MTU Cork School of Music engages in impactful interdisciplinary research centred on Music & Technology addressing societal challenges and themes in areas including:
- Digital Cultural Heritage
- Immersive and Extended Reality
- Inclusive Music Making
- AI Music and Sonification
Funded Projects and Groups
Digital Skills for Music Teachers
Digital Skills 4 Music Teachers (DISK) is a project conceived in 2022 with the aim of contributing to the digitisation of music education in Europe. DISK addresses a gap identified in the training of music teachers, specifically in the field of technology and the pedagogical skills needed for a different teaching environment shaped by the new technologies.
Thanks to funding from the European Commission through the Erasmus+ National Agency in Spain and SEPIE (Spanish Service for the Internationalisation of Education), after nine months of research involving surveys and interviews in Spain, Ireland and Estonia, and after examining existing training programmes related to key themes identified by a large and diverse group of educators, the DISK consortium has designed a training pathway around the following four thematic modules:
- Safety and ethics for music teachers in the digital age.
- Collaboration, teaching environment and new technologies
- Online music pedagogy
- Specific digital skills for music teachers
The final Digital Skills for Music Teachers Multiplier, with panels and guest talks around the theme of Generative AI and the Creative Arts took place in MTU Cork School of Music in May 2025.
For more information on the project please visit the home page:
https://digitalskills4musicteachers.eu/en_GB/home
VideoMuse
VIDEOMUSE is a project at the forefront of technological disruption, harnessing blockchain to foster collaboration between the music and audiovisual sectors.
The mission of this project is to create a sustainable and fair business model that supports European artistic creations, audience development and innovative income generation for creative and cultural industries and artists.
Videomuse addresses a significant opportunity at the intersection of art, technology, and income generation in the rapidly evolving digital landscape. As the demand for cross-sector collaborations between the music and audio-visual industries grows, there is a clear gap in the market for a platform that facilitates collaborative creation and monetisation of video clips as a collectibles market.
Videomuse sets out to revolutionise the digital art landscape by providing a collaborative platform where artists and video makers can create and monetise captivating video clips as ClipMEs (Clip Music Experience). By leveraging blockchain technology, Videomuse aims to ensure secure ownership and fair compensation for artists, while offering a curated marketplace for buyers to discover and collect exclusive video experiences.
Partners on this project include Melboss Music, Association of Independent Music Professionals Ireland, Association Laval Mayenne Technopole, Desarrollo De Estrategias Exteriores SA, Munster Technological University, Medula Producciones SLNE.
NExIS
NExIS is a strategic collaboration between extended reality technology interest groups across Munster Technological University at the AgriTech Centre of Excellence (ACE), the Nimbus Research Centre, the Cork School of Music and NCMI.
NExIS consists of four pillars of activity: learning, research, industry collaboration and technical integration. Together, the output of this activity will place MTU at the national hub of extended reality immersive training and research and initiate a nationwide network of extended reality innovation suites across Ireland. For more info visit www.nexis.ie
Current PhD Research
Related Courses
People
Our teaching staff come from a variety of areas of expertise - Music Performance and Composition, Art, Multimedia, Business, Electronic Engineering, Computer Programming and many more. Each staff member has an interest in Music & Technology and the integration of the diverse disciplines is discussed and contextualised in the Computer Music classes and industry seminars.
- Hugh McCarthy - Senior Lecturer
- Kieran Prendergast - Lecturer
- Keith Clancy - Lecturer
- Andy Ingamells - Lecturer
- Cian Sweeney - Lecturer
- Cárthach Ó Nuanáin - Lecturer
Events
The ACM TEI (Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction) 2024 conference was held in Cork, Ireland, from February 11-14, jointly hosted by MTU and UCC. Posters, exhibitions, performances and the opening ceremony took place at MTU Cork School of Music. Fuil details available here:
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In 2019 the Cork School of Music organised the Ninth Annual Conference and Festival of the Irish Sound, Science, and Technology Association. The theme was "Perform" and over the course of two days included:
- 6 paper sessions and 4 concerts of experimental electronic music.
- Keynote speech and performance of Dust by Robert Henke (aka Monolake and a founding partner of Ableton).
- Late-night performance and workshop / Q&A session by Ellen King ( aka DJ ELLLL).
More details and proceedings available here.
Technology Transfer
AudioSourceRE
Dr Derry Fitzgerald’s spin-out, AudiosourceRE, partly developed at the Cork School of Music, won the CIT ICT Invention of the Year for its sound-separating technology in 2018. It has been used to remaster global hit music such as the Beach Boys’ Good Vibrations as ‘Photoshop for audio’ software.
AudioSourceRE is the culmination of over 18 years of research into sound separation by Dr. Derry Fitzgerald (CTO). Its unique algorithms deliver what they believe to be the best quality sound source separations available to the market. The company vision is to continue to be the leading developer of high-quality de-mixing software for music production, post-production studios, DJs, producers, artists, and musicians. They strive to produce high-quality pro-audio products that are some of the best sounding, most flexible, and creative software products available.
