Brian Bridges

Brian Bridges is Research Director for Music, Drama, Performing Arts and Film and Screen Studies (with the addition of Heritage/Museum Studies) and Senior Lecturer in Music and Creative Audio. 

He is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin (MPhil in Music and Media Technologies) and National University of Ireland, Maynooth (BA in English and Music; PhD in Music) and is a composer/sonic artist, electronic musician and arts-technology researcher. Related to the above degrees, he studied in Ireland with composers Donnacha Dennehy, Roger Doyle and Jürgen Simpson (TCD) and Victor Lazzarini (Maynooth), in addition to private studies in the US with Glenn Branca (2005) and Tony Conrad (2006) supported by the Arts Council of Ireland.

(In an early, but coincidental, link with Derry, his PhD studies were supported by Maynooth's John and Pat Hume Scholarship.)

Research Interests

Much of Brian's work is inspired by connections between perceptual processes, creative practices and technologies.

Research interests include the application of embodied models to musical practices, sound design, and the design of performance systems and interfaces, including in immersive contexts, with publications in fora including the proceedings of New Interfaces for Musical Expression, International Conference on Auditory Display, International Computer Music Conference, journals including Journal of Sonic Studies and the Journal on Multimodal User Interfaces and volumes on sound design, sound spatialisation, and sound in interaction published by Routledge (including Focal Press) and Springer.

Creative outputs include sound–based spatial/immersive installations, audiovisual pieces and electroacoustic and acoustic composition, with particular interests in microtonal music. He is a founder–member of the Dublin–based Spatial Music Collective and his compositions have been programmed at festivals in Europe, the Americas and China. He has received support and commissions from arts organisations including the Arts Council of Ireland, Culture Ireland, the Contemporary Music Centre and Resonance FM.

Other interests include connections between arts and humanities and STEM, and he has served as Vice-President and President of the Irish Sound, Science and Technology Association, as well as co-founding the Hearts of STEM (2016-18) and Oscillations and Modulations conference-festivals (2018-present). 

PhD supervision

(all FT PhDs DEL/DfE or VCRS Scholarship)

Supervised with Prof. F. Lyons unless otherwise indicated

Current: 

co-supervised with Prof. B. Irvine and Dr R. Casey

Patrick Moore - Integration of technology expanding the audience experience in contemporary composition through interactive systems

Co-supervised with Dr A. Melvin and Dr R. Casey

Aaron McGlinchey - The Sound of Pre-Christian Ireland: An Environmental Sound Art Portfolio of Ireland’s Unique Acoustical Spaces

Colin Woods - Erosion of the creator-performer-observer paradigm in improvised open works

Completed: 

co-supervised with Prof. F. Lyons and Prof. B. Irvine:

Darragh Morgan (completed, 2023): PhD by Published Work: 

Unlocking the unconventional: investigating the multifaceted role of the contemporary violinist with new perspectives on style, collaboration and innovation. 

co-supervised with Prof. F. Lyons and Dr R. Casey: 

Lewis Smith (completed, 2023): Inclusive software design enabling disabled and non-disabled musicians to compose and perform music in an immersive virtual environment

co-supervised with Dr Liz Doherty: 

Aidan O'Donnel (completed 2020): Tuning In: Practices in tuning and pitch related inflections in the Donegal fiddle sound community.

Matthew Jacobson (completed 2021): The Space Between: exploring spontaneity, group interaction and social context in improvised performances of motivic compositions

Mike Nielsen (completed 2017): Improvising a System: Microtonal Practices on a Self-Designed Customised Guitar; Lecturer in Jazz, Dublin Institute of Technology Conservatory of Music

John King (completed 2015), Topic: Rhythmic Interaction Design for Electronic Music: multitouch technologies, affordances, embodied image schemas and performance practice; Lecturer in Music Technology and Production at Dundalk Institute of Technology (2015–16);  Developer and R&D at Sensum Ltd, Belfast (2016–17); Qualcommm (2018–present)

Brendan McCloskey (completed 2014), Topic: Accessible, Inclusive Design of Digital Musical Instrument (DMI)/Performance Systems for Musicians with Cerebral Palsy. Awards:shortlisted for the OHMI/Ars Electronica Prize 2013 and semi–finalist in Georgia Tech 2014 Margaret Guthman Prize.

Ricky Graham (completed 2012), Topic: The Expansion of Electronic Guitar Performance through the Development of Interactive Digital Music Systems; Assistant Professor of Music and Technology, Stevens Institute of Technology, NJ, USA (2012–2017); currently founder and CEO at Delta Sound Labs, USA

Teaching Interests and Experience

Brian currently teaches on the BSc Creative Audio and BMus.

He was awarded the SFHEA (Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy) in 2022, with case studies around arts-technology pedagogies and creating a supportive research culture for PhD students in Music, Drama, Film/Screen and Heritage. 

He was awarded the FHEA (Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy) in 2016 for work on arts-technology pedagogy and supporting students from different disciplinary backgrounds and perspectives as part of his role in establishing the BSc Creative Technologies at Ulster in 2008.