Join us in welcoming Dr. Adriel Elijah Miles, to speak on our Hilary term theme of ‘Music as Method’. Adriel’s paper will introduce beatmaking as radical compositional practice, examining beatmaking (beat composition) as a potential site of radical sonic experimentation, reinterpretation, intertextuality, and decoloniality for contemporary composers that can challenge the implicit hierarchies of university music study. While beatmakers are not traditionally considered to be ‘composers,’ they argue that this stems from a bias of cultural subjectivity that says little about the practices themselves or their potential value for those studying composition. After the talk, there will be a Q&A session, so please come prepared with questions!

Adriel Elijah Miles (he/they) is a musicologist, composer, and artist originally from Vermont, USA and currently based in London, UK. His research uses decolonial theory to focus on the intersection of Black music and music composition within higher education spaces. His other interests include instrumental hip-hop, music pedagogy (especially in universities), postcolonial studies, popular music studies (particularly its compositional techniques), and linguistics and language studies. As a composer, he is 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.
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