In this thesis, we present an articulated, empirical view on what human music making is, and on how this fundamentally relates to computation. The experimental evidence which we obtained seems to indicate that this view can be used as a tool, to systematically generate models, hypotheses and new technologies …

Paper presented at the 31st European Seminar in Ethnomusicology ESEM, Limerick (Ireland), 18/9/2015. This paper presents a case study of ‘Belinda’, a Dutch woman in her early sixties who considers herself at the same time as ‘un-musical’ and musically hyper-sensitive. She is neither an ‘outstanding performer’ …

Paper presented at 31st Annual European Seminar in Ethnomusicology (ESEM) 2015

Classical musicians are a unique population. Unlike other musicians, they learn their skills with the use of sheet music, right from the beginning. Investigation of brain response may help us understand how educational methods influence learning in this group of musicians. In this study, we hypothesized …

Gastcollege, Music Academy Sarajevo, 17-3-2015

Building on burgeoning research in the field of arts and health, this article explores the role that learning musical instruments can play in enhancing wellbeing in older adulthood. Despite an increasing focus on the role of learning in supporting mental wellbeing, there is strikingly little research …

Lange tijd heerste de opvatting dat perceptuele input aan de achterkant van het brein verwerkt werd terwijl de frontale kwab verantwoordelijk was voor het plannen en aansturen van bewegingen. Perceptie en actie waren anatomisch gescheiden. Het is nu duidelijk geworden dat ‘motor’ netwerken in de frontale …

Building a sense of community and social connection through spontaneous music making.Interactive 'jamming' in corners, courtyards, corridors, bedrooms and social spaces between staff, musicians and older adults with dementia has become a regular part of Monday afternoons at St Vincent’s Residential Aged …

Seeing improvisation as something that really needs its place in conservatoire training and education may be more or less ‘new’. However improvisation itself is of course not at all new and has existed since as long as we can remember. I would like to talk to you about what improvisation means for musicians, …

Designing meaningful audio for interactive applications such as video games or sonic user interfaces, presents designers with several challenges. One challenge is the fact that the perception of musical meaning involves cultural or learned aspects when it comes to tonality (Huron, 2006; Patel, 2008). …