Dr Jess Aslan
Faculties, deparments and locations
- Kingston School of Art
- Department of Performing Arts
- School of Arts
- Kingston Hill
Lecturer in Music and Music Technology
- Email:
- j.aslan@kingston.ac.uk
About
I am an educator, composer and performer working in computer assisted music performance and production. I specialise in performance and composition using synths and code. My work lies in collaboration, and I have been very lucky to work with lots of different musicians from varying genres/communities/spaces. My research includes discussion on performance using instruments combined with computers, algorithmic composition, practicalities of computer music and music tech education for all. Currently my research focus lies in Machine Learning in Mixed music, Music Technology in Education and algorithmic composition and performance.
I finished my practice-based PhD at the Reid School of Music in 2016, examining the aesthetic implications of computers and their languages in composition and performance. Since completing my PhD I have been working at Goldsmiths College, London and the University of the Creative Arts, Surrey. Here I teach a variety of courses including Interactive and Generative Composition, Live Electronics, Sonic Arts and Music Computing. Here at Kingston I teach a number of modules in production and performance using computers. I have also been researching a number of different fields. I am an active community musician.
I have performed with collectives, bands and as a solo artist across Europe. This includes in a range of diverse venues from the abandoned stock exchange in Athens, to an Aircraft hangar in the North of Sweden. I have presented my work at conferences including Sonorities, International Computer Music Conference, International Festival for Innovation in the Performing Arts, Conference in Interdisciplinary Musicianship, ISSTA. I have played in festivals across the UK and I organise gigs throughout the year, with the Hip Hop band I played in was nominated for Scottish Alternative Music Awards 2018.
Qualifications
- BMus Music (Goldsmiths)
- MSc Digital Composition and Performance (Edinburgh)
- PhD Creative Music Practice (Edinburgh)
Domains
Courses taught
Publications
- Aslan, J "We're all cyborgs now – Machine Learning in Mixed Music" Electro-pixel Seminar paper, July 2019
- Aslan, J "Sound Music and Moving Image: A case study for primary education in music technology" Forthcoming textbook series (2019).
- Aslan, J and Lloyd, E. "Breaking Boundaries of Role and Hierarchy in Collaborative Music-Making." Contemporary Music Review 35.6 (2017): 630-647.
- Aslan, J. "Examining computer presence in Electro-Instrumental music" PhD thesis. University of Edinburgh (2016).
- Aslan, Jessica. Degrees of Interpretation in Computer Aided Algorithmic Composi- tion. ICMC (2014).
- Aslan, J. From input to output: Harnessing hardware in mixed performance. In Pro- ceedings of the CIM conference on Contemporary Musicology, Berlin 2014, Berlin. CIM conference on Contemporary Musicology (2014).
- Aslan, J. Navigating the Labyrinth: The String Quartet as Acousmatic Landscape. In Proceedings of the ISSTA conference, Maynooth (2014).
- Aslan, J. Spectromorphological approaches to Structural Coupling. International Festival for Artistic Innovation, Leed College of Music (2014)
- Aslan, J. Designing Digital Interfaces to Facilitate Music Workshops. Report for residency at STEIM, Amsterdam (2011).
Selected performances
future performances...
· SOLO @Amersham Arms, New x (17/07)
· SOLO @Sound Thought Glasgow (14/08)
· SOLO at WENCH Edinburgh (25/08)
· Residency with KUBOV @ Visconti Studio (28/07 – 02/07)
· Residency with Robbie Gunn @Visconti Studio (18/07 – 20/07)
Past performances…
Worldwide performances of my compositions, solo, with KUBOV, Lindisfarne Festival, Kelburn Festival, Sound Flows, Icklektik Peckham, SPR residency, Tempting Failure Festival with KUBOV. The Girobabies, Jackal Trade. Venues include The Barras in Glasgow, an aircraft hanger in Sweden, The Traverse Theatre Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee, Newcastle, Sonology in the Hague, Across New Zealand, Manch-ester, London and Paris ; Noisemaschin, London McChuills, Glasgow With Jackal Trades ; Sonorities festival, SARC Belfast With HEROES BreadShed, Manchester With Girobabies ; Sonorities, SARC with Emma Lloyd ; Metanast, Manchester with Emma Lloyd. ; Spectrum, The Space Edinburgh Fringe show; ICMC, Athens with Emma Lloyd; Colourscape Festival, London The Confines of Light and Shade ; Impuls Academy, Graz; IFAI, Leeds College of Music.