James Mooney – musician, composer, researcher and audio engineer – was born in Edinburgh in 1980. At an early age he took up the violin and piano, and became interested in computing, writing simple graphical and musical applications in BASIC on the Amstrad CPC464 computer. In the early nineties much of his time was spent writing, performing and recording music.
In 1997 he began studies towards a BA in Music at Newcastle University, specialising in composition, performance and music technology and achieving first-class honours in 2000. During this time he also became interested in critical and post-modern theory, studying the writings of Barthes, Derrida and Foucault.
He then prepared an M.Sc. in Music Technology at the University of York, having obtained sponsorship from the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). While at York he commenced work on electroacoustic and audio-visual composition, as well as writing software for three-dimensional surround sound panning.
In mid-2001 he secured a three-year sponsorship from Barnsley College, South Yorkshire, to study towards a Ph.D. at the University of Sheffield. In his first eighteen months at Sheffield he produced over an hour of acousmatic music before turning his attention towards theoretical, aesthetic and technological work in the field of electroacoustic music and sound spatialisation. In close collaboration with Dr. David Moore, he co-developed the M2 Sound Diffusion System which was presented to the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC) in 2004 and is regularly used for live performances of electroacoustic music throughout the UK.
Between 2004 and 2006 James lectured at the University of Sheffield, Sheffield College, and De Montfort University (Leicester) whilst completing his Ph.D. studies.
His doctorate – entitled 'Sound Diffusion Systems for the Live Performance of Electroacoustic Music' – was awarded in January 2006.
In April 2006 he accepted a position at the newly established Culture Lab at Newcastle University. Here, as well as managing technical staff and facilities, he has established and maintains two ongoing research initiatives - Auditory Environments and Redundant Technologies - oversees Culture Lab's Composer in Residence series and works with diverse colleagues on the development of reseach projects.
