@apmcpherson.bsky.social
Professor in Design Engineering and Music, Imperial College London. Researcher, composer, violist, engineer, instrument designer. Leader of the Augmented Instruments Laboratory instrumentslab.org. Co-founder and director of Bela.io.
Monday 16 March, 2pm UK: Kathy Hinde presents "Magnetic sensing as inspiration for an installation and performance" as part of the Augmented Instruments Lab Open Seminars series.
Hybrid in-person at Imperial College London (DM for location) and online: www.youtube.com/live/3Yv4_33...
First time recording a piano in a while – and this one was full of electromagnets! Great fun last week recording audio for @apmcpherson.bsky.social's Magnetic Resonator Piano with @xeniapestova.bsky.social playing, along with some fun other Augmented Instruments Lab creations. Videos coming soon!
Yesterday I spent the afternoon making video recordings on this beastie at @imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social for @apmcpherson.bsky.social. I also purchased pre-loved silver stilettos of extreme height at a nearby thrift fashion store. A truly perfect day.
The latest from Bela -- TRAILS is here! See what it can do here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVpv.... Pre-orders are live now on shop.bela.io, estimated shipping in June.
We've been busy at Bela lately. Having recently released Bela Gem, our new module Trails is just about to drop! Sneak peek: www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdNw...
Join the (low-traffic) mailing list at bela.io/trails to be the first to know when it launches.
Bela Gem is here: the biggest upgrade to the Bela platform in a decade, with a quad-core processor (PocketBeagle 2), up to 10ch audio I/O, and a completely new IDE.
We've delivered the boards to our Crowd Supply backers and it's now available on our shop: bela.io/products/bel...
One week left to apply to this PhD studentship! Fully funded, covers fees and stipend; UK home student applicants only (due to funder rules).
In residence at the Guildhall School of Music today with @xeniapestova.bsky.social and the magnetic resonator piano. New pieces by Guildhall composers in preparation!
Just published: the second edition of the Audio Effects textbook by Josh Reiss and me. Featuring new material, including on phase vocoders, spatial audio, and practical topics in audio programming, plus updated code examples. www.routledge.com/Audio-Effect...
Grieving for my home state of Minnesota again tonight, but also proud of the courage of Minnesotans. If only the US “leadership” class had 1% of the decency and moral clarity of ordinary citizens.
And the answer is... the CEO of Suno! www.theguardian.com/music/2026/j...
It's fascinating and problematic how big AI companies and research communities like NIME both adopt a discourse of "anyone can make music thanks to these new tools". Would NIME of 10 years ago have loved LLM music generators?
I'm recruiting a PhD student for autumn 2026 on a project on accessibility in musical instrument design, in partnership with disability arts charities OHMI and Drake Music.
Application deadline 15 February 2026. More info and contact details: liss-dtp.ac.uk/project/inst...
Where do the following quotes come from? (Hint: not from a NIME paper.)
"The format of the future will be interactive. It should be social."
"There’s not a right or a wrong answer. [Music is] not a problem to solve."
I'm recruiting a PhD student for autumn 2026 on a project on accessibility in musical instrument design, in partnership with disability arts charities OHMI and Drake Music.
Application deadline 15 February 2026. More info and contact details: liss-dtp.ac.uk/project/inst...
I'd appreciate if any audio tech folks could help circulate this exciting call for a fully-funded PhD position working in multichannel audio design for galleries.
It's part of an ARC funded project 'From Noise to Signal: Improving Sonic Experiences in the Gallery'
www.unsw.edu.au/research/hdr...
Do you teach in the area of sound or music interaction? Giacomo Lepri (University of Genoa) wants to hear from you! Take this survey and enter to win a Bela Gem Stereo: sondaggi.unige.it/index.php/39...
Bonkers that the University of Nottingham is planning to suspend its undergrad music courses. Cancelling music anywhere is a travesty, and Nottingham has such an impressive and standout department. A pointless self-own by short-sighted management. Sign the petition here! c.org/FTjbxY2vp7
Bravo MIT! How reassuring to see this dignity and strength. www.mit.edu/response-gov...
This is grotesque: the Trump regime wants to give 9 universities, including my alma mater MIT, a leg up on federal funding in exchange for their servitude. I have to hope MIT and the others have the integrity to tell them where to shove it. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/u...
Why, for the love of all things good and holy, do so many journals still require submissions in Microsoft Word format?
Great to have the opportunity to present a paper by @francisco-bernardo.bsky.social, myself, and @apmcpherson.bsky.social at DAFx 2025: "Impedance Synthesis for Hybrid Analog-Digital Audio effects". The work, led by Francisco, integrates digital systems into analog circuits bidirectionally.
AI music promised freedom from hard-coded rules that were needed in pre-ML approaches to music generation. No theory, no grammar, no bias — just pure music learned directly from data. Our new @tismir.bsky.social article tears down that myth.
transactions.ismir.net/articles/10....
Looking forward to giving a keynote talk today at DAFX 2025 in Ancona. It's going to be ... different. Introducing my new conspiracy theory (ask at your own risk!).
The Dyson School of Design Engineering at Imperial College London is hiring a full-time electronics technician. Come join a wonderfully eclectic group of staff and students, and help us support great facilities and build cool stuff! Applications close 12 September: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOF152/t...
Out now! GLOW for Magnetic Resonator Piano, chamber ensemble and electronics - delighted to be featured on @nmcrecordings.bsky.social
nmcrecs.lnk.to/Glow
@apmcpherson.bsky.social @cmcireland.bsky.social
We're approaching the last 24 hours of the Bela Gem campaign. Check out all the campaign updates on technical details and stories from the Bela community. The campaign offers the lowest pricing and the earliest delivery, so this is the time to sign up! www.crowdsupply.com/bela/bela-ge...
New release alert! My new piece GLOW featuring @apmcpherson.bsky.social Magnetic Resonator Piano + Hard Rain SoloistEnsemble comes out this Friday on @nmcrecordings.bsky.social @prsfoundation.bsky.social pre-save link here nmcrecs.lnk.to/Glow
Meanwhile, PDM (pulse-density modulation) mics are tiny microphones with a digital output which can reduce electrical noise. You can use 8 of these (and maybe even 16!) on Bela Gem Multi to make mic arrays, useful for robotics, beam-forming, field recording and other applications.
Bela Gem Multi already supported 10 audio inputs and 10 audio outputs, 8 of which are DC-coupled. A new design change lets you use DC-coupled signals like CVs or sensor readings on 8 of the audio *inputs* as well. (Some level shifting is needed to situate these inputs between 0 and 3.3V.)
Bela Gem Multi just got more capable! Our latest Crowd Supply update describes the new features on DC-coupled audio inputs and PDM microphone support: www.crowdsupply.com/bela/bela-ge...