People

Members and collaborators

About the lab

The Augmented Instruments Laboratory is jointly affiliated between the Dyson School of Design Engineering at Imperial College London and the Centre for Digital Music (C4DM) at Queen Mary University of London. From 2023 onward, all new PhD students and postdocs will join from Imperial, and the team will work together across institutions.

We regularly recruit new PhD students and postdocs to the lab. Please keep an eye on the Augmented Instruments Lab Twitter feed for announcements, or get in touch directly.

Members

Prof Andrew McPherson

Chair in Design Engineering and Music, Imperial College London (from January 2023)
Professor of Musical Interaction, Queen Mary University of London

Education: S.B. Music, S.B. Electrical Engineering, MIT; M.Eng. Electrical Engineering, MIT; Ph.D. Music Composition, U. Penn. 2009; Postdoc Drexel University MET-lab 2009-2011
Interests: Composition, viola, augmented instruments, embedded hardware, human-computer interaction, querying values and assumptions of digital technology

Dr Francisco Bernardo

Research Associate in Digital Musical Instrument Design (2024-present)

Education: BSc Computer Science and Systems Engineering and MSc Mobile Systems, University of Minho; M.A. Management in the Creative Industries, Catholic University of Portugal; Ph.D. Computer Science, Goldsmiths University of London; Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University of Sussex (Experimental Music Technology Lab) and at UCL (Multi-Sensory Devices Lab)
Interests: human-computer interaction, mid-air haptics, acoustics, computational audio, interactive music systems design, experimental music, improvisation

Nicole Suzanne Robson

PhD student (2019-present)

Education: BMus Music, King's College London, MMus Sonic Arts, Goldsmiths University of London
Interests: Sound art, aural architecture, perception, engagement, composition

Adan L. Benito

PhD student (2019-present)

Education: Telecommunications Engineer - MSc Radio Communications (University of Cantabria), MSc Sound and Music Computing (Queen Mary University of London)
Interests: instrument design, guitar making, end-to-end audio transformations, expressive control of sound synthesis, embedded audio

Andrea Martelloni

PhD student (2019-present)

Education: BSc Musical Informatics, University of Milan, MSc Sound and Vibration Studies, University of Southampton
Interests: augmented guitars, augmented percussion, machine learning for real-time DSP, acoustic fingerstyle guitar, obscure jazz

Teodoro Dannemann

PhD student (2019-present)

Education: BSc Industrial Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; MSc Physics, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico
Interests: music improvisation, human-computer music interactions, sabotaging instruments

Eevee Zayas

PhD student (2020-present)

Education: BSc Engineering Product Design, London South Bank University
Interests: disability, musical instrument design

Lewis Wolstanholme

PhD student (2020-present)

Education: BMus Music, Goldsmiths University of London & MMus Composition Goldsmiths University of London
Interests: Physical modelling synthesis & deep learning

Teresa Pelinski

PhD student (2021-present)

Education: BSc Physics, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; MSc Sound and Music Computing, Pompeu Fabra University
Interests: digital tools for instrument design, embedded systems, deep learning, prototyping, practice research in technical work

Franco Caspe

PhD student (2021-present)

Education: Electronic Engineering (UTN FRBB) - MsC Image Processing and Computer Vision (EMJMD IPCV)
Interests: musical expression, augmented instruments, synthesis models, deep learning, real time systems, maker culture, analog photography

Jordie Shier

PhD student (2022-present)

Education: BSc Combined Computer Science and Music, University of Victoria; MSc Interdisciplinary Computer Science and Music, University of Victoria
Interests: Audio synthesis, novel interfaces for synthesizers, deep learning for audio

Matt Davison

PhD student (2023-present)

Education: BSc Music and Sound Recording (Tonmeister), University of Surrey
Interests: haptic feedback, instrument design, embedded software, human-computer interaction, audio engineering

June Kuhn

PhD Student (2024-present)

Education: B.S. Electrical Engineering, B.A. Arts Studies, North Carolina State University; M.A. Computational Arts, Goldsmiths University of London
Interests: Critical technical practice, digital signal processing, music performance, queer theory, critical disability studies, live coding, poetry

Adam Schmidt

PhD Student (2024-present)

Education: SE Electrical Engineering + BSc Sound Engineering + MA Media Arts, University of Michigan
Interests: Feedback instruments, DIY haptics, crafting/making/lutherie, hardware design, robotics

Alumni

Dr Landon Morrison

Research Associate in Digital Musical Instrument Design and Analysis (2023-24)

music/media theory; experimental and popular music cultures; critical organologies of sonic instruments, interfaces, and infrastructures

Dr Charlotte Nordmoen

PhD student (2018-2024)

materiality, tacit knowledge, embodiment, digital fabrication, craft practice

Dr Jacob Harrison

PhD student (2015-2019), Postdoctoral Research Assistant (2020-2023)

Interface and instrument design, accessible music technology

Dr Lia Mice

PhD student (2018-2023)

large instruments, instruments design, live performance and composition with digital musical instruments

Dr Andrea Guidi

PhD student (2018-2023)

seamless interactions with unfamiliar music technology, HCI, NIME, musical imagery

Dr Courtney Nicole Reed

PhD student (2019-2023)
Thesis: Imagining & Sensing: Understanding and Extending the Vocalist-Voice Relationship Through Biosignal Feedback

Courtney was a PhD student in the Augmented Instruments Lab from 2019 - 23, where she focused on designing expressive vocal interfaces and the embodied relationship between vocalist and voice. After postdocs at the MPI for Informatics (Saarbrücken, DE) and King's College London, she now works as a Lecturer in Digital Technologies at Loughborough University London.

Dr Giacomo Lepri

PhD student (2017-2022)
Thesis: Play-Make-Believe: Discovering the Musical Values Inscribed into Digital Instruments

Digital musical instruments, cultural factors in music technology, research through art and design, sound installtion, electroacoustic composition and improvisation.

Dr Jack Armitage

PhD student (2016-2022)
Thesis: Subtlety and detail in digital musical instrument design

Musical instruments, composition systems, cognitive science, (post) human-computer interaction

Dr Giulio Moro

PhD student (2015-2019, co-supervised with Mark Sandler), Research Assistant (2017, 2019-2020)
Thesis: Beyond key velocity: continuous sensing for expressive control on the Hammond organ and digital keyboards

Touch on keyboard instruments, low latency audio and sensors, embedded devices, why-do-people-think-analog-is-better.

Dr Robert Jack

PhD student (2014-18), Postdoctoral Research Assistant 2019-20
Thesis: Tangibility and Richness in the Design of Digital Musical Instruments

Touch and musical instrument design, cross-modal perception, non-visual interfaces, sensorimotor feedback, haptics, percussion, strings and live electronics.

Dr Astrid Bin

PhD student (2014-2017)
Thesis: The Show Must Go Wrong: Towards an understanding of audience perception of error in digital musical instrument performance

Astrid was a PhD student in the Augmented Instruments Lab from 2014-17, where her research focused on the audience perception of error in DMI performance. After a postdoc in the Center for Music Technology and Expressive Machinery Lab at Georgia Tech she is now a Music Technology Researcher at Ableton in Berlin.

Dr Liam Donovan

PhD student (2013-18); RAEng Enterprise Fellow 2018-19
Thesis: Travelling Wave Control of Stringed Musical Instruments

Liam was a PhD student in the Augmented Instruments Lab from 2013-18, where he developed new techniques for vibration control of stringed musical instruments. During his PhD and a subsequent fellowship, he also contributed to the Bela low-latency audio platform.

Dr Chris Heinrichs

PhD student (2012-17)
Thesis: Human Expressivity in the Control and Integration of Computationally Generated Audio

Chris was a PhD student at the Augmented Instruments Lab from 2012-2017. His research focused on procedural audio and digital foley. He is now working as a sound designer in Malta.

Dr Laurel Pardue

PhD student (2012-16), Postdoctoral Research Assistant
Thesis: Violin Augmentation Techniques for Learning Assistance

Interface & instrument design, prototyping, expressive performance, instrument learning, violin, viola, Balinese gamelan.

Dr Duncan Menzies

PhD student (2011-15)
Thesis: Technological support for Highland piping tuition and practice

Duncan was a PhD student at the Augmented Instruments Lab between 2011-2015. During this time he developed a digital bagpipe chanter hardware and software system to assist in the process of teaching and learning the Great Highland Bagpipe.

Dr Fabio Morreale

Postdoctoral Research Assistant (2015-2018)

Fabio was a postdoctoral research assistant focusing on musical interface design and evaluation within the scopes of generative art and philosophy of technology. Fabio is currently Senior Lecturer and Coordinator of Music Technology at the School of Music of the University of Auckland.

Dr Kurijn Buys

Postdoctoral Research Assistant (2016-2018)

Kurijn was a postdoctoral research assistant focusing on acoustic/electronic/digital instrument development, in particular he developed techniques for violin performace analysis based on sound source separation through electrodynamic pickups.

Dr Victor Zappi

Postdoctoral Researcher (2013-14)

Victor was a postdoc on the Hackable Instruments project, 2013-14. He went on to a Marie Curie Fellowship at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Genova) and the University of British Columbia, and is now Assistant Professor at Northeastern University (Boston, USA). Victor is the co-creator of the D-Box hackable instrument.

Collaborators

Bela

The OHMI Trust

Ableton AG

BeagleBoard.org

Drake Music

Creative Technologies, Kiel

TouchKeys

Music Hackspace