Dr James Dooley

Professional biography

My practice-based research focuses on the development and application of novel interfaces for the composition and performance of electronic music. Currently, I am developing a digital musical instrument (DMI) that examines ways in which musicians can easily control complex sound synthesis and sound manipulation through the use of touchscreen interfaces. This raises a number of research questions, such as what barriers exist between musicians and technology, what musical interface design considerations need to be addressed when creating new DMIs, and how can both affordances and hidden affordances of DMIs be catalysts for creative exploration? In trying to answer these quesitons, my research has begun to recognise how DMIs more broadly exhibit biases about the user, encasing ideas and assumptions about musical practice and cultural norms within the design of their interfaces.

I supervise PhD students and welcome enquiries from potential candidates.

Recently completed PhD theses:
Balandino Di Donato (2020)
"Designing embodied human-computer interactions in music performance"

Niccolò Granieri (2020)
"Augmenting the experience of playing of the piano: controlling audioprocessing through ancillary gestures"
 

I am Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and have taught Undergraduate and Postgraduate students since 2011. I have experience teaching the following areas of Music Technology: Sound Synthesis, Sound Recording, Surround Sound, Mastering and Production, Live Electronics Composition and Performance.