I am a postdoctoral researcher in the Sensorimotor Interaction Group (senSInt) at the Max Planck Institute for Informatics in Saarbrücken, Germany. I am currently writing my PhD thesis at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) at the Centre for Digital Music (C4DM), as a member of the Augmented Instruments Lab.
I am a researcher, designer, musician, and educator. I work in Human Computer Interaction (HCI) with research interests in embodiment, tacit knowledge, and perception of movement. I want to understand more how people view their own actions, communicate with each other, and learn new skills, with the hope that we can design technology around these existing mechanisms. I am especially interested in music technology and working with singers; I have incorporated much of my work into my own vocal practice. For me, the key aspects of interaction with technology are individual and come from our own unique backgrounds – with Feminist HCI at the core of my research, I am to design and explore the relationships we have with technology while honoring subjective experience, the weirdness of bodies, and the messiness of learning and self-expression.
Some of my current professional service includes exciting work as part of the Women in Music Information (WiMIR) Workshop Organizing Committee. The workshop operates as a satellite event to the International Society for Music Information Retrieval (ISMIR) and aims to unite and support women and other underrepresented community members working within music information retrieval (MIR).
I also work as a semi-professional vocalist and an amateur French horn player. Currently, I am a member of the London Philharmonic Choir and London Philharmonic Semi Chorus, and sing frequently as a session musician with Hi Lo Singers.
Education
BMus, Electronic Production & Design
Berklee College of Music
Boston, MA, USA
2016
I received my BMus in 2016 from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, where I was the recipient of a World Tour Scholarship (North America). I previously worked in the Electronic Production and Design department (formerly Music Synthesis) under the instruction of Dr. Richard Boulanger. While at Berklee, I also studied voice with Carrie Cheron of the New England Conservatory.
MSc, Computer Science
Queen Mary University of London
London, UK
2018
Following my Bachelor’s degree, I worked for a year in industry. I then earned my MSc in Computer Science at QMUL in 2018, studying computational music cognition with Professor Elaine Chew. This work focused on listener perception of musical tension and emotion in live performance. From this degree, I was awarded a departmental studentship from the Electronic Engineering and Computer Science Department for continued PhD work.
PhD, Computer Science
Queen Mary University of London
London, UK
2022
My PhD research, supervised by Professor Andrew McPherson, focuses on exploring the thought-to-action processes that singers train during rehearsal and utilise in performance. Using biosensing to convey the singers’ actions back to them, I hope to produce new technology and instruments allowing vocalists to explore their bodies and the relationship they have with their voices. This work captures my fascination with embodied cognition, somaesthetics, and the sensory-based relationships present in art.
Other Work
I worked as a Senior Student Demonstrator and Teaching Associate at QMUL, where I organized and led labs for both undergraduate and postgraduate students in a variety of computer science topics, including digital signal processing (DSP), circuit design, and professional research practices. Please see my CV for more details.
I was the Chief of PhD Representatives for Electronic Engineering & Computer Science (EECS) at QMUL, liaising between research staff and school administration to support PhD research students during their studies.
Courtney N. Reed 