Professor Justin Paterson
Justin is an academic, music producer and author. His research has an international profile and has ranged from transient enhancement in multi-mic recordings through various papers on the audio technology of extended reality systems, including the Sir David Attenborough apps, to an AHRC-funded project developing interactive music playback. He was also AHRC-funded Principal Investigator for another project: The Commercialisation of Interactive Music working with Warner Music Group to roll out the variPlay system that he co-designed, and he produced music for International artists such as Ofenbach and Ximena Sariñana.
He was UWL Principal Investigator for the Innovate-UK-funded project HAPPIE consortium (Haptic Authoring Pipeline for the Production of Immersive Experiences) and led a team to develop a novel music-production interface in mixed reality with tactile force-feedback. Justin leads a team that continues research on haptic audio, and also the KE-focused UWL audio-innovation commercialisation project that develops in-house IP.
Commercial research-bid partners have included: BBC, Abbey Road Studios, Ninja Tune, BT, Sony Interactive Entertainment, MelodyVR, Science Museum, Skywalker Sound, RT60 Ltd, Digital Jam, Ecco VR, 1.618 Digital, Blue Studios, Generic Robotics Ltd, RNIB, Numerion Software Ltd, Swedish Museum of Performing Arts, Vitensenteret (including its Planetarium), Aptivate and halo Post.
Justin is author of The Drum Programming Handbook. He is co-chair of the Innovation in Music conference series and co-editor of the associated books, and is a consultant to RT Sixty apps iDrumTune and Drummer ITP. He also co-edited the Routledge book '3D Audio' with Hyunkook Lee. Justin leads the MA Advanced Music Technology and supervisors seven PhD students at UWL.
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Qualifications
Cert. Mus. (MI London), BSc (University of Dundee), MSc (Brunel University), DMus (University of West London).
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Memberships
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)The Audio Engineering Society (AES)BRIT Award Academy Member (2006-8)European Broadcasting Union (EBU) Expert Community – Audio Working GroupEuropean Broadcasting Union (EBU) FAR-Lipsync Working GroupPPLPRS for MusicResearch Fellow of Music Tech Fest
Teaching
I am a Professor of Music Production at the London College of Music. My research has an international profile and has ranged from interactive music-app design to music-production techniques in mixed reality. I have led several research project funded by the AHRC and Innovate UK, and chair the Innovation in Music conference series (http://www.musicinnovation.co.uk/), and I am also an active professional music producer.
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Research and publications
Books
Norton, C., Paterson, J.L. and Pratt, D. (2024) ‘Performance mapping and control: Enhanced musical connections and a strategy to enhance flow-state’, in J.-O. Gullö et al. (eds) Innovation in Music: Technology and Creativity. 1st edition. Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge.
Gullö, J.-O. et al. (eds) (2024a) Innovation in Music: Cultures and Contexts. 1st edition. Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge.
Gullö, J.-O. et al. (eds) (2024b) Innovation in Music: Technology and Creativity. 1st edition. Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Focal Press.
Paterson, J.L., Hepworth-Sawyer, R. and Toulson, E.R. (eds) (2021) Innovation in Music: Future Possibilities. London & New York: Routledge (Perspectives on Music Production).
Llewellyn, G. and Paterson, J.L. (2021) ‘Towards 6DOF: 3D Audio for virtual, augmented and mixed realities’, in Paterson, J.L. and Lee, H. (eds) 3D Audio. 1 edition. London & New York: Routledge (Perspectives on Music Production).
Paterson, J.L. et al. (eds) (2019) Innovation in Music: performance, production, technology and business. London & New York: Routledge (Perspectives on Music Production).
Paterson, J. L. and Llewellyn, G. (2019) Producing 3-D Audio, in Hepworth-Sawyer, R., Hodgson, J., and Marrington, M. (eds) Producing Music. 1 edition. New York, NY: Routledge (Perspectives on Music Production).
Hepworth-Sawyer, R., Hodgson, J., Paterson, J. L. and Toulson, E. R. (eds) (2016) Innovation in Music 2. Shoreham-by-Sea, UK: Future Technology Press.
Paterson, J. L. and Toulson, E. R. (2016) Interactive Digital Music: enhancing listener engagement with commercial music, in Innovation in Music 2. Shoreham-by-Sea, UK: Future Technology Press, pp. 193–209.
Paterson, J. L. (2016) Mixing in the Box, in Mixing Music. London & New York: Routledge, pp. 77-92, ISBN 978-1-138-21873-4
Paterson, J. L. and Toulson, E. R. (2016) Interactive Digital Music: enhancing listener engagement with commercial music in Innovation in Music 2015. Shoreham-by-Sea, UK: Future Technology Press, pp. 193-209. ISBN 978-1-4803-9287-8
Hepworth-Sawyer, R., Hodgson, J., Paterson, J. L. and Toulson, E. R. (eds) (2016) Innovation in Music 2015. Shoreham-by-Sea, UK: Future Technology Press. ISBN 978-1-911108-04-7
Paterson, J. L. (2015) The Drum Programming Handbook: The Complete Guide to Creating Great Rhythm Tracks. London, UK: Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-1-4803-9287-8
Campbell, W., Paterson, J. L. and Toulson, E. R. (2014) A quantitative evaluation of signal masking in summed and compressed audio in Innovation in Music 2013. Shoreham-by-Sea, UK: Future Technology Press, pp. 20–31. ISBN 978-0-9561516-8-1
Paterson, J. L. (2014) Wavefondler - a multi-touch interface for iPad to control audio on a host computer via a visualization of the waveform in Innovation in Music 2013. Shoreham-by-Sea, UK: Future Technology Press, pp. 67–78. ISBN 978-0-9561516-8-1
Toulson, E. R., Paterson, J. L. and Campbell, W. (2014) Evaluating harmonic and intermodulation distortion of mixed signals processed with dynamic range compression in Innovation in Music 2013. Shoreham-by-Sea, UK: Future Technology Press, pp. 224–246. ISBN 978-0-9561516-8-1
Hepworth-Sawyer, R., Hodgson, J., Paterson, J. L. and Toulson, E. R. (eds) (2014) Innovation in Music 2013. Shoreham-by-Sea, UK: Future Technology Press. ISBN 978-0-9561516-8-1
Journal articles
Paterson, J.L. and Kadel, O. (2022) Audio for extended realities: a case-study informed exposition, ‘Immersive Storytelling’, Special Issue, Convergence: The International Journal of Research Into New Media Technologies, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/13548565231169723.
Paterson, J.L., Toulson, E.R. and Hepworth-Sawyer, R. (2019) User-Influenced/Machine-Controlled Playback: The variPlay Music App Format for Interactive Recorded Music, Arts, 8(3), p. 112. doi: 10.3390/arts8030112.
Campbell, W.,Paterson, J. and van der Linde, I. (2017) ‘Listener Preferences for Alternative Dynamic-Range-Compressed Audio Configurations’, J. Audio Eng. Soc, 65(7/8), pp. 540–551. Available at: http://www.aes.org/e-lib/browse.cfm?elib=19170.
Paterson, J. L. (2008) Cutting Tracks, Making CDs: A comparative study of audio time-correction techniques in the desktop age. Journal on the Art of Record Production, (4). ISSN 1754-9892
Paterson, J. L. (2007) Phase experiments in multi-microphone recordings: A practical exploration. Journal on the Art of Record Production, (1). ISSN 1754-9892
Interactive-music apps
Paterson, J.L., Toulson, E.R. and Ofenbach (2019) Ofenbach variPlay. Apple App Store. (Accessed: 27 April 2019).
Paterson, J.L., Toulson, E.R. and Langham Research Centre (2020) Quanta / Signal / Noise. Apple App Store. Available online. (Accessed: 21 December 2020).
Paterson, J. L., Toulson, E. R. and Sariñana, X. (2018) Ximena Sariñana variPlay. Apple App Store.
Paterson, J. L., Toulson, E. R., Defab1, et al. (2018) Plan (something good) variPlay. Apple App Store. (Accessed: 27 September 2018).
Paterson, J. L., Toulson, E. R. and Daisy and The Dark (2015) Red Planet EP. Apple App Store. (Accessed: 9 March 2017).
Patents
Paterson, J. L. and Toulson, E. R. (2015) Cross-Fading Between Audio Files. Patent Pending.
Produced albums
Robert Sholl and Justin Paterson (2024) Les Ombres du Fantôme (CD). Divine Art.
Jackout (2009) Saturnalia (CD). England: Slam.
The Number (2006) The Making of Quiet Things (CD). England: Slam.
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Conferences
Conference papers
Paterson, J. and Kadel, O. (2019) Immersive Audio Post-Production for 360º Video: Workflow Case Studies, in 2019 AES International Conference on Immersive and Interactive Audio, York, UK. Available online.
Paterson, J. L. and Toulson, E. R. (2018) Interactive Recorded Music: Past, Present, and Future, in Audio Engineering Society Convention 145, New York City, USA. Available online.
Paterson, J. L. and Toulson, E. R. (2018) variPlay: the next generation of Interactive Music. BPI Innovation Hub, London, UK, 11 September.
Paterson, J. L. and Toulson, E. R. (2018) The Interactive Album App. 4th Workshop on Intelligent Music Production, Huddersfield, UK, 14 September. Available online.
Paterson, J. L. and Toulson, E. R. (2018) Live-Market Evaluation of Interactive Music Apps, in. IASPM: Crosstown Traffic: Popular Music Theory and Practice, University of Huddersfield. Available online.
Paterson, J. L., Toulson, E. R. and Hepworth-Sawyer, R. (2018) Mastering Music for Multi-Stem and Interactive Applications. AES UK Mastering Conference 2018, London, UK, 22 September. Available online.
Toulson, E. R. and Paterson, J. L. (2016) A new interactive music format for enhancing listener engagement with recorded music. The 11th Art of Record Production Conference, Aalborg, Denmark, 2 December.
Paterson, J. L. and Toulson, E. R. (2015) Interactive Music: Past, Present, and Future... in Proceedings of the 138th Audio Engineering Society Convention. Warsaw, Poland. Available online. (Accessed: 16 June 2015).
Paterson, J. L. and Toulson, E. R. (2015) Interactive Music: Future Listening Experiences in Proceedings of the 139th Audio Engineering Society Convention. New York City, USA. Available online. (Accessed: 25 February 2016).
Paterson, J. L. (2013) Free Improv - the hard way in Proceedings of the 134th Audio Engineering Society Convention. Audio Engineering Society Convention 134, Rome, Italy. Available online. (Accessed: 3 June 2013).
Paterson, J. L. (2012) What Is the worth of pre-DSP 'traditional' production values in the contemporary manipulation-oriented context? in Proceedings of the 132nd Audio Engineering Society Convention. Audio Engineering Society Convention 132, Budapest, Hungary. Available online. (Accessed: 19 March 2013).
Paterson, J. L. (2011) Creative abuse in time stretching in Proceedings of the 130th Audio Engineering Society Convention. Audio Engineering Society Convention 130, London, UK. Available online. (Accessed: 19 March 2013).
Mycroft, J. and Paterson, J. L. (2011) Activity flow in music equalization: The cognitive and creative implications of interface design in Proceedings of the 130th Audio Engineering Society Convention. Audio Engineering Society Convention 130. Available online. (Accessed: 19 March 2013).
Paterson, J. L. (2011) The preset is dead; long live the preset in Proceedings of the 130th Audio Engineering Society Convention. Audio Engineering Society Convention 130, London, UK. Available online. (Accessed: 19 March 2013).
Paterson, J. L. (2011) What constitutes innovation in music production? in Proceedings of the 131st Audio Engineering Society Convention. Audio Engineering Society Convention 131, New York City, USA. Available online. (Accessed: 19 March 2013).
Campbell, W., Paterson J. L. and Toulson E. R. (2010) The effect of dynamic range compression on the psychoacoustic quality and loudness of commercial music, in Proceedings of the Internoise 2010 Conference. Internoise 2010, Lisbon, Portugal, pp. 2580–2588. Available online. (Accessed: 18 November 2013).
Paterson, J. L. (2007) 'Set Phasors to Stun': An algorithm to improve phase coherence on transients in multi-microphone recordings. in Proceedings of the International Congress on Acoustics 2007. International Congress on Acoustics, Madrid, Spain.
Paterson, J. L. (2006) 'Killing Spillage': An algorithm to reduce microphone spillage and improve phase coherence. in Proceedings of the 2nd Art of Record Production Conference. Art of Record Production, Edinburgh, UK.
Conference presentations
Paterson, J. L. and Visser, A. (2024) Feel the Future: Touching Sound. TEDxUniversity of West London, University of West London, UK. Available online.
Paterson, J. L. et al. (2022) "In the Torture Chamber": Improvisation, recording, production and the collective imagination in artistic research. European Platform for Artistic Research in Music - EPARM 2022, Royal Academy of Music, London, UK, 7 April. Available online.
Paterson, J. L. and Toulson, E. R. (2018) Get Inside the Music: connecting artists and audiences through interactive apps, in. 145th Audio Engineering Society Convention, New York City, USA. Available online.
Paterson, J. L. and Toulson, E. R. (2016) The Interactive Album App. Music Interaction Design Symposium, Birmingham, UK. Available at: http://integra.io/mixd2016/ (Accessed: 25 February 2016).
Paterson, J. L. and Toulson, E. R. (2015) An App for Interactive Music Playback. Music Tech Fest Central, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 20 September.
Paterson, J. L. (2015) MTF Research Network. Music Tech Fest, Umeå, Sweden, May.
Paterson, J. L. (2014) Contemporary Approaches to Programming Drums in Proceedings of the 137th Audio Engineering Society Convention. 137th Audio Engineering Society Convention, Los Angeles, USA.
Paterson, J. L. (2013) Drum Programming in Proceedings of the 134th Audio Engineering Society Convention. 134th Audio Engineering Society Convention, Rome, Italy.
Paterson, J. L. (2013) The Art of Drum Programming in Proceedings of the 135th Audio Engineering Society Convention. 135th Audio Engineering Society Convention, New York City, USA.
Paterson, J. L. (2012) Drum and Percussion Programming in Proceedings of the 132nd Audio Engineering Society Convention. 132nd Audio Engineering Society Convention, Budapest, Hungary.
Paterson, J. L. (2011) Drum and Percussion Programming in Proceedings of the 131st Audio Engineering Society Convention. 131st Audio Engineering Society Convention, New York City, USA.
A museum installation
Paterson, J. L. (2017) ‘Get Inside the Music’. Digital Design Weekend, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 23-24 September.
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Research degree supervision
Principal Supervisor
Research in the Mental Well-Being of Touring Musicians for Bespoke Application Design (Helen Rowell)
Haptics for Extended (Audio) Realities (Andy Visser)
How might a taxonomy of composing and performing with modular synthesisers be contrasted with extant understanding of broader electronic music practice, and to what extent can works made with modular synthesisers manifest, articulate and inform discussions around somatic experience? (Rotem Haguel)
Strategies for improving the bidirectional relationship of expressivity between electronic musicians and complex sound-generating systems (Charlie Norton)
Rap made in Cassettes: How the interplay between music producers and four-track recorders impacted upon on the sonic signatures of Spanish rap in the 1990s (Diego Fernandez)
The design, development, and evaluation of an audio mixing interface incorporating haptics within an extended reality environment, as an alternative to the traditional mixing desk design (Vangelis Katsinas)
Development and evaluation of immersive-audio and haptics-driven production approaches to enhance the understanding of visual features in cinematic virtual reality for visually impaired audiences (Cesar Portillo)
The Effect of Dynamic Range Compression on ohe Psychoacoustic Quality and Loudness of Commercial Music (William Campbell) - awarded January 2019
The Embodied Feminine and the Sensory Self: Cross-disciplinary practice exploring the feminine ideal through sensors, transposition, metaphorical tools, embedded technology, performance, and composition. (Susan Thomason) - awarded May 2019
Reimagining the ‘Phonographic’ in Sample-Based Hip-Hop Production: Making Records Within Records (Mike Exarchos AKA Stereo Mike) – awarded April 2022
Secondary Supervisor
The digital audio workstation as a mediator of the electronic music production process. (James Bell)
How can Actor-Network-Theory and Ecological Approach to Perception be used to analyse creative mixing practice? (Yongju Lee)
In what ways have guitar players’ tools come to shape the playing style, compositional approach, and recording methodology of noise rock music from the 1970s to the present? (Tyrian Purple)
