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Dr Michael Terren
Dr Michael Terren
Lecturer
| Mobile: | +61 437 000 399 |
|---|---|
| Email: | m.terren@ecu.edu.au |
| Campus: | Mount Lawley |
| ORCID iD: | https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6539-5934 |
Michael is a Lecturer in Composition and Sonic Arts at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.
Current teaching
- C82. Composition Skills
- C82. Electronic Media
- MUS1140 Music of Our Time - The Australian Music Landscape
- MUS1620 Sonic Culture and Sound Art
- MUS4330 Music Philosophy and Research
- MUS3640 Music History: Electronic Music Overview
- MUS2635 Composing for Film, Music, and the Gaming Industries
- MUS4565 Music Technology for Performance
- Principal studies - Composition and sonic arts
Background
Michael Terren is a composer and musician making work in several contexts. His media are predominantly keyboard instruments, digital synthesis, sound production, audio assets, and performance systems in the experimental tradition.
Some recent composition projects include "It ends in a crypt," an album made with ruined pianos; and "Delete the room," an acousmatic work exploring videogame audio aesthetics. He is a member of the band Pale Ribbons Tossed into the Dark and regularly collaborates in experimental music ensembles and scoring for performance/screen.
Michael teaches across composition, music production, history, aesthetics, and academic skills. Michael's research area specialises in the means of music production, such as DAWs and plug-ins. He co-edited the book Creative Tools and the Softwarization of Cultural Production (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024), exploring the software used to make of all kinds of culture with interdisciplinary scope.
Professional association
- 2024 - Australian Guild of Screen Composers (Member)
- 2024 - Tone List (Ordinary Member)
- 2023 - National Tertiary Education Union (Branch Committee – Ordinary Member)
National and international awards
- 2025 - Audible Edge Seed Fund commission ($3,000)
- 2017 - Schenberg Prize for Music ($30,000)
- 2016 - Alternate candidate, Fulbright WA Postgraduate Scholarship
- 2015 - Bogong Centre for Sound Culture residency award ($2,000)
National and international research awards
- 2015–18 - Australian Postgraduate Award
Research areas and interests
- Society and technology studies
- Cultural and creative industries
- Composition research
- Experimental music and electronic music studies
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy, Edith Cowan University, 2019.
- Bacheor of Music with First Class Honours, Edith Cowan University, 2014.
- Bachelor of Music Major in Composition & Music Technology, Edith Cowan University, 2012.
Research Outputs
Creative Arts Research Outputs
- McKenzie, V., Terren, M., Tytler, C. (2025). Ripairian Livestream. [Livestreamed performance]. Vahri McKenzie.
- McKenzie, V., Ben-Ary, G., Terren, M. (2025). Ripairian Zone. [Art installation including sound, 2D and 3D works]. Midland Junction Arts Centre.
Book Chapters
- Lesage, F., Terren, M. (2024). Refiguring the Digital Tools of Cultural Production. Creative Tools and the Softwarization of Cultural Production (1-20). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-45693-0_1.
- Terren, M. (2024). The Expressive Subject: Prosumers, Virtuosi, and Digital Musical Control. Creative Tools and the Softwarization of Cultural Production (135-154). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-45693-0_7.
Creative Arts Research Outputs
- Vickery, L., Terren, M., Burge, R., Tomlinson, V. (2018). Artificial Environmental Recordings. Griffith University, Clocked Out, GreyWing. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworkspost2013/8945.
Conference Publications
- Hope, C., Terren, M. (2016). The Possibilities of a Line: Marking the Glissando in Music. Tenor 2016 (176-180). Anglia Ruskin University.
- Vickery, L., Terren, M., Gillies, S., Myburgh, J. (2016). Between the Real and the Imaginary: Ecostructural Approaches to Composing with Field Recordings and Acoustic Instruments. Proceedings of the 2016 Annual Conference of the Australasian Computer Music Association (81-89). The Australasian Computer Music Association.
Conference Publications
- Terren, M., Hope, C. (2015). Map-Making Towards an Onto-Cartography of the Digital Audio Workstation. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Australasian Computer Music Association (112-118). Australasian Computer Music Association.
Creative Arts Research Outputs
- Terren, M. (2015). Thru (electronic composition). FBi Radio, Sydney; ABC Classic FM, Sydney.
Creative Arts Research Outputs
- Terren, M. (2014). As Rendered.
- Terren, M. (2014). Mixed Interface.
- Terren, M. (2014). Panacea (for laptop and stereo PA).
- Terren, M. (2014). Whirling Knives.
- Terren, M. (2014). -ecstasy.
- Vickery, L., Terren, M., Gillies, S. (2014). WAAPA performances : Sogno102, The Aura Implicit and Nature Forms I - Director. Onassis Cultural Centre, Athens, Greece.
- Terren, M. (2014). Ambivalence of Density.