Welcome to Integra Lab
Integra Lab is the music interaction research lab founded by Jamie Bullock and Lamberto Coccioli in 2009, at the end of the first phase of the EU-funded Integra – Fusing Music and Technology project. The experience of Integra convinced us that musician-centred interaction design and sustainability of live electronic music were two promising but relatively neglected areas of practice-based research. Integra Lab was set up to expand our work in those areas and continue the development of the Integra Live software.
Music
Music
Based at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in the UK, we collaborate with performers, composers and sound artists, supporting them in the creation and performance of innovative music projects.
Research
Research
We bring together musicians, researchers, designers and developers to explore music and human-computer interaction.
Innovation
Innovation
We are motivated by producing work that benefits the arts, culture and the wider society. Alongside our research and creative projects, we have a growing portfolio of external collaborations.
Our Work
Blog
Integra Lab is a continually evolving group of talented individuals working on a variety of different projects. Our blog is a one-stop place to keep up to date with both our work and research.
R e f l e c t
R e f l e c t is an interactive installation by Matthew DF Evans. The installation was exhibited throughout August at TouchBase Pears, a multi-purpose centre in Selly Oak, Birmingham. The installation was in collaboration with Sense UK, a charity for those living with complex disabilities and funded [...]
Connecting Sound and Image Workshops
Matthew has been delivering workshops over the year in collaboration with the Barbican and Vivid Projects. The Barbican workshop was the third workshop in the Life Rewired inspired Design Yourself project in which they explored using images of the Barbican to generate composition by turning pixel data into sound. [...]
Integra Lab Concert – 27th Feb 2019
Earlier this year, Integra Lab hosted a showcase performance in the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire's contemporary performance space, the Lab. The event featured works from our cohort of researchers, with an exciting mix electroacoustic and audiovisual systems being utilised in performance. The event is summarised below in four short pieces [...]
Early 2019 Releases from the Integra Team
Saxophone and Dynamic Feedback Solos Joe Wright This release documents the practical aspects of Joe Wright's research into accessible sonic play instruments. This work has involved the creation of a feedback system that disrupts conventional interactions with the saxophone, designed to strike a balance between control and chaos. Saxophone [...]
Integra Lab welcomes Matthew Evans
Integra Lab welcomes Matthew Evans. Matthew will be joining us as a PhD student creating sound and music from pixel data sonification. Matthew DF Evans is a Birmingham based sound artist and musician focused on making sound and music through data. Graduating from UAL (LCC) with a BA in [...]
Events
MiXD: Music Interaction Design
Music Interaction Design is at the heart of Integra Lab’s activities. We have gained considerable reputation in music and human-computer interaction, culminating in our hosting of NIME – the New Interfaces for Musical Expression International Conference – in July 2020. Our research work focuses mainly on:
- Developing interactive systems for music creation, performance and education;
- Undertaking applied and practice-led research in musical creativity and sustainability of music with live electronics.
As pioneers of the conceptual framework ‘musician-centred design’, we place musicians and music making at the heart of what we do, developing technologies that empower users and let them think musically. The Integra Live software, for example, was specifically conceived to support musicians in the design and control of their live interaction with electronics.
Composition and performance with technology
Integra Lab has a strong history of supporting the production of compositions and performances, and exploring novel applications of technology both in the creative process and in performance. We have worked on a range of composition and performance projects with composers such as Jonathan Harvey, Kaija Saariaho, Julian Anderson, Hilda Paredes and Philippe Leroux, to name just a few. Outputs from Integra Lab members include works for instruments and live electronics, digital instruments, mixed media and audiovisual, and sonic installations. The Technology in Music Performance (TiMP) Study Group of the Royal Musical Association is based at Integra Lab, and in December 2019 we hosted TiMP’s first Symposium.
Sustainability of music with live electronics
Ensuring the long and successful life of musical works using interactive technologies is a complex and challenging proposition, involving many artistic and technical considerations. Integra Lab’s members have considerable experience in providing training and support to ensembles and composers in the performance of works from the live electronics repertoire that make use of technologies now obsolete. We have “modernized” works by Pierre Boulez, Luigi Nono, Roger Reynolds, Edwin Roxburgh, Tristan Murail, Luca Francesconi, Jonathan Harvey, Philippe Hurel and many others, often working directly with the composers themselves, and we have supported performances of the new versions of the works all over the world.
Funded Research
Over the past ten years our team has secured over £2m in grants and research funding.
Who we are
The lab team is an experienced group of musicians, designers and developers with expertise in interaction design, music composition and performance with live electronics, digital musical instrument design, haptic interaction, gestural control and mixed reality.
Past Members
