Synthesising music production and academia
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Masters student Alex Mesker |
A chance meeting with a Macquarie University academic led student Alex Mesker to switch his study focus from psychology to music.
After completing one year of undergraduate study in psychology, Mesker met Department of Contemporary Music Studies academic Professor Phil Hayward. A few years on, he's now halfway through a Masters degree looking at electronic music.
"In my first year at Macquarie I wasn't even aware that there was a Music department," says Mesker. "After speaking to Phil Hayward prior to enrolment, I immediately changed my intended degree path and chose music over psychology. Studying music at Macquarie was very exciting as it gave me the chance to focus on contemporary areas, and the variety of subjects available also allowed me to get a 'hands on' feel."
Postgraduate funding
Mesker received two grants which have propelled his study. He initially received a Higher Degree Research grant which allowed him to purchase a modular synthesizer. This piece of hardware has assisted in his knowledge and understanding of various types of synthesis.
"I also successfully applied for a Postgraduate Research Fund travel grant to visit the Center for New Media and Audio Technologies at UC Berkeley," says Mesker. "I think this was one of the greatest steps forward in my research."
Masters by research
Mesker's Masters study focuses on electronic music, digital signal processing and algorithmic composition. It consists of a written and recorded component. He plans to use the recorded component to sonically explore the content of his written work.
"I work with some very flexible software that allows you to build any kind of musical application that you can think of," explains Mesker. "Its limitations are really only decided by the user/creator-of-the-routines, not in program itself. It's not tailored to be used in any particular way."
Mesker compares his compositional practices to making a mosaic: taking a picture, cutting it up, re-organising its layout, and creating something that is vaguely similar to the original, yet completely new.
"There is also something very satisfying in creating synthesised sound through additive synthesis, or FM/AM," says Mesker. "It's simultaneously rewarding through its simplicity and complexity. When you strip something back to its raw components, you start to appreciate the expressivity and nuances of small changes."
Personal gain from study
"I have gained an incredible amount of knowledge that I was completely blind to before starting my research," says Mesker. "I think I have learnt the most from plunging myself in at the deep end and trying to figure out a lot of things myself."
Mesker hopes to complete his Masters at the end of this year. In the future he would like to mix a career in recording with academia.
"At the moment I still feel like I am learning more and more, so much so that I am actually (unwillingly) postponing putting into practice what I have learnt," says Mesker. "I think that finding a healthy mix of the two is where I would ideally like to be."
For further information contact Alex Mesker at alex.mesker@humn.mq.edu.au or email his supervisor Dr Mark Evans at mark.evans@mq.edu.au For further details about postgraduate study in the Department of Contemporary Music, visit www.dcms.mq.edu.au/main/postgraduate.html