I’m Tim, a third year Music Technology student studying at Sussex University. After initially starting University on a Music course and only being able to confidently call myself a performer with some skills in composition, production and studio engineering, my Journey through Music Technology has been an interesting and eye opening one.
Before starting my studies at University my main interests in music were in the writing and performance of Rock, Funk and Jazz music. Primarily as a drummer these genres interested me greatly and I found that a lot of my musical practice, whether in live, studio or rehearsal settings, was closely linked to these interests. After starting my studies at university in September 2016, I very quickly found myself to be much more interested in other peoples work than I had ever been before. I very quickly found myself performing on many of my course mates pieces for studio recording modules in both first and second year. This encouraged me to play more Hip-Hop, Pop, and Soul than I had imagined I would be, expanding my skill set as a performer massively.
During my first year at University I chose many of the Tech electives giving myself an almost 50/50 balance of modules between the Tech and Music courses. With the Tech modules focusing on new ideas in Music technology regarding coding and programming, and not just focusing on production, my view of the Music Technology course and the course I was doing changed Drastically.
After switching to study Music technology for my degree both my mindset to work and my general interests in music changed greatly. My interests as a drummer quickly became focused on electronic and hybrid drumming and artists who were at the forefront of a new focus on the way drumming is viewed and used as a tool for performance (Artists such as Jojo Mayer, Deantoni Parks and Ian Chang). Outside of drumming (but relating closely with my aims as a musician) my interests lie heavily in production, synthesis, programming and generative art.
Throughout University I have gradually realised that I want to make a career of drumming as a paid musician in live and studio bands. This is something I have already been successful with and currently earn money from however I have also realised that my passion lies in exploring creativity through experimental and electronic music with a focus on drumming. Currently my research hasn’t been sent in a specific route however my ideas always seem to relate closely to this concept of drumming alongside my experiences and ideas of how it can be used with new developments in technology. This is an area I will continue to research this week focusing on finding academic studies relating to this topic, which I hope will then inspire me to look more deeply into a specific focus for my essay.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
Tim Spencer Music Tech Studies 