Mr Adriel E Miles

My research sits at the intersection of ethnomusicology and composition, with particular focuses on Western composition in the 20^th and 21^st centuries and the musics of the global African diasporas. Often this work adopts the lens of decolonization, working to confront systems of knowledge that erase, restrict, or marginalize the perspectives and influence of subaltern groups. Crucially, I centre this work largely in the former metropoles and settler-colonial nations where the need for decolonization is less understood.

As a composer, I am interested in Western contemporary styles and techniques, technology and multimedia (especially sampling), vocal music (solo and ensemble), improvisation-as-composition, cyclical and beat-driven musics, and music production. Practice as research is an important part of my work as well.

My thesis focuses on Black student-composers studying at UK universities as its ethnographic subject; observing their pedagogical experiences in composition units; gathering insights into their identities, influences, and inhibitions; and suggesting a move toward decolonial compositional praxis that is both receptive to and representative of Black musicianship. Through a look at three specific UK case studies, these individual experiences and institutions will suggest generalities within UK music academia.

Besides this, my other reseach interests include: instrumental hip-hop, music pedagogy (especially in universities), postcolonial studies, popular music studies (particularly its compositional techniques), and linguistics and language studies.