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The Music, Media and Performing
Arts Research Centre is part of the Adelphi Research
Institute for Creative Arts and Sciences (ARICAS).
The music research group was established in 1996
in order to stimulate and monitor research of
national and international significance within
the fields of popular musicology, performance
and composition and it brings together a grouping
of researchers with shared interests and concerns.
Information on relevant conferences
is disseminated via e-mail and the Internet, through
membership of professional organisations and through
networks with other specialist university departments.
The Music Department hosts an international conference
noticeboard as part of its website,
and this is widely used by other universities
in Europe and North America for consultation and
for posting details of their conferences.
Ten members of staff were officially
designated as research active in music and secured
a grade 4 ranking in the 2001 Research Assessment
Exercise. The commitment to enhancing national
and international standing has provided a specific
impetus for research-related activities since
then.
The presence and supervision of
research students is an important area of development
and there are currently twelve music doctoral
students. We introduced a PhD in Composition for
the first time in 1999, and became the first institution
in the UK to offer a Doctor of Music Arts in Performance
in 2000.
Research students are equipped with
desks, personal computers, software and office
furniture. They are monitored by interim assessment,
and a sense of community is encouraged by running
special postgraduate days and seminar presentations.
The RMA Research Students’ Conference was
held here in January 2003. Research students and
supervisors are required to prepare annual Learning
Agreement, setting research goals
We are committed to developing two
important archives that have important research
potential for postgraduate students and researchers
worldwide:
• Brass
Band Research Archive
This houses a complete library of the National
Youth Brass band of Great Britain, a large number
of original scores and a unique, chronological
collection of Brass Band News, ranging from 1882-1956
as well as a collection of band parts for test
pieces used in the Belle Vue Contests between
1895-1916.
• National
Rock and Heavy Metal Archive
This consists of a collection of 6000 LPs and
CDs in good condition. They include some rare
Japanese vinyl recordings. The archive website
has hyperlinks to related sources of information.
Music technology is a developing
area of research. Expansion and development includes:
- establishing ComeXos, a composer’s
experimental suite on the internet
- developing our website and offering
a limited research access to our Heavy Metal
Archive
- developing Freeflow, a music
audio and video website
The two-year FDTL project exploring
assessment strategies in popular music performance
(pedagogical research) involved Derek Scott, Robin
Dewhurst and Tim Warner and resulted in the production
of the CD-ROM Project Pop, distributed freely
to all HE music department in the UK.
Main objectives and strategy for
research over the next five years:
This research activity feeds into
the postgraduate courses offered in bands, jazz
and popular music and to doctoral research in
the fields of popular musicology, composition
and performance. We intend to extend our reputation
for research through collaborative ventures with
new as well as existing international partnerships.
There is an established exchange scheme for staff
and students between universities in Aalborg,
Berlin, Oslo and Tampere (Finland).
Professor Derek Scott
d.scott@salford.ac.uk
0161 295 6134
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