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Music Science Lab

(Left) Music cognition field experiments in the Uruwa River Valley, Papua New Guinea. Research conducted by Milne, Smit, Sarvasy, and members of the local community.
(Middle) Roger Dean is fond of playing the piano both on the keys and on the strings.
(Right) The Rhythmotron – a robot drum machine in a piano. Developed by Milne (right), Taylor (left), and Stanton at MARCS, and exhibited at several on-street arts events in Sydney (2017–2019).

Overview

Lab leader: A/Prof Andrew Milne

Core WSU members: Prof. Roger Dean, Dr Simon Chambers, Dr Gabriele Cecchetti, Dr Mark Temple (faculty); Siyao Cheng, Anita Connell, Lu Lucuța, Lekshmy Nair, Cameron Undy (PhD candidates).

Adjunct members/collaborators: Dr Anthony Chmiel (USyd), Dr Anna Fiveash (U. Bourgogne), Dr Steffen Herff (USyd), Prof Peter Keller (Aarhus U.), Dr Jennifer MacRitchie (U. Sheffield), Dr Nigel Nettheim.

We have fortnightly meetings (2pm, Tuesdays) – in-person at Westmead Innovation Quarter and on zoom. Each meeting is a presentation (by a lab member or external speaker), or other research-focused activity (e.g., research planning/strategy, workshop, discussion). See here for research meetings held in 2024.

Our Research Encompasses

  • Perception and cognition of music for Western and non-Western listeners – e.g., emotional responses to musical loudness, timbre, harmony, tonality, rhythms, meter, and spatialisation, and the way such responses vary between cultures.
  • Sociocultural mediation of music production and appreciation.
  • Computational and algorithmic generation of music – e.g., through mathematical idealisations and deep learning.
  • Use of music to enhance well-being and in therapeutic contexts – e.g., investigating cognitive benefits for older adults learning musical instruments, and using music to positively influence mood.
  • Studying musical performance and interaction between performers – e.g., how the rhythmic timing of one performer influences another performer.
  • Effects of music on the brain – e.g., using EEG to show how heard rhythms are transformed into brainwaves.
  • Development and testing of new musical interfaces – hardware and software – designed to facilitate the production of conventional and novel music (e.g., microtonal or polyrhythmic).
  • Composition and performance of new and experimental music informed by the above research topics (research-led practice).

(Left) Mark Temple playing guitar to a sonification of the Eucalyptus genome.
(Right) The XronoMorph musical loop generator, developed by Milne (https://www.dynamictonality.com/xronomorph.htm)

Funded research projects

(Current and former Music Science Lab researchers in bold)

Active
ARC Discovery Project “Revealing Universal and Cultural Origins of Musical Affect”. Milne, A. (PI), Dean, R., Schubert, E., Ingram, C., Sarvasy, H. & Eerola, T. Australian Research Council: A$914,548. 2025–28
ARC Linkage “To map and enhance Australian musical improvisation as a creative industry”. Dean, R. (PI), Magee, L., Evans, S., Davis, J. & Rose, J., Earshift Music, Australian Research Council, Australian Music Centre Ltd. 2021–26.
ARC Linkage “Make the music speak for you: musicking with a deep net partner”. Dean, R. (PI), Undy, C. (Scholarship Recipient), Hamilton, T., Davis, J., Heble, A. & Walder, C. Macquarie University, Australian Research Council, Western Sydney University, Australian Music Centre Ltd, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), University of Guelph. 2019–25.
Complete since 2020
ARC LIEF “The Australian Emulation Network: Born Digital Cultural Collections Access”. Dean, R. (PI), Munster, A., Salwell, M., Teasley, S., Cubitt, S., Biggs, S., Zurr, I., Keller, C., Bell, A., Lemon, B., Chan, S. & Murphy, C. Australian Research Council, Western Sydney University. 2022–23.
CoEDL NITG “The impact of music and musical abilities on cross-situational word learning”. Escudero, P. (PI), Milne, A. & Smit, E. (Scholarship Recipient). ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language. 2020–21.
ARC Discovery Project “Maintaining Active minds and Bodies through Older Adult Music Education”. Dean, R. (PI), MacRitchie, J., Stevens, K. & Hallam, S. 2019–24.
ARC DECRA “Uncovering Universal Mechanisms for the Communication of Musical Emotion. Milne, A. (PI). Australian Research Council. 2017–22.
ARC Linkage “Developing a personalised Music Affect Recommender System”. Dean, R. (PI), Bainbridge, D., Davis, J. & Chambers, S. Australian Research Council, Australian Music Centre Ltd, University of Waikato, APRA AMCOS. 2016–21.