In the field of Western art music, improvisation has become a much discussed topic. In this interdisciplinary study I argue that in this context, improvisation is not to be seen as a quasi-autonomous skill or art form, but as an aspect of music-making in general.

Knowledge and culture subproject 1:

What are the critical elements in sonic materialization of fixed media electroacoustic music and how can these parameters be classified? How would interpretation be defined in performing fixed media music? What are the creative and new ways of presenting fixed media music by incorporating all the presentation…

Music as a multi-faceted and integral part of our society.

How do we experience electronic music? How does electronic music operate on perceptual, cognitive and affective levels? What are the common concepts activated in the listener’s mind when listening to electronic music? Why and how are these concepts activated?

From The Cognitive Continuum of Electronic Music:

The Leiden Academic Course Center offers a large variety of short and longer music courses. The music category includes various Singing courses, but also courses such as African percussion and Musical Workshop. A number of courses are offered at different levels. At the end of the course it is possible…

In the field of Western art music, improvisation has become a much discussed topic. In this interdisciplinary study I argue that in this context, improvisation is not to be seen as a quasi-autonomous skill or art form, but as an aspect of music-making in general.

The music studio is a multipurpose room measuring 9.4 x 8.9 m, with marmoleum on the floor and 40 chairs. Music system and piano available.

This thesis investigated how microphones and loudspeakers could become musical instruments.

Interpretation and Composition Outside the Work Concept

Music can affect how we feel, think, and behave. But how do we learn about the specifics of people's responses to music so that we can apply this to health and well-being? By looking at characteristics of the music, as well as the differences between listeners, we hope to better understand as well as…

How can classical music be restructured while still retaining the core of what we love about its repertoire and our ability to share it with audiences, while coming up with ways of making it financially viable.

This book addresses the definition of history and how people are influenced by it.

My research focuses on theories of the sublime by the Berlin Enlightenment philosophers Moses Mendelssohn (1729–86) and Johann Georg Sulzer (1720–79).

The aim of this research is to define the relationship between sources of articulation for different kinds of instrument in the period between the beginning of XVI century (first extant indications) and the end of XVIII century.

Playing the piano with your forearm, plucking the strings, sawing through the piano: pianist Luk Vaes's doctoral dissertation covers all the techniques of play for which a piano is NOT designed. His defence ceremony will consist of three concerts and a public defence. 'Musicians were using the interior…

Kunst en vrije tijd, Kunst en vrije tijd

From the 1920s on, popular music in Southeast Asia was a mass-audience phenomenon that drew new connections between indigenous musical styles and contemporary genres from elsewhere to create new, hybrid forms. This book presents a cultural history of modern Southeast Asia from the vantage point of popular…

Kunst en vrije tijd, Kunst en vrije tijd

Developing new methods for performing improvised music

This thesis proposes multiple paths towards the development of a performance practice in Computer Music.

Composer Paul Craenen (1972) is actually a pianist, but as part of his PhD ceremony, he performed a composition on PVC pipes. Craenen studies the position and role of the body in music. ‘I am interested in what precedes the resulting sound’.

On 20 December 2013, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) announced that 37 teachers will be conducting doctoral research funded by a Doctoral Scholarship. Using this scholarship, teachers are enabled, in addition to their educational activities, to conduct research leading to…

The course Popular Music: Selling Rebellion offers a unique opportunity to explore the popular music world from the point of view of its relation to both politics and the industry.

The research programme Probability Theory focuses on probability theory and on operations research.

How is it possible to play a song that is part of the rituals of other people? How to transpose an idea to the stage while maintaining respect for indigenous communities? Are these performances a way of throwing light on these indigenous communities looking for a strategy of decolonization? How is it…

Many important topics in computer science, such as the correctness of software, the efficiency of algorithms and the modeling of complicated systems, depend on sound theoretical underpinnings. In the Theory group, we study these fundamental building blocks and develop verification methods to prove system…

Many important topics in computer science, such as the correctness of software, the efficiency of algorithms and the modeling of complicated systems, depend on sound theoretical underpinnings. In the Theory group, we study these fundamental building blocks and develop verification methods to prove system…

What are the precise identities, possibilities and current practice examples of the various time frames in music and what bearings do they have individually and in combinations on the speed of the music?

Kunst en vrije tijd, Kunst en vrije tijd

Kunst en vrije tijd, Kunst en vrije tijd

Kunst en vrije tijd, Kunst en vrije tijd

In October 2014 a new publication on artistic research has been launched. The book is called Artistic Experimentation in Music. An Anthology, edited by Darla Crispin and Bob Gilmore, and published by Leuven University Press.

Launched in 2017, The Importance and Power of Music in Our Society is an open online course, taught by Professor of Auditory Culture Marcel Cobussen and music philosopher Hafez Ismaïli M’hamdi and accessible to anyone with an internet connection.

Knowledge and culture subproject 1:

Bruin

The research of the Algebra, Geometry and Number Theory programme ranges from fundamental mathematical theory to algorithms and applications.

Promotor: C.J. ten Cate

The small piano studios at the LAK are available to rent for practice purposes. You can either rent the studios per hour or get a subscription. There are Yamaha pianos available in the studio's, but you can also use the space to practice with your own instrument.

What type of violones were used to perform Bach’s music in his time? And which octaves and tunings are appropriate for his stringed bass instruments?

docARTES is a doctoral programme for performers and composers. It offers a unique environment for critical reflection on musical practice.

This research will focus on the relationship between the musical structure and musical time in the performance of 19th century music.

“Music is about everything else,” theater director Peter Sellars said upon accepting his Polar Music Prize back in 2014. Although it is about particular musical problems, Stanimiras dissertation is about ‘everything else’, too. What and how that is, could be summed up in different ways depending on…

Promotor: H.W. Lenstra, Jr., Co-promotor: B. de Smit

In this project, we plan to combine two strands of research in speech processing: (a) the impact of prosody on speech processing and (b) the impact of musical training on speech processing. In our project we will test 8 year-old children with different degrees of musical training: (a) primary school…

Kunst en vrije tijd, Kunst en vrije tijd

Promotor: Prof.dr. S. Haring

This study, Calypso, The Trinidadian Experience, has sought to establish links between calypso music and the construction and maintenance of identities, and to locate the genre as a mechanism (or as part of a broader mechanism) that has exerted on-going social influence within Trinidadian society…