Journal Articles
Popular Music Studies
My research in popular music studies is extensive, with a particular focus on metal music as a vibrant subculture. I have explored topics ranging from the socio-cultural analysis of music scenes to the economic realities of musicians and songwriters. My work has been published in journals such as Popular Music and Society, Popular Music, Popular Music Studies, and Rock Music Studies.
Music Production and Technology
I have a strong interest in the technological aspects of music production. My research in this area examines the impact of technology on musical creativity, the conventions of music production, and the cultural significance of music technology. I have published on these topics in journals like the Journal of Popular Music Studies, Metal Music Studies, and El Oido Pensante.
Music Psychology
My work in music psychology investigates the perceptual and cognitive aspects of music. I have conducted studies on topics such as the perception of 'heaviness' in music, the influence of distortion on harmony, and the acoustical properties of musical instruments. My research in this area has been published in journals like Music Perception, Samples, and the Journal of the German Society for Music Psychology.
2025
- (2025) (with Mark Mynett) Aesthetic Tensions in Metal Production: Genre Expectations, Technological Mediation, and Creative Freedom. Popular Music & Society (forthcoming).
- (2025) (with Eric Smialek) "Mixed" Results: An Introduction to Analyzing Metal Production through Eight Commissioned Metal Mixes. Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft fuer Musiktheorie (Journal of the German-Speaking Society of Music Theory), Special Issue 2025 on 'Analyses and Theories of Popular Music' (forthcoming).
- (2025) (with Eric Smialek) Towards an Analytical Methodology for Vocalist's Live Gestures in Extreme Metal. Samples, 22, pp. 1–26. (open access)
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(2025) (with Ruth Barratt-Peacock) The Effects of Ensemble Singing on Heaviness in Metal Music: Revisiting a Systematic Approach. Metal Music Studies, 11(1), pp. 65–89. doi.org/10.1386/mms_00166_1
2024
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(2024) (with Marian Lux) From Analogue to Algorithm: How Private Production Reshaped Metal Aesthetics. Metal Music Studies, 10(3), pp. 249–274. doi.org/10.1386/mms_00137_1
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(2024) (with Katherine Williams, Ingrid M. Tolstad & Simon Barber) The Benefits of Collaborative Popular Music Songwriting: A Spectrum of Artist-Songwriter Involvement. Popular Music and Society, 48(1), pp. 1–24. doi.org/10.1080/03007766.2024.2428035 (open access)
- (2024) (with Michael Ahlers) Songwriting Camps: Geschichte, Theorien und Forschungsansätze zur Fließband-Produktion von populärer Musik. ~Vibes (journal of IASPM D-A-CH), 3. (open access)
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(2024) (with Michael Ahlers & Simon Barber) "The Song Factories Have Closed!": Songwriting Camps as Spaces of Collaborative Creativity in the Post-Industrial Age. Creative Industries Journal, pp. 1–22. doi.org/10.1080/17510694.2024.2366163 (open access)
2023
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(2023) (with Mark Mynett) Lorna Shore's 'To the Hellfire': A Study in Heaviness. Metal Music Studies, 9(2), pp. 189–213. doi.org/10.1386/mms_00105_1 (open access)
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(2023) (with Daniel Walzer, Jude Brereton & Mariana Lopez) Editorial: Exploring Audio and Music Technology in Education: Pedagogical, Research and Sociocultural Perspectives. Journal of Music, Technology and Education, 15(1), pp. 3–6. doi.org/10.1386/jmte_00045_2 (open access)
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(2023) (with Mark Mynett) "I Just Go with What Feels Right." Variance and Commonality in Metal Music Mixing Practice. El Oido Pensante, 11(1), pp. 4–31. doi.org/10.34096/oidopensante.v11n1.10704 (open access)
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(2023) (with Jamie Boddington Jordan) Harmonic Structures in Twenty-First-Century Metal Music: A Harmonic Analysis of Five Major Metal Genres. Metal Music Studies, 9(1), pp. 27–58. doi.org/10.1386/mms_00093_1 (download here)
2022
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(2022) (with Reuben Swallow) Dissonance in Metal Music: Musical and Sociocultural Reasons for Metal's Appreciation of Dissonance. Metal Music Studies, 8(3), pp. 351–379. doi.org/10.1386/mms_00085_1 (download here)
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(2022) (with Mark Mynett) What is 'Heavy' in Metal? A Netnographic Analysis of Online Forums for Metal Musicians and Producers. Popular Music and Society Studies, 45(5), pp. 633–653. doi.org/10.1080/03007766.2022.2114155 (open access)
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(2022) (with Mark Mynett) Toward a Systematic Understanding of "Heaviness" in Metal Music Production. Rock Music Studies, 10(1), pp. 16–37. doi.org/10.1080/19401159.2022.2109358 (open access)
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(2022) (with Mark Mynett) Keeper of the Seven Keys: Audio Heritage in Metal Music Production. Metal Music Studies, 8(1), pp. 109–126. doi.org/10.1386/mms_00063_1 (download here)
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(2022) The Recording Industry as the Enemy? A Case Study of Early West German Metal Music. International Journal of the Sociology of Leisure, 5, pp. 229–254. doi.org/10.1007/s41978-021-00098-z (open access)
2021
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(2021) (with Mark Mynett) Nail the Mix: Standardization in Mixing Metal Music? Popular Music and Society, 44(5), pp. 628–649. doi.org/10.1080/03007766.2021.1957544 (open access)
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(2021) (with Mark Mynett) (No?) Adventures in Recording Land: Engineering Conventions in Metal Music. Rock Music Studies, 9(2), pp. 137–156. doi.org/19401159.2021.1936410 (open access)
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(2021) The Politics of Rammstein's Sound: Decoding a Production Aesthetic. Journal of Popular Music Studies, 33(2), pp. 51–76. doi.org/10.1525/jpms.2021.33.2.51 (download here)
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(2021) (with Karl Bauerfeind) Teutonic Metal: Effects of Place- and Mythology-Based Labels on Record Production. International Journal of the Sociology of Leisure, 4, pp. 291–313. doi.org/10.1007/s41978-021-00084-5 (open access)
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(2021) Recording Studios as Museums? Record Producers' Perspectives on German Rock Studios and Accounts of their Heritage Practices. Popular Music, 40(2), pp. 91–113. doi.org/10.1017/S026114302100009X (open access)
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(2021) (with Michael Ahlers) Introduction to the Special Issue on Crises at Work: Potentials for Change?. IASPM Journal, 11(1), pp. 2–5. doi.org/10.5429/2079-3871(2021)v11i1.2en (open access)
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(2021) (with Karl Spracklen) Metal Music Studies at the Intersection of Theory and Practice. Metal Music Studies, 7(3), pp. 351–356. doi.org/10.1386/mms_00054_2 (download here)
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(2021) Culture-Specific Production and Performance Characteristics: An Interview Study with 'Teutonic' Metal Producers. Metal Music Studies, 7(3), pp. 445–467. doi.org/10.1386/mms_00059_1 (download here)
2020
- (2020) Metronomic Precision of 'Teutonic Metal': A Methodological Challenge for Rhythm and Performance Research. Samples, 18, pp. 1–27. (open access)
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(2020) (with Thomas Thurnell-Read, David Robinson & Karl Spracklen) Rhythm and Booze: Contesting Leisure Mobilities on the Transpennine Real Ale Trail. Mobilities, 16(3), pp. 322–338. doi.org/10.1080/17450101.2020.1820189
- (2020) Sonic Signatures in Metal Music Production: Teutonic vs British vs American Sound. Samples, 18, pp. 1–26. (open access)
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(2020) From Bach to Helloween: 'Teutonic' Stereotypes in the History of Popular Music. Metal Music Studies, 6(1), pp. 87–108. doi.org/10.1386/mms_00006_1 (download here)
2019
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(2019) Empirical Explorations of Guitar Players' Attitudes towards their Equipment and the Role of Distortion in Rock Music. Current Musicology, 105, pp. 75–106. doi.org/10.7916/cm.v0i105.5404 (open access)
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(2019) Distortion and Rock Guitar Harmony: The Influence of Distortion Level and Structural Complexity on Acoustic Features and Perceived Pleasantness of Guitar Chords. Music Perception, 36(4), pp. 335–352. doi.org/10.1525/mp.2019.36.4.335 (download here)
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(2019) The Formation of the West German Power Metal Scene and the Question of a 'Teutonic' Sound. Metal Music Studies, 5(2), pp. 201–223. doi.org/10.1386/mms.5.2.201_1 (download here)
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(2019) Old Sounds with New Technologies? Examining the Creative Potential of Guitar 'Profiling' Technology and the Future of Metal Music from Producers' Perspectives. Metal Music Studies, 5(1), pp. 53–69. doi.org/10.1386/mms.5.1.53_1 (download here)
2018
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(2018) (with Tim Albrecht) The Work Realities of Professional Studio Musicians in the German Popular Music Recording Industry: Careers, Practices and Economic Situations. IASPM Journal, 8(2), pp. 18–37. dx.doi.org/10.5429/2079-3871(2018)v8i2.3en (open access)
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(2018) (with Tim Albrecht) The Skillset of Professional Studio Musicians in the German Popular Music Recording Industry. Etnomusikologian vuosikirja (The Finnish Yearbook of Ethnomusicology), 30, pp. 121–153. doi.org/10.23985/evk.69085 (open access)
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(2018) (with Isabella Czedik-Eysenberg and Christoph Reuter) Guitar Profiling Technology in Metal Music Production: Public Reception, Capability, Consequences and Perspectives. Metal Music Studies, 4(3), pp. 481–506. doi.org/10.1386/mms.4.3.481_1 (download here)
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(2018) Heaviness and the Electric Guitar: Considering the Interaction between Distortion and Harmonic Structures. Metal Music Studies, 4(1), pp. 95–113. doi.org/10.1386/mms.4.1.95_1 (download here)
2017
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(2017) (with Jan Holthaus) Music Studio Operators in the Ruhr Area in Germany: Role, Services, and Resources. Etnomusikologian vuosikirja (The Finnish Yearbook of Ethnomusicology), vol. 29, pp. 1–30. doi.org/10.23985/evk.63490 (open access)
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(2017) Shredding, Tapping and Sweeping: Effects of Guitar Distortion on Playability and Expressiveness in Rock and Metal Solos. Metal Music Studies, 3(2), pp. 231–250. doi.org/10.1386/mms.3.2.231_1 (download here)
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(2017) Historical Development, Sound Aesthetics and Production Techniques of the Distorted Electric Guitar in Metal Music. Metal Music Studies, 3(1), pp. 24–46. doi.org/10.1386/mms.3.1.23_1 (download here)
- (2017) Akkordstrukturen im verzerrten Rockgitarrenriff: Eine experimental-analytische Studie zur Auswirkung von physikalischen und psycho-akustischen Faktoren [Chord Structures in the Distorted Rock Guitar Riff: An Experimental and Analytic Study on the Effect of Physical and Psychoacoustic Factors]. Samples, 15. pp. 1–27. (open access)
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(2017) Remixing Dub Reggae in the Music Classroom: A Practice-Based Case Study on the Value of Music Production Tasks for Listening Skills, Media Competency and Musical Knowledge. Journal of Music, Technology and Education, 9(3), pp. 255–272. doi.org/10.1386/jmte.9.3.255_1 (download here)
2016
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(2016) Kommunikation und Wissenserwerb in der Vorlesung: Eine quantitative Studie zum Einsatz kommunikationsanregender Methoden in der Vorlesung [Communication and Construction of Knowledge: A Quantitative Study on Communication-Facilitating Methods in the Higher Education Lecture]. die hochschullehre, 2(1), pp. 1–21. doi.org/10.3278/HSL1605W (open access)