Next week I'll be at #CHI2026 in Barcelona presenting our paper "Design Explorations of Instruments and Interactions with Bidirectional Haptic Couplings" (by me & @apmcpherson.bsky.social). Read all about it here: davisonaudio.github.io/chi2026/

Tomorrow 11am UK time: join us for an AIL Open Seminar by Tom Richards on Daphne Oram and Oramics. Tom will introduce Oram's pioneering instrument design work and present his Mini-Oramics machine, a portable version of the original Oramics. Streaming here: youtube.com/live/k-8HMXT...

and another talk with Prof Georgina Born: "Beyond ethics, for a critical interdisciplinary AI music pedagogy", on the work we're doing at @musaiproject.bsky.social with @rebeccafiebrink.bsky.social and @weefuzzy.bsky.social

(there's an Organised Sound paper on this collaboration coming out soon!)

one is with Prof Andrew McPherson @apmcpherson.bsky.social : "Of ghosts and slop: is there 'an' AI music aesthetic?", in which we'll discuss some thoughts on the aesthetics of musical practices with AI systems, and the work we did in collaboration with Dr Adam Pultz Melbye @adampultz.bsky.social

I'll be at the AI Music Studies conference (AIMS 2026 www.aims2026.com/programme) in two weeks, held at the University of Nottingham. I'll be giving two talks on Wed. April 1st:

Monday 16 March, 2pm UK: Kathy Hinde presents "Magnetic sensing as inspiration for an installation and performance" as part of the Augmented Instruments Lab Open Seminars series. Hybrid in-person at Imperial College London (DM for location) and online: www.youtube.com/live/3Yv4_33...

First time recording a piano in a while – and this one was full of electromagnets! Great fun last week recording audio for @apmcpherson.bsky.social's Magnetic Resonator Piano with @xeniapestova.bsky.social playing, along with some fun other Augmented Instruments Lab creations. Videos coming soon!

Yesterday I spent the afternoon making video recordings on this beastie at @imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social for @apmcpherson.bsky.social. I also purchased pre-loved silver stilettos of extreme height at a nearby thrift fashion store. A truly perfect day.

The latest from Bela -- TRAILS is here! See what it can do here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVpv.... Pre-orders are live now on shop.bela.io, estimated shipping in June.

We've been busy at Bela lately. Having recently released Bela Gem, our new module Trails is just about to drop! Sneak peek: www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdNw... Join the (low-traffic) mailing list at bela.io/trails to be the first to know when it launches.

Bela Gem is here: the biggest upgrade to the Bela platform in a decade, with a quad-core processor (PocketBeagle 2), up to 10ch audio I/O, and a completely new IDE. We've delivered the boards to our Crowd Supply backers and it's now available on our shop: bela.io/products/bel...

One week left to apply to this PhD studentship! Fully funded, covers fees and stipend; UK home student applicants only (due to funder rules).

In residence at the Guildhall School of Music today with @xeniapestova.bsky.social and the magnetic resonator piano. New pieces by Guildhall composers in preparation!

Just published: the second edition of the Audio Effects textbook by Josh Reiss and me. Featuring new material, including on phase vocoders, spatial audio, and practical topics in audio programming, plus updated code examples. www.routledge.com/Audio-Effect...

Grieving for my home state of Minnesota again tonight, but also proud of the courage of Minnesotans. If only the US “leadership” class had 1% of the decency and moral clarity of ordinary citizens.

I'm recruiting a PhD student for autumn 2026 on a project on accessibility in musical instrument design, in partnership with disability arts charities OHMI and Drake Music. Application deadline 15 February 2026. More info and contact details: liss-dtp.ac.uk/project/inst...

Where do the following quotes come from? (Hint: not from a NIME paper.) "The format of the future will be interactive. It should be social." "There’s not a right or a wrong answer. [Music is] not a problem to solve."

I'm recruiting a PhD student for autumn 2026 on a project on accessibility in musical instrument design, in partnership with disability arts charities OHMI and Drake Music. Application deadline 15 February 2026. More info and contact details: liss-dtp.ac.uk/project/inst...

I'd appreciate if any audio tech folks could help circulate this exciting call for a fully-funded PhD position working in multichannel audio design for galleries. It's part of an ARC funded project 'From Noise to Signal: Improving Sonic Experiences in the Gallery' www.unsw.edu.au/research/hdr...

Do you teach in the area of sound or music interaction? Giacomo Lepri (University of Genoa) wants to hear from you! Take this survey and enter to win a Bela Gem Stereo: sondaggi.unige.it/index.php/39...

Bonkers that the University of Nottingham is planning to suspend its undergrad music courses. Cancelling music anywhere is a travesty, and Nottingham has such an impressive and standout department. A pointless self-own by short-sighted management. Sign the petition here! c.org/FTjbxY2vp7

This is grotesque: the Trump regime wants to give 9 universities, including my alma mater MIT, a leg up on federal funding in exchange for their servitude. I have to hope MIT and the others have the integrity to tell them where to shove it. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/u...

Why, for the love of all things good and holy, do so many journals still require submissions in Microsoft Word format?

Great to have the opportunity to present a paper by @francisco-bernardo.bsky.social, myself, and @apmcpherson.bsky.social at DAFx 2025: "Impedance Synthesis for Hybrid Analog-Digital Audio effects". The work, led by Francisco, integrates digital systems into analog circuits bidirectionally.

AI music promised freedom from hard-coded rules that were needed in pre-ML approaches to music generation. No theory, no grammar, no bias — just pure music learned directly from data. Our new @tismir.bsky.social article tears down that myth. transactions.ismir.net/articles/10....

Looking forward to giving a keynote talk today at DAFX 2025 in Ancona. It's going to be ... different. Introducing my new conspiracy theory (ask at your own risk!).

The Dyson School of Design Engineering at Imperial College London is hiring a full-time electronics technician. Come join a wonderfully eclectic group of staff and students, and help us support great facilities and build cool stuff! Applications close 12 September: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOF152/t...

Out now! GLOW for Magnetic Resonator Piano, chamber ensemble and electronics - delighted to be featured on @nmcrecordings.bsky.social nmcrecs.lnk.to/Glow @apmcpherson.bsky.social @cmcireland.bsky.social

We're approaching the last 24 hours of the Bela Gem campaign. Check out all the campaign updates on technical details and stories from the Bela community. The campaign offers the lowest pricing and the earliest delivery, so this is the time to sign up! www.crowdsupply.com/bela/bela-ge...

New release alert! My new piece GLOW featuring @apmcpherson.bsky.social Magnetic Resonator Piano + Hard Rain SoloistEnsemble comes out this Friday on @nmcrecordings.bsky.social @prsfoundation.bsky.social pre-save link here nmcrecs.lnk.to/Glow

Bela Gem Multi just got more capable! Our latest Crowd Supply update describes the new features on DC-coupled audio inputs and PDM microphone support: www.crowdsupply.com/bela/bela-ge...

New on the Bela Gem campaign: a look at running AI models on Bela, featuring Augmented Instruments Lab PhD student @tpelinski.bsky.social who explains her pybela package for exchanging data between Bela and python notebooks: www.crowdsupply.com/bela/bela-ge...

Update from the Bela Gem campaign: interviews with members of Studio Olafur Eliasson, who used Bela for sound in their latest installation, and with Halldór Úlfarsson, creator of the amazing halldorophone feedback instrument. Those and more projects here: www.crowdsupply.com/bela/bela-ge...

Bela Gem (the ultra-low latency embedded audio platform) is 99.8% funded on Crowd Supply. Literally the next backer will take us over the line! Keep an eye on the campaign for a bunch of great updates over the next couple weeks: www.crowdsupply.com/bela/bela-ge...

The latest from the Bela Gem campaign: profiles of Bela co-founder Robert Jack and instrument maker Rafaele Andrade whose 16-string cello "Knurl" runs SuperCollider on Bela: www.crowdsupply.com/bela/bela-ge...

A detailed look at the physical construction of the new Bela Gem: www.crowdsupply.com/bela/bela-ge.... Campaign running on Crowd Supply through 30 July.

Just launched! Bela Gem is our new family of ultra-low-latency embedded audio boards based on PocketBeagle 2, with a quad-core 1.4GHz processor, 24/96 audio, 16-bit analog inputs. Comes in stereo and 10-channel versions. www.crowdsupply.com/bela/bela-ge...

Bela Gem is launching soon on Crowd Supply. This is the biggest overhaul of Bela since 2016, with a quad-core 1.4GHz processor, up to 10 channels in/out of 24bit/96kHz audio, and a brand new browser-based IDE. Subscribe to be the first to know when it launches: www.crowdsupply.com/bela/bela-ge...

NIME 2026 is coming to London! 23-26 June 2026. General chairs Courtney Reed (Loughborough University London, Augmented Instruments Lab alum) and me. More details soon!

Xiaowan Yi and Jordie Shier present “Diffy” on the last night of NIME 2025.

Nicole Robson presenting at NIME 2025 on sonic entanglements in the composition of an ultrasonic art installation (paper: nime.org/proceedings/...)

Charis Saitis on timbre at NIME (paper: nime.org/proceedings/...): “NIME has a difficulty of talking about musical aesthetics. It is much easier to talk about control structures!”

Otherworldly sounds from an electromagnetically bowed autoharp by Adam Schmidt, ahead of a poster/demo session on the Sparksichord (paper: nime.org/proceedings/...)

NIME 2025 posters from Teresa Pelinski (pybela - nime.org/proceedings/...), Brittney Allen (BRAIDS_ - nime.org/proceedings/...) and Franco Caspe (BRAVE - nime.org/proceedings/...)

Jordie Shier presents “Designing Percussive Timbre Remappings” at NIME 2025 (paper: nime.org/proceedings/...)

Lewis Wolstanholme presenting at NIME 2025 on drum modal feedback (read our paper with Jordie Shier and Rodrigo Constanzo: nime.org/proceedings/...)

London 6 July! I will play the #magneticresonatorpiano designed by @apmcpherson.bsky.social in my new piece GLOW featuring Hard Rain Ensemble and spooky 👻 ghost story narration with video art by Steve Lee. It’s free, but you have to book. ✨ @prsfoundation.bsky.social @cmcireland.bsky.social

Impeach.

Exciting news from our secret headquarters at Bela: we've launched Bela Gem, the biggest hardware update to Bela in 10 years. Quad-core processor, high-spec audio, new IDE and more! The campaign will go live on CrowdSupply soon; subscribe at the link for more: www.crowdsupply.com/bela/bela-ge...