Stephen Jackson Banks

Thesis working title: Practice-based research into new methods of working with timbre

University email: hssbank2@liverpool.ac.uk

Biography:

I am a first year PhD student at the University of Liverpool music department, having just completed my BA (2021, first class) and MRes (2022, distinction) here. Additionally, I am a composer, pianist, and electronic music producer, teaching piano and music theory freelance.

My PhD centres on music composition, supervised by Dr Paul Turowski and Dr Ben Hackbarth. I focused my practice-based research project around timbre modulations, examining how they can manipulate parameters in pitch-centric compositions. Initial experiments centre around using electronics to modify instrument timbres in ways that change the consonance relationships between note harmonies. Techniques like this could work towards my interests in creating new musical possibilities that bridge the gaps between compositional practice and digital music/audio production. My extramusical interests also relate to the project, particularly around scientific/technological futurism. To test my ideas, I am developing Max MSP tools, audio perception surveys, and new electroacoustic compositions based on them, with eventual aims of developing new composing-centric audio manipulation techniques. 

Primary website: Stephenjb.com