Graduate Student, Research Institute for the Humanities
Thesis Title: New forms of hybrid musical discourse: an exploration of stylistic and procedural cross-fertilisation between contemporary art music and electronic dance music
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Mike Vaughan
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About
Robert Ratcliffe (internationally recognised composer, EDM musicologist and performer) is currently completing a PhD in composition (New Forms of Hybrid Musical Discourse) at Keele University (UK). He is the first composer to develop a musical language and compositional technique through the cross-fertilisation of contemporary art music and electronic dance music (EDM). An important part of his research has comprised looking in detail at the tools of production used in the creation of EDM by various artists. The output of this research into the functionality of the equipment and deliberate ‘creative subversion’ of its intended normative use has been used to develop a vocabulary of compositional techniques for use within his own work.
His hybrid compositions have been performed and broadcast in over 20 countries worldwide, including presentations at major international events such as ACMC, ICMC, L’espace du Son, and NIME. In addition, he has collaborated with some of the leading performers in the fields of contemporary and experimental music, including Rarescale, Sarah Watts, Susanna Borsch, and Zubin Kanga. Recordings of his music are available from Furthernoise, SONUS, and Vox Novus, while his writing is published in eContact! and the proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC 2011).
Research interests include: musical hybridisation, especially between contemporary art music and electronic dance music (EDM); the musicology of EDM; sampling, musical borrowing and transformative imitation within EDM; the influence of technology on musical language. He is a member of the ‘Dancecult’ research network, and in 2008, he organised the Beyond the Dance study day on electronic dance music, in conjunction with the Royal Musical Association and the Humanities Research Institute at Keele University.
Aside from his work as a composer, he is also an active pianist and electronic musician, with experience of performing as a soloist, accompanist, and ensemble member in a variety of styles. He has a particular affinity with the Romantic and Impressionistic piano repertoire, especially the works of Chopin, Debussy, and Scriabin.
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