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Edward Clijsen

Music, De Montfort University

Thesis title:

Redividing the Octave for Expanded Tonal Spaces: Practical Explorations of Formalised Approaches to Microtonal Composition

This research investigates innovative compositional applications of microtonal musical techniques to locate new expressive dimensions in music. Tuning systems beyond the standard twelve-tone frame, such as 24-, 31- or 96-tones per octave, provide composers with increased resources for musical colour, texture, harmony and expressive nuance. For the composer the consequent vast increase in data demands advanced organisational strategies, and new or adapted musical instruments. Despite attempts to systematise microtonality, we continue to lack codified methods for dealing with microtonal tuning constructs as holistic entities, beyond microtonal ‘inflections’ of what are otherwise twelve-note contexts. Recent demonstrations show that strictly formalised techniques of musical organisation offer potential solutions to the conceptualisation and handling of microtonal tunings but lack connections to intuitive pathways to employ them in composition. Emphasising the importance of blending systematic and intuitive approaches to composition, this research will devise and synthesise formalised generative systems through which the subtleties and complexities of microtonal tunings can be effectively handled and explored in composition to discover, compare and develop the expanded harmonic and melodic principles they afford.

Research Area

  • Composition
  • Music

Conferences

  • 'The Position of Microtonality in Progressive Music', 6th Biennial International Conference of the Progect Network for Studies of Progressive Rock (Prog24). Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music, Kraków, Poland, September 2024.
  • 'Redividing the Octave for Expanded Tonal Spaces: Preliminary Practical Explorations of Formalised Approaches to Microtonal Composition', Innovation in Music 2024 (InMusic24). Kristiania University College, Oslo, Norway, June 2024.
  • 'Redividing the Octave for Expanded Tonal Spaces: Preliminary Practical Explorations of Formalised Approaches to Microtonal Composition', 7th International Conference of Students of Systematic Musicology (SysMus24). University of Jyväskylä [online], Jyväskylä, Finland, June 2024.
  • 'Extreme Metal's Relationship with Radio: The Impacts of Underground Tape-Trading Networks on the Development of Extreme Metal', Heavy Metal on the Airwave Symposium. Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK, February 2024.


Other Research Interests

  • Innovative Guitar Performance
  • Progressive Rock/Metal
  • Extreme Metal Music and Subculture
  • Post-Tonalism, Serialism etc.


Memberships

  • International Society of Metal Music Studies (ISMMS)
  • International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM)