- Music Research Group
About me
Kirsten Hermes joined the University of Westminster in September 2016 as a Senior Lecturer in Music Performance Technology. Prior to this, she undertook an EPRSC funded PhD in Sound Recording and Psychoacoustic Engineering at the University of Surrey. Her research work is contributing towards measuring and modeling the perceived quality of music mixes. The focus in on the parameters influencing the spectral clarity of sounds. Kirsten is also a music producer / electronica artist (http://www.nyokeemusic.com).
Teaching
Kirsten's teaching focus is in Music Performance Technology and academic writing. This includes:
- Music production, incl. composition, sound synthesis, arrangement in DAWs, mixing, mastering
- Music performance technology, i.e. playing gigs with technology
- Dissertation module leadership
Research
Kirsten's research focuses on the development of tools that can enhance creativity. The focus of her PhD was to work towards the development of automatic music mixing tools by finding predictors for one important mix parameter, spectral clarity.
Peer reviewed conference papers
Hermes, K., Brookes, T., Hummersone, C., “The harmonic centroid as a predictor of string instrument timbral clarity”, 140th Audio Engineering Society Convention, Paris, France, June 2016.
Hermes, K., Brookes, T., Hummersone, C., “The influence of dumping bias on timbral clarity ratings”, 139th Audio Engineering Society Convention, New York USA, November 2015.
PhD Thesis
Hermes, K., Brookes, T., Hummersone, 2017, ‘Towards measuring music mix quality: the factors contributing to the spectral clarity of single sounds .’ Ph.D. Thesis, Institute of Sound Recording, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK.
Publications
For details of all my research outputs, visit my WestminsterResearch profile.