My research is situated in the field of systematic musicology, focusing on embodied and social interaction with music. This research requires a cross-over of fundamental music research – including theory formation and experimental research – and music application development.
Three complementary RESEARCH TRACKS are prominent in my work:
1. EMBODIED AND SOCIAL INTERACTION with music
I am interested in movement coordination and social interaction in humans engaged with music, and how this links to subjective experiences, reward, and (participatory) sense-making. My theoretical, methodological, and analytical approach is rooted in a dynamical systems perspective. This research relies on the combination of quantitative methods – to measure and analyze complex human movement and physiological activation – and qualitative methods – to assess subjective experiences, expressivity, and sense-making in music.
This research applies to many contexts including music performance, dance performance, and scenarios that relate to the use of music in sports and motor rehabilitation.
2. AUGMENTED REALITY for new forms of musical expression and interaction
New digital technologies pave the way for new forms of musical expression, interaction, communication, and sense-making to emerge. In my work, I explore – together with music and performance artists – how 3D immersive audio playback technologies and embodied interfaces for musical control and interaction, may create “digitally-augmented musical ecosystems” that allow enriched forms of embodied and social music interaction. The design of these musical ecosystems is rooted in concepts and principles from the dynamical systems theory, with a focus on self-organization, emergence, and participatory sense-making.
3. SONIFICATION STRATEGIES for behavior modification and motivation
In the domain of sports and motor rehabilitation, it is important to control body movements and physiological activation in most optimal ways. In my research, I explore how musical feedback of body movements and physiological activation – i.e., sonification – may be useful for that purpose. The underlying mechanism of the developed sonification strategies is based on auditory and sensorimotor reward principles (cf. reinforcement learning).