School of Arts

A
p
r
i
l
W
e
i
-
W
e
s
t

K
e
y
i
n
f
o
r
m
a
t
i
o
n

Department
School of Arts
Qualifications
MA Music (London), BMus Music (London)
Subject
Arts
Thesis title
Material voices in a digital world: creativity, embodiment, and identity in vocal synthesis
Internal Supervisors
Professor Rachel Harris & Dr Fabio Gygi

B
i
o
g
r
a
p
h
y

Drawing upon previous digital ethnography on "vocal synth" software use, April's research examines creative practices from the manipulation of the synthesised singing voice. 

It focuses on how users express different kinds of subjectivity through creative practice, including non-conforming gender and ethnic identities. With a focus on Japan, from which the software originates, her research also puts vocal synth into transnational perspective, looking towards digital circulation and power in a globalised world.

April holds a BMus in Music from King's College London where she developed her musicianship as a singer whilst getting a taste for ethnomusicology. She continued her studies as SOAS with the MA programme in Music, specialising in ethnomusicology. Here, she deepened her knowledge on ethnographic methods and Japanese studies, as well as learning to play the Japanese koto (13-string zither). 

As a freelance musician, April is an active choral singer, conductor, and tutor in and around London. But with a love of J-Pop and J-Rock music, April uses vocal synth to make covers, having used the software Utau to create a synthesised voicebank based on her own singing voice.

April also has interests in EDI in music, with experience being on the EDI committee at the Royal Albert Hall. As a researcher, April has presented her work at the British Forum for Ethnomusicology Annual Conference (2023) and Student Conference (2024). She is also on the editing committee of the CHASE Digital Studies Collective (DiSCo).

R
e
s
e
a
r
c
h
i
n
t
e
r
e
s
t
s

  • Creativity
  • Voice studies
  • Digital music
  • Materiality
  • Techno-orientalism
  • Digital ethnography
  • Virtual personae
  • Online communities
  • East Asia 
  • Gender
  • AI and ethics

C
o
n
t
a
c
t
A
p
r
i
l

Social media
Visit the LinkedIn page for April

R
e
l
a
t
e
d
c
o
n
t
e
n
t

You are viewing: Key information