electronic music production

Research degrees with the London College of Music

Research specialisms in the London College of Music

Staff and postgraduate students at the London College of Music are engaged in a range of research specialisms that combine practice-led research and advanced professional practice with theoretical and technical analyses of various types. 

Find out more about our research specialisms below:

  • Musicology

    LCM has a highly diverse approach to musicology. We are concerned with the craft of creating, interpretating and manipulating sound through an engagement with and refiguration of different traditions that incorporates composition, musical historiography, theory and analysis, creativity/aesthetics, biographical studies, opera studies, hermeneutics, artistic research, pedagogy and performance studies.

    Our work is engaged with evolving traditions and practices in western art music, jazz and popular music and contemporary electronic music, as well as topics such as gender, race and ethnicity, exoticism and the role of AI.

  • Practice as research

    LCM embraces difference forms of practice as research including composition/performance, improvisation, music-industry/events, audio engineering, recording/production and practices in theatre and dance.

    The department is highly involved in the development of new approaches to documenting and analysing practice as research in a range of disciplines. One feature of this has been the extensive program of industry speakers invited to give guest lectures, workshops and masterclasses about their professional practice.

  • Record production

    LCM is a world leader in research into record production, and our staff have founded and continue to run several global research networks. Further details can also be found in the sections on 'Practice as research', 'Musicology' and in the 'Current research projects section', but we also have cutting edge research being conducted into recording and mixing practice, expert systems (including haptics), 3D audio, gender/diversity/creativity within music production and mixing.

  • Sound Synthesis (Townshend collection)

    Legendary musician Pete Townshend endowed his extensive collection of vintage instruments to UWL. This collection includes (amongst many others): EMS Synthi 100, Yamaha GX1, Moog: Model 15 and System 35, ARP 2500 and AS Colossus. The collection facilitates a large range of PhD research trajectories including performance, composition and synthesiser methodology and practice.

  • Theatre and Performance research

    Performance is the life blood of LCM, forming the base of the school. PhD students and staff are continuously conducting research into new performance techniques in order to push performance at LCM further, as well as to positively impact the teaching and learning process at the University. 

    Areas of research:

    • Applied and socially engaged theatre (including community theatre and wellbeing) 
    • Performance Studies (dramaturgy, social justice, identity politics, casting politics) 
    • Improvisation and Gesture 
    • Space, place and environment 
    • Cultural exchange practices 
    • Translation and adaptation studies 
    • New play development and writing for performance 
    • Literature, Narrative and Music 
    • Music Theatre 
    • Opera
    • Anglo-Spanish Musical Theatre
    • Festival Studies

Research degrees

The London College of Music offers both DMus and PhD research degrees. The PhD can be either a thesis-based study or also involve practice as research. The DMus differs from the PhD by being more concerned with innovation in creative practice as opposed to a research PhD which is more focused on producing new knowledge and understanding about creative practice.

See our PhD research degree in Music:

VC PhD Scholarships

A student producer behind a mixing board
The London College of Music welcomes applicants for our full-time Vice Chancellor's PhD scholarships, which are open to all UK students (including EU students with settled status) who qualify and include:
  • Waiver of UK PhD tuition fees
  • Payment of a tax-free stipend of £22,000 per annum
  • Annual allowance of £900 to support conference attendance

PhD scholars carry out teaching duties for a maximum of six hours per week. Scholarships are for three years (subject to satisfactory performance and academic progress).

You can apply for one of our Vice-Chancellor's PhD scholarships as part of your PhD application – please state on the application form that you would like to apply for the Vice-Chancellors Scholarship.

PhD opportunities

Applications are invited for bespoke topics across the range of disciplines supported by the below staff. In addition, there are several targeted projects as follows:

We are offering two industry-linked places supervised by Professor Justin Paterson and co-supervised by the CEO of the collaborating companies:

We are also offering other specific projects:

  • Artistic research and improvisation

    Supervisor: Professor Robert Sholl

    Research context:

    Our department has a broad interest in artistic research concerning composition, performance, improvisation and the electronic manipulation of sound. We are particularly interested in improvisation to film (connecting to our PRISM Research Centre) and hybrid and interdisciplinary approaches that include hermeneutics, analysis, cultural studies and the use of AI.

    Further information:

    Questions regarding academic aspects of the project should be directed to Professor Robert Sholl: robert.sholl@uwl.ac.uk 

  • Cross-channel dynamics

    Supervisors: Dr Daniel Pratt and Professor Simon Zagorski-Thomas

    Research context:

    Also as part of ongoing collaborative research with a well-established plugin company we are looking for a PhD student to conduct research into the interaction between audio processing (particularly compression and transient design) on parallel streams of audio. The research would involve a range of music genres and the research aim would be to identify general principles which allow various musical goals to be achieved in the mix process.

    Further information:

    Questions regarding academic aspects of the project should be directed to Dr Daniel Pratt: daniel.pratt@uwl.ac.uk

  • French music

    Supervisors: Professor Robert Sholl and Professor Nicholas McKay

    Research context:

    We are particularly interested in topics in twentieth- and twenty-first century western art music. Interdisciplinary approaches that involve aspects of biography, analysis, cultural studies, psychoanalysis, gender studies and engagements with non-western music (including neo-colonial studies) are all welcome.

    Further information:

    Questions regarding academic aspects of the project should be directed to Professor Robert Sholl: robert.sholl@uwl.ac.uk 

  • Future Noise record label – immersive pedagogy

    Supervisor: Dr Daniel Pratt

    Research context:

    In addition to UWL’s London Noise record label (in collaboration with AWAL), we are establishing a second inclusive arts project called Future Noise, run by undergraduate students, which will work with school sixth forms and further education colleges to develop new up-and-coming artists. This PhD student would document and analyse the process whereby the staff and students engaged with the label develop their knowledge and understanding of this community of practice.

    Further information:

    Questions regarding academic aspects of the project should be directed to Dr Daniel Pratt: daniel.pratt@uwl.ac.uk

  • Harmonising history: A taxonomy of vintage synthesizers

    Supervisor: Professor Justin Paterson

    Research context:

    Utilising the unique and extensive Pete Townshend synthesiser collection at UWL, this project will develop a extendable taxonomy to catalogue and analyse the sonic and functional properties of the synthesisers (and others) and develop a digital open-access archive that includes high-quality recordings and detailed analysis of each synthesiser’s capabilities. It will also investigate the role of these instruments in shaping various music genres and cultural movements, fostering a dialogue between past innovations and future creations.

    Further information:

    Questions regarding academic aspects of the project should be directed to Professor Justin Paterson: justin.paterson@uwl.ac.uk

  • Keyboard studies

    LCM has strengths in keyboard studies – piano and organ – and we would be particularly interested to hear from students wishing to pursue a doctorate through practice (through recitals with partial thesis) on any element of 18th-21st century keyboard music, including repertoire, organology, culture, improvisation, pedagogy and extended techniques.

    Further information:

    Questions regarding academic aspects of the project should be directed to Dr Annie Yim: annie.yim@uwl.ac.uk 

  • The musical principles of mix preparation

    Supervisors: Dr Daniel Pratt and Professor Simon Zagorski-Thomas

    Research context:

    As part of ongoing collaborative research with a well-established plugin company we are looking for a PhD student to conduct research into the musical principles behind mix preparation. The project would involve an ethnographic study of the practice of professional mix engineers in order to establish a range of general principles about how they conceptualise various components of a mix, how they establish various forms of signal path and any structuring principles that they employ when preparing session files for mixing.

    Further information:

    Questions regarding academic aspects of the project should be directed to Dr Daniel Pratt: daniel.pratt@uwl.ac.uk

  • Music and health, somatic studies

    Supervisor: Professor Robert Sholl

    Research context:

    LCM has a strong interest in strategies that increase performance potential and well-being to enhance and sustain careers. We are particularly interested in topics concerning music and health and somatic techniques (including development of the Feldenkrais Method and the Alexander technique) and topics that make interdisciplinary connections that expand the horizons of theory and practice in these areas that concern issues of longevity, public health and specific conditions such as Alzheimer's disease.

    Further information:

    Questions regarding academic aspects of the project should be directed to Professor Robert Sholl: robert.sholl@uwl.ac.uk 

  • Music business/industry

    Supervisor: Dr Danny Hagan

    Research context:

    LCM has a substantial depth of knowledge in the music business and music industry practices. We have cutting edge research being conducted into:

    • artist management and mental health
    • political economic and social structures
    • the importance of popular music practices on identity and place 

    Research topics on both recorded and live music are equally valued and supported. We would welcome enquiries and proposals into all related areas.

    Further information:

    Questions regarding academic aspects of the project should be directed to Dr Danny Hagan: daniel.hagan@uwl.ac.uk

  • Practical musicology methods

    Supervisor: Professor Simon Zagorski-Thomas

    Research context:

    As part of his work with the 21st-Century Music Practice network and his forthcoming monograph on Practical Musicology, Simon Zagorski-Thomas is looking for one or more PhD students to explore methods of documenting and representing tacit knowledge and developing an aesthetic approach through their own practice research.

    The student will explore documentation and analysis of practice and aesthetics through four types of representation: temporal, spatial, deconstruction and internal narrative. The research aim is to match various principles of representation with types of knowledge and contexts.

    Further information:

    Questions regarding academic aspects of the project should be directed to Professor Simon Zagorski-Thomas: simon.zagorski-thomas@uwl.ac.uk 

  • Self-production, creativity and identity

    Supervisor: Dr Paula Wolfe

    Research context:

    Given the continuing rise in students who are looking to higher education to develop skills as self-producing artists, there is a need to explore the many and interconnecting creative, technical and cultural facets associated with the art form. In addition, the growth in awareness of how creative processes and outputs, afforded by the practice, are influenced by issues of cultural identity and societal positioning, highlights the need for research.

    We would welcome enquiries and proposals in any of these related areas.

    Further information:

    Questions regarding academic aspects of the project should be directed to Dr Paula Wolfe: paula.wolfe@uwl.ac.uk 

A group of people are on stage in a dynamic pose. The person closest to the camera is in a deep lunge with her arms outstretched. They are all wearing black outfits.

Theatre and performance practice

Performing arts research covers a range of thematic interests in contemporary performance practices, global performance cultures and histories and collaborative research projects with the Music team. We are keen to support applications in any of our research areas:

  • Applied and socially engaged theatre (including community theatre and wellbeing) 
  • Theatre in and for the workplace
  • Performance studies (dramaturgy, social justice, identity politics, casting politics)
  • Improvisation and gesture
  • Space, place and environment
  • Cultural exchange practices
  • Translation and adaptation studies
  • New play development and writing for performance
  • Literature, narrative and music
  • Music theatre
  • Anglo-Spanish musical theatre
  • Festival studies
A musician producing music using a computer

Please feel free to contact potential supervisors directly via email to discuss the details of your proposal before submission.

General enquiries about the scholarships can be addressed to postgraduate.admissions@uwl.ac.uk 

Current research degree projects

Below are the research degree projects currently being studied by our postgraduate students.

Awarded research degrees

Below are the research projects and degrees awarded each year.

  • Research degrees awarded in 2019/2020

    Creativity in new music for strings: under which circumstances does creative change occur in different types of performer/composer collaborations?

    • PhD awarded to Agata Kubiak, October 2019
    • Principal supervisor: Professor David Osbon
       

    Identification and application in original composition of the devices required to construct and maintain a coherent musical form with a very slow distribution of structural sound events.  

    • PhD awarded to Bartosz Szafranski, June 2020  
    • Principal supervisor: Professor David Osbon

  • Research degrees awarded in 2018/2019

    Live popular electronic music: ‘performable recordings’

    • PhD awarded to Christos Moralis, January 2019
    • Principal supervisor: Dr Andrew Bourbon

    How do the promoters of independent UK music festivals organise and implement events?

    • PhD awarded to Danny Hagan, August 2019
    • Principal supervisor: Professor David Osbon

    The Embodied Feminine and the Sensory Self: Cross-disciplinary practice exploring the feminine ideal through sensors, transposition, metaphorical tools, embedded technology, performance and composition

    • PhD awarded to Susan Thomason, May 2019
    • Principal supervisor: Professor Simon Zagorski-Thomas

  • Research degrees awarded in 2017/2018

    The role and gesture of non-verbal communication in popular music performance, and its application to curriculum and pedagogy.

    • PhD awarded to Liz Pipe, August 2018
    • Principal supervisor: Professor Simon Zagorski-Thomas

    How recording studios used technology to invoke the psychedelic experience: the difference in staging techniques in British and American recordings in the late 1960's

    • PhD awarded to Anthony Meynell, July 2017
    • Principal supervisor: Professor Simon Zagorski-Thomas

    Playing the changes: rediscovering the lexicon of electronic organ performance practice from 1943 to 2015​

    • PhD awarded to Christopher Stanbury, October 2017
    • Principal supervisor: Professor Francis Pott

  • Research degrees awarded in 2016/2017

    How recording studios used technology to invoke the psychedelic experience: The difference in staging techniques in British and American recordings in the late 1960s

    • PhD awarded to Anthony Meynell, July 2017
    • Principal supervisor: Professor Simon Zagorski-Thomas

  • Research degrees awarded in 2015/2016

    A long sell: The disproportionate appeal of Frank Bridge’s music to familiar listeners, and its impact upon his reception, 1912-36

    • PhD awarded to David Weber, July 2016
    • Principal supervisor: David Weber

    A study, exploration and development of the interaction of music production techniques in a contemporary desktop setting

    • PhD awarded to Justin Paterson, December 2015
    • Principal supervisor: Professor John Howard

  • Research degrees awarded in 2014/2015

    Anne Frank in musical portraiture

    • PhD awarded to James Whitbourn, July 2015
    • Principal supervisor: Professor Francis Pott

  • Research degrees awarded in 2011/2012

    An analysis and evaluation of the concept of authenticity within popular music, using 'country rock' music as an exemplar genre

    • PhD awarded to Anthony Simmonds, September 2011
    • Principal supervisor: Prof John Howard

Applying for a PhD

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If you are considering applying for a PhD, the first step is to contact a supervisor in a relevant research area - contact emails are listed against projects above.

Find out more about the funding we offer, the application process and other frequently asked questions.

If you have any questions please contact us by email: postgraduate.admissions@uwl.ac.uk

Applying for a PhD

Find out more

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    Find out more about PhD and Professional Doctorate opportunities and how we will support you within our active and interdisciplinary research community.

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