People
Rob Godman
Composer/ Sound Designer
Working as a composer, sound designer and programmer, Rob has a passionate interest in how sound behaves acoustically and has developed a number of techniques for controlling and building virtual spaces for use within live performance and installation. His fascination in the work of the Roman Architect Vitruvius has led to frequent conference engagements and appearances on UK and American documentary TV shows.
An enthusiastic collaborator, Rob has worked on experimental and large-scale commercial music and sound design projects including the interactive installation The DARK (www.thedark.net).
Rob has received performances from artists such as the Siobhan Davies Dance Company, The BBC Singers, Evelyn Glennie, Gemini, Philip Mead, Xenia Pestova, Vivienne Spiteri, Kate Romano, Andrew Sparling and the Sackbut and Cornett Ensemble QuintEssential.
In collaboration with Philip Mead, they have formed a duet of pianist and sound-projection with the emphasis being on perceived ‘liveness’ and performance. The pair have recorded an album for UHRecordings. Duel - for piano and sound projection was commissioned by Philip Mead with funds provided by the Arts Council of England 2006. It has received numerous performances throughout the UK, including The International Computer Music Conference 2008, SARC, Queen’s University, Belfast and Bangor New Music Festival 2009 (Xenia Pestova).
Rob was commissioned by Braunarts to write the software for a VJ project (4Dmusic - http://www.braunarts.com/4dmusic/4d_music_00.htm) with Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and Peter Weigold. The work was first presented at a series of concerts in the CBSO Centre, Birmingham in January 2008. The software captured audio and analyzed it with the purpose of detecting musical gesture. Rob is currently using a new version of the system for a variety of different artists including the breakbeat outfit Diverted in major London nightclubs (Cargo, Fabric and Matter at the O2 Arena).
Rob Godman is Reader in Music and Programme Leader for Composition at the University of Hertfordshire, a unique BSc honours degree programme focusing on composition with digital technology in the widest sense. The demand for this programme is reflected in large numbers of applications and very high student satisfaction and success.
Additional research and compositional interests include interactive audio (live and responsive), multi-speaker sound projection, programming, commercial expectations and industry requirements and collaborative methods in cross-arts (music and architecture, music and image, music and dance etc.).
Featured on:
UHR002: Piano and Electronics - Philip Mead & Rob Godman