Dr. Mat Dalgleish SFHEA is a Senior Lecturer in Games Audio and Technical Design, having joined University of Staffordshire in January 2023. Prior to this, Mat was a Senior Lecturer at the University of Wolverhampton (2010-2013), where he was course leader for BA (Hons) Music Technology (2011-13), MSc Audio and Creative Technology (2013-23), MMus Music (2018-21), and school postgraduate lead.
Mat was also a visiting researcher at The Open University Music Computing Lab (2009-11). Beyond his home institution, Mat has national and international experience as an external examiner from undergraduate to doctoral level, and has acted as an external validation panelist for numerous institutions in the UK.
He is currently external examiner for MSc Music Engineering and Production at the University of South Wales and BSc Audio and Music Production at Liverpool John Moores University. Outside of HE, Mat is a trustee of The OHMI Trust, a UK-based charity that supports physically disabled people to fully participate in musical life.
Mat's academic background is interdisciplinary and unconventional - after deciding against taking up a conservatoire place to study trumpet, Mat studied sculpture at undergraduate level, completing the first two years at Northumbria University before transferring to Coventry University for the final year. He then completed an MA in Media Arts with former Stockhausen ensemblist, composer, and accessible instruments pioneer Rolf Gehlhaar at Coventry University, bringing him into contact with American/German performance ensemble Troika Ranch (Mark Coniglio and Dawn Stoppiello), video art pioneers Woody and Steina Vasulka, designers Tom Roope (Tomato Interactive) and John Holden (Raygun), amongst others. During this time he also undertook his first international collaborative project, a telematic interactive installation with Trans-Media-Akademie Hellerau (TMA Hellerau) and Frieder Weiss in Dresden.
This was followed by bursaried PhD exploring David Tudor-inspired approaches to digital musical instrument design (and their implications for performance, instrument learning, and accessibility) in the School of Art and Design at the University of Wolverhampton, supervised by Prof. Mark Grimshaw, Prof. Matthew Cornford, and Dr. Lindsey Marshall, and examined by Prof. Simon Emmerson, Dr. Paul Marshall, and Prof. Amanda Bayley. While part of the way through his PhD studies, Mat became a visiting researcher at The Open University Computer Music Lab (2009-2011), working with Prof. Simon Holland, Prof. Janet van der Linden, and fellow visitor Dr. Anders Bouwer (Hogeschool van Amsterdam) on projects such as the Haptic Drum Kit/Haptic Bracelets, Whole Body Harmony Space, and Music Jacket.
In September 2010, Mat became Lecturer in Music Technology at the University of Wolverhampton, becoming undergraduate course leader in summer 2011 and Senior Lecturer in summer 2012. From 2013-2023, Mat was course leader for the UoW's innovative MSc Audio Technology programme, which he co-wrote with Dr. Matt Bellingham.
From 2018-2021 Mat was also Course Leader for MA Musical Theatre and MMus Music, and subsequently became Postgraduate Subject Leader for the School of Performing Arts, before joining the University of Staffordshire in January 2023.
Since 2006, Mat's work has spanned music interaction and audiovisual interface design, music computing, more general controller and assistive technology design, sound synthesis and procedural audio, software development for creative applications, and visual and audiovisual artworks. Outputs include a significant number of publications (Springer-Nature, The MIT Press, Routledge/Taylor-Francis), conference presentations, performances, and exhibitions
Professional memberships and activities
- Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA)
Academic qualifications
- PhD (2013), School of Art and Design, University of Wolverhampton.
- MA (with Distinction) in Media Arts (2006), School of Art and Design, Coventry University.
- BA (with 1st Class Honours) in Fine Art (Sculpture) (2005), School of Art and Design, Coventry University (transferred from Northumbria University 2004).
Expertise
My primary expertise is across music interaction/musical interfaces, creative and music computing, synthetic sound (from modular synthesizers to procedural audio for video games), generative systems, and accessible design and related disability theory. I also specialise in interdisciplinary projects and related methodologies, including co-design and do-it-with-others (DIWO).
Research interests
My primary research interests are around music and audio, interface/interaction and software design for these and related creative contexts, and accessibility through a disability studies lens. I also have a longstanding interest in live electronics (live electronic music) and modular synthesizers. I also supervise PhD students in these and closely related areas.
Grants
- RIF4 Funding (Centre for Practice and Research in Performing Arts), £283,473, University of Wolverhampton (CI). 2021.
- ERAS Funding (Ambiently Diffused Sound as Accessible Interface for Visually Impaired Theatre Audiences), £5000, University of Wolverhampton (PI). 2017.
- CETL PhD Bursary (Accessible Digital Musical Instrument Design), School of Education, University of Wolverhampton. 2007.
Enterprise and commercial interests
I have worked on commercial projects related to my above research interests, as well as acting as consultant to organisations ranging from WJEC, Edexcel/Pearson, and Taylor & Francis, to various universities, to UK companies and charities, primarily on audio and/or accessibility related matters
Teaching
I lead and teach on the game department's audio provision, as well as L7 modules in systems design and game feel, and L3 collaborative game development. I also teach on various game design modules at all levels and supervise undergraduate, PGT, and doctoral projects in areas related to my research interests.
Publications
- Dalgleish, M. and Whitfield, S.K. (2026, in press) ‘(Just Like) Starting Over? What earlier instruments and their social lives can—and can’t—tell us about accessible digital musical instruments and disability’. In: Gullö, J.-O. et al. (eds.) Innovation in Music: New Perspectives on Technology and Practice. Abingdon: Routledge.
- Dalgleish, M., Payne, C. and Headleand, C. (2026 in press) ‘TYG: Collaborative Music Creation in an Unreak Engine-Based Local Multiplayer Instrument’. In: Estebeiro, M. and Torres, R. (eds.) NoiseFloor Perspectives. Newcastle Upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars.
- M Eilo, Chang, V., Dalgleish, M., Lee, K.-L., Valyi-Nagy, Z., Stern, A., Grossberger Morales, L., Jain, P., Duarte, Y. and Bayerlein, C. (2026) Slow AI. Leonardo, 59 (3): 287–293. doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/LEON.a.2683
- Dalgleish, M. (2025) Chimera: Prototyping a New DMI for Congenital One-Handed Musicianship Through an Autoethnographic Lens. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression, 22-26 June 2025, Melbourne, Australia. https://eprints.staffs.ac.uk/8999/
- Dalgleish, M. (2024) And Then it Turned Outside-in: Rethinking Spatial Game Audio. In: Proceedings of Reproduced Sound (40th anniv.), 12-13 November 2024, Institute of Acoustics (IOA), Bristol, UK.
- Dalgleish, M. (2024) Beneath the Front Panel, Accessibility? Revisiting the Commercial Modular Synthesizer in the age of NIME. In: Commercial Electronic Musical Instruments in 21st Century Music Practice, 9-10 September 2024, University of West London, Ealing, London.
- Dalgleish, M. (in press) Who can play? Rethinking video game controllers and accessibility, in M. Spöhrer and B. Ochsner (eds.) Disability and Video Games: Practices of En-/Disabling Modes of Digital Gaming, London: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Dalgleish, M and N. Williams (2022) The Eurorack Synthesizer as One-Handed Instrument, in Innovation in Music ‘22, Royal College of Music, Stockholm, Sweden, 17-19 June 2022.
- Dalgleish, M. and Whitfield, S. (2021) Sound Objects: Exploring Embedded Computing for Procedural Audio in Theatre. In R. Toulson et al. (eds.) Music and Innovation. Abingdon: Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429345388-14
- Dalgleish, M. (2021) Layering the Senses: Exploring Audio Primacy in Multisensory Cinema. In Proceedings of Reproduced Sound 2021, Institute of Acoustics, Bristol.
- Dalgleish, M. and Reading, N. (2019) Seeing With One’s Own Ears: Soundtrack As Interface for Theatre. In I. Soveral and F. Pombo (eds.). SYNCHRESIS: Audio Vision Tales. Aveiro: University of Aveiro Press.
- Payne, C. and Dalgleish, M. (2019) MAMIC goes Live: A Music Programming System for Non-Specialist Delivery. In R. Hepworth-Sawyer, J. Hodgson and. J. Paterson (eds.) Performance, Production, Technology and Business. Abingdon: Taylor & Francis/Routledge.
- Dalgleish, M. (2018) There Are No Universal Interfaces: How Asymmetrical Roles and Asymmetrical Controllers Can Increase Access Diversity. Italian Journal of Game Studies, vol. 7 (special issue on Disability and Video Games).
- Dalgleish, M. (2017) Loop: A Circular Ferric Memory in Slow Decline. Leonardo Music Journal, vol. 27 (2017), pp. 49-50. https://direct.mit.edu/lmj/article-abstract/doi/10.1162/LMJ_a_01011/69469
- Dalgleish, M. and Reading, N. (2017) Soundtrack as Auditory Interface: Exploring an Alternative to Audio Description for Theatre. In Proceedings of Reproduced Sound 2017: Sound Quality by Design, 21-23 November 2017, Institute of Acoustics, Nottingham, UK.
- Dalgleish, M. (2016). Unconventional Inputs: Old/New Instruments, Design, DIY and Disability. eContact! Journal for Electroacoustic Practices. vol. 18.3 (Dec 2016).
- Dalgleish, M. (2016). Wiring the Ear: Instrumentality and Aural Primacy in and After David Tudor’s Unstable Circuits. Leonardo Music Journal, vol. 26 (Dec 2016), pp. 73-74. https://doi.org/10.1162/LMJ_x_00988
- Dalgleish, M. (2016) The Modular Synthesizer Divided: The Keyboard and Its Discontents. eContact! Journal for Electroacoustic Practices, vol. 17.4 (April 2016).
- Dalgleish, M., Payne, C. and Spencer, S. (2015) Adding Value: Combining Ambient Visual and Vibrotactile Feedback to Encourage Good Posture in Trumpet Players. In Proceedings of Electronic Visualisation and the Arts London (EVA London), British Computing Society, London, United Kingdom, 7-9 July 2015.
- Dalgleish, M., Payne, C. and Spencer, S. (2015) Postrum II: A Posture Aid for Trumpet Players. In Proceedings of the 2015 Linux Audio Conference (LAC15), Mainz, Germany, 9-12 April 2015.
- Dalgleish, M. and Spencer, S. (2014) Postrum: Developing Good Posture in Trumpet Players Through Directional Haptic Feedback. In Proceedings of the 9th Conference on International Musicology (CIM14), Staatliches Institut für Musikforschung, Berlin, Germany, 4-6 December, pp. 334-338.
- Dalgleish, M. (2014) Reconsidering Process: Bringing Thoughtfulness to the Design of Digital Musical Instruments for Disabled Users. In Proceedings of INTER-FACE: the 2nd International Conference on Live Interfaces (ICLI 2014), Lisbon, Portugal, 20-23 November 2014, pp. 308-315.
- Bellingham, M. and Dalgleish, M. (2014) Ghosts of the Modular. In Sines & Squares, NOVARS, University of Manchester, United Kingdom, 25-26 October 2014.
- Bouwer, A., Holland, S. and Dalgleish, M. (2013) The Haptic Bracelets: Learning Multi-Limb Rhythm Skills from Haptic Stimuli While Reading. In Holland, S., Wilkie, K., Mulholland, P. and Seago, A. (eds.) Music and Human-Computer Interaction. Cultural Computing. London: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-2990-5_6
- Bouwer, A., Holland, S. and Dalgleish, M. (2013) Song Walker Harmony Space: Embodied Interaction Design for Complex Musical skills. In Holland, S., Wilkie, K., Mulholland, P. and Seago, A. (eds.) Music and Human-Computer Interaction. Cultural Computing. London: Springer.
- Bouwer, A. Dalgleish, M. and Holland, S. (2012) Moving in Harmony: The Use of Spatial Metaphor and Whole Body Interaction to Reframe Harmonic Tasks. In Music & Shape conference, Institute for Music Research (IMR), London, UK, 12-14 July 2012.
- Holland, S., Bouwer, A. and Dalgleish, M. (2011) Whole Body Interaction in Abstract Domains. In D. England (ed.) Whole Body Interaction (Human-Computer Interaction Series), Springer Verlag, London, pp. 19-34.
- van der Linden, J., Rogers, Y., Crissman, T. and Dalgleish, M. (2011) Technology Inspired Design for Pervasive Healthcare. In Workshop on User-Centered Design of Pervasive Healthcare Applications, part of the 6th Pervasive Healthcare conference, Dublin, Ireland, 23 May 2011.
- Holland, S. Bouwer, A., Dalgleish, M. and Hurtig, T. (2010) Feeling the Beat Where It Counts: Fostering Multi-Limb Rhythm Skills with the Haptic Drum Kit. In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction (TEI’10), Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, 25-27 January 2010.