Research
Jonathan Crossley’s research sits across creative practice, improvisation, music technology, pedagogy and ethnomusicology. Across these areas, he is interested in how musical systems shape human interaction: how performers listen, respond, negotiate agency, and make meaning through sound, technology and shared cultural practice.
A central strand of his work investigates technologically mediated improvisation. Emerging from his long-term practice with the Cyber Guitar system, hyper-instruments, live electronics and collaborator-responsive performance environments, this research treats technology not as a neutral extension of the instrument, but as a compositional and relational force within improvisation. This work is explored through recordings, live performances, bespoke systems, analysis of improvisatory interaction, and collaborations with artists including Carlo Mombelli, Jonno Sweetman, David Kollar, Lukas Ligeti, Kathleen Tagg, Cameron Harris and Nick Branton.
A second strand examines traditional African instruments and Christian congregational music. Drawing on his South African background, and on survey-based work across the UK, South Africa and the USA, this project asks why traditional African instruments remain marginal within many contemporary Christian worship contexts, even where African musical identity is otherwise strongly claimed.
Crossley also works on hyper-instruments, novel musical interfaces and music technology pedagogy, including research into how students learn through building, modifying and performing with bespoke instruments. Related work includes pedagogical writing with Cameron Harris on improvisation, technology and practice-based learning.
Across these strands, creative practice is positioned not as an illustration of research, but as a way of thinking; Recordings, performances, technological systems, teaching environments and collaborative projects become sites where research questions are tested, refined and made audible.