Top
Skip to Content
LOGO(small) - Queen's University Belfast
  • Our x-twitter
  • Our instagram
LOGO(large) - Queen's University Belfast

School of

Arts, English and Languages

  • Home
  • Study
    • Arts
    • English
    • Languages
    • MLib Arts
    • Funding/Scholarships
    • Enriching Our Student Experience
  • Research
    • Research in Arts
    • Research in English
    • Research in Languages
    • Postdoctoral Research Projects
    • Our Postgraduate Research Community
    • Conferences and Symposia
    • Facilities and Infrastructure
    • Engaged Research in Arts, English and Languages
    • Inaugural Lecture Series
  • International
  • Business/Careers
    • Graduate Testimonials | ARTS
    • Graduate Testimonials | ENGLISH
    • Graduate Testimonials | LANGUAGES
    • Work Placement
  • Discover
    • SWAN and Gender Equality
    • Facilities
    • Junior Academy of Music at QUB
    • Clubs and Societies
    • Avid Training
    • Performance Groups
  • Connect
    • KEY SCHOOL CONTACTS
    • Job Opportunities
    • Visiting Scholars
  • News
    • News Archive
  • Events
    • Outreach events
    • Events Archive
  • Home
  • Study
    • Arts
    • English
    • Languages
    • MLib Arts
    • Funding/Scholarships
    • Enriching Our Student Experience
  • Research
    • Research in Arts
    • Research in English
    • Research in Languages
    • Postdoctoral Research Projects
    • Our Postgraduate Research Community
    • Conferences and Symposia
    • Facilities and Infrastructure
    • Engaged Research in Arts, English and Languages
    • Inaugural Lecture Series
  • International
  • Business/Careers
    • Graduate Testimonials | ARTS
    • Graduate Testimonials | ENGLISH
    • Graduate Testimonials | LANGUAGES
    • Work Placement
  • Discover
    • SWAN and Gender Equality
    • Facilities
    • Junior Academy of Music at QUB
    • Clubs and Societies
    • Avid Training
    • Performance Groups
  • Connect
    • KEY SCHOOL CONTACTS
    • Job Opportunities
    • Visiting Scholars
  • News
    • News Archive
  • Events
    • Outreach events
    • Events Archive
  • Our x-twitter
  • Our instagram
In This Section
  • 2016 Events
  • 2017 Events
  • 2018 Events
  • 2019 Events
  • 2020 Events
  • 2021 Events
  • 2022 Events
  • 2023 Events
  • 2024 Events

  • Home
  • School of Arts, English and Languages
  • Events
  • Events Archive
  • 2024 Events

2024 Events

Seminar: The Magnetic Resonator Piano - Professor Andrew McPherson

Back to events
Date(s)
January 31, 2024
Location
Multi Media Room, SARC
Time
13:00 - 14:00

Every year, many new musical instruments are created, but most drop out of regular use after just a few years, while classic acoustic and electronic designs remain ubiquitous in many styles of music. This talk is the story of an instrument which has so far defied the odds. The magnetic resonator piano (MRP) is an augmented acoustic grand piano which uses electromagnets to vibrate the strings, producing a sonic vocabulary at once familiar and new.

"When I first created the MRP in 2009 as part of a personal composition project, I had no expectations for how long the instrument might last. Fifteen years later, thanks to the continued collaboration of composers, performers and improvisers around the world, there is a repertoire of several dozen pieces for MRP and a collection of instruments, including a newly commissioned MRP at SARC. This talk will present some of the original motivations for the design and the way that my encounters with other musicians challenged and enriched my assumptions, redefining the identity of the instrument itself. Although the technical design of the MRP has stabilised, the musical identity of the instrument remains in a constant state of flux, reinterpreted anew as it attracts new collaborators and musical contexts."

Andrew McPherson is Professor of Design Engineering and Music in the Dyson School of Design Engineering at Imperial College London. A composer (PhD U.Penn 2009) and electronic engineer (MEng MIT 2005) by training, his research focuses on digital musical instruments, especially those which extend the capabilities of traditional musical instruments. He leads the Augmented Instruments Laboratory, a research team investigating musical interface design, performer-instrument interaction and embedded hardware systems. Notable projects include the magnetic resonator piano, an electromagnetically-augmented acoustic grand piano which has been used by dozens of composers and performers worldwide; TouchKeys, a sensor overlay which transforms the electronic keyboard into a nuanced multi-touch control surface; and Bela, an open-source embedded hardware platform for ultra-low-latency audio and sensor processing which spun out into a company in 2016. Andrew holds a research fellowship from the Royal Academy of Engineering and an ERC Consolidator Grant (funded by UKRI) entitled "RUDIMENTS: Reflective understanding of digital instruments as musical entanglements", which looks at the cultural implications of engineering decisions in music technology.

 

Event type
Workshop / Seminar / Course
Department
Audience
All
Add to calendar
Share
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Weibo
  • Email
Events Archive
  • Events Archive
  • 2016 Events
  • 2017 Events
  • 2018 Events
  • 2019 Events
  • 2020 Events
  • 2021 Events
  • 2022 Events
  • 2023 Events
  • 2024 Events
QUB Logo
Contact Us

School Of Arts, English and Languages
2 University Square
Belfast
Northern Ireland
BT7 1NN

GET DIRECTIONS

Email: ael@qub.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)28 9097 3238

Quick Links

  • Home
  • Study
  • Careers
  • Research

 

© Queen's University Belfast 2024
  • Privacy and cookies
  • Website accessibility
  • Freedom of information
  • Modern slavery statement
  • Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
  • University Policies and Procedures
Information
  • Privacy and cookies
  • Website accessibility
  • Freedom of information
  • Modern slavery statement
  • Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
  • University Policies and Procedures

© Queen's University Belfast 2024

Manage cookies