including specific modules), certifications, training
etc) and/or professional and creative practice (e.g., employment, research
assistantships, consultancy, residencies, performances, curations, internships etc).
Specialised training (e.g., languages, ICT, methods, EDI etc).
Academic and professional achievements (e.g., awards, scholarships, publications
etc).
If appropriate, you should also identify any training you might need to undertake or
skills you might need to gain in order to complete your project. These may include:
Language proficiency
Research methods in data collection, such as interviewing, archive use, and associated
ethical practice.
Data management and processing, particularly where specific software is required
Project management, including in practice and curation.
I bring to this project a broad portfolio of professional and academic experience. My
academic training began in classical performance, and I have extensive experience as a
performer in a number of duos and ensembles. For my Masters study, however, I chose
to develop my skills in composition, completing both a significant portfolio of work and a
module on critical analysis for composers. During this degree, I developed and refined
my research-informed composition strategies, thinking through theoretical
understandings for my work, and revising them accordingly. My doctoral research will
use the same methodology, now tried and tested in the academic context of my Masters,
for which I gained a distinction.
As a composer I have had work performed at a variety of festivals, including Gaudeamus
Muziekweek (Netherlands) and received commissions from well-known ensembles such
as Ensemble Klang. I have extensive experience as a composer-performer: with
7balcony (an experimental electronic music duo), both in live performance in
Birmingham and also in recorded performance (https://nmc-
recordings.myshopify.com/collections/new-releases-2021/products/7balcony-7balcony);
as a solo artist and composer with a range of commissions including from Theatre
Orpheus Apeldoorn, Netherlands (see here: http://zachdawson.life/). Most significantly,
for five years, I have been a co-founder, curator and project manager of the Post-
Paradise series. Post-Paradise Series is an experimental concert series dedicated to
providing support and unique opportunities for underrepresented composers and artists
through curated live events, residencies, and commissioning opportunities. Building
infrastructure for cutting edge new and experimental music, the organisation is quickly
emerging as a leading figure and making a significant contribution to Birmingham’s
music scene. As Co-founder and Curator, I have produced over 20 live events of
experimental music, worked with and supported 70 emerging and professional
composers, artists, and performers, gained a proven track record in securing substantial
project funding from such bodies as Arts Council England, RVW Trust and the Hinrichsen
Foundation, developed a large, international network of composers and musicians, and
continue to build an expanding audience base (some of whom are new to experimental
and interdisciplinary practices). Since initiating the series in 2016, I have gained many
professional performance and composition opportunities at galleries, festivals, and
universities throughout the UK and abroad, and developed strong collaborations with
professional composers. Ahead of my PhD I remain Curator and Project Manager and
hold responsibility for developing and managing projects and fundraising, producing
concerts, and developing partnerships and audiences on a freelance basis.
LINKS:http://www.postparadise.ricercata.org/Archive.html
/https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpieSCPE3IIwuCh7ndKdP1A/videos
While I am already proficient in the production of electronic music, I would welcome the
opportunity to receive further exposure to and training in the use of BEAST, a world-
recognised presentation system for electronic music based at the University of
Birmingham, and to develop my work within the research group around it.
Any other information (max.150 words)
Is there any other information you would like to bring to the panel’s attention? For
instance, you might wish to note extenuating circumstances, such as illness, which have
affected your previous performance.
N/A
