I (Amsterdam, 1984) am Postdoctoral Research fellow at the University of Cambridge, Faculty of Music. As part of Sound and Materialism in the 19th Century, my project entitled ‘Infinite Oscillations. A Sonic History of Fourier Analysis and Sine Wave,’ deals with the development of the physical concepts of Fourier analysis and sine waves and their importance for the study of sound and music in the first half of the nineteenth century, as well as the defining role they played in the development of modern sonic and musical cultures.

Previously, I completed my PhD thesis Noise Resonance. Technological Sound Reproduction and the Logic of Filtering at the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis, University of Amsterdam in 2017. It offers an extensive conceptual revaluation of the role of noise and distortion in sound and music. Based on a detailed media archaeological analysis of analogue and digital sound technologies, I show how the noise and distortion introduced by the operations of technical media has been fundamental for shaping the specific sound of music in the media age.

Besides teaching and publishing on music, sound, noise and popular culture (both academically and for wider audiences), I write, perform and record as a musician and occasionally work as artistic advisor or music dramaturg. Since 2012, I am also a member of the advisory committee for music theatre at the Dutch Performing Arts Fund.

[foto: Sara Morris]