Uploaded September 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
We wondered: what if we brought together local musicians with some of the UK’s most innovative music researchers and technology? This song is the result.
Listen out for:
Blackstar Amplifiers’ digital signal processing-based guitar amplifiers. These are indistinguishable from valve-based amps in terms of sound and tone quality
First Light Pianos’ vertical ‘standing grand’ piano, invented by Sarah Nicolls, winner of the 2024 Women in Innovation award
The CMPSR by Digit Music, which uses video-gaming hardware to make playing an instrument more accessible
Playable Technology Limited’s Beat Blocks that enable you to build music with Lego
SEAboard, a MIDI keyboard that allows musicians to shape notes in real time with simple finger movements through ROLI Ltd’s SEA interface technology
David de la Haye, whose work focusses on freshwater soundscapes and how the listening process can deepen our connection with the natural world
All have received support from UKRI to develop their ideas and technology.
The performers are:
Sean Ivens, Drums – All Ears Avow
Rob Pellow, Guitar – The Real Cheesemakers
DJ Harman, Bass – Wild Isles
Tom Haynes, Keyboards/synths
Jess Fisher, CMPSR
Si Trew, CMPSR (app version)
Sarah Nicolls, standing grand piano, ROLI keyboard
Dr Ben Schogler, Beat Blocks
David de la Haye, freshwater soundscapes
Music is all about innovation and experimentation. And for centuries, evolving music technology has helped musicians push the boundaries of their sound.
We brought together musicians from Swindon's music scene with researchers who are transforming music technology. The result was a song called Circles, which premiered at the 2025 Swindon Shuffle.
From making beats with Lego Bricks to reinventing the piano and listening in on pond life, we hope to show that innovation in music is never finished.
Featured technology:
Blackstar Amplifiers’ digital signal processing-based guitar amplifiers. These are indistinguishable from valve-based amps in terms of sound and tone quality
First Light Pianos’ vertical ‘standing grand’ piano, invented by Sarah Nicolls, winner of the 2024 Women in Innovation award
The CMPSR by Digit Music, which uses video-gaming hardware to make playing an instrument more accessible
Playable Technology Limited’s Beat Blocks that enable you to build music with Lego
SEAboard, a MIDI keyboard that allows musicians to shape notes in real time with simple finger movements through ROLI Ltd’s SEA interface technology
David de la Haye, whose work focusses on freshwater soundscapes and how the listening process can deepen our connection with the natural world
All have received support from UKRI to develop their ideas and technology.
The performers are:
Sean Ivens, Drums – All Ears Avow
Rob Pellow, Guitar – The Real Cheesemakers
DJ Harman, Bass – Wild Isles
Tom Haynes, Keyboards/synths
Jess Fisher, CMPSR
Si Trew, CMPSR (app version)
Sarah Nicolls, standing grand piano, ROLI keyboard
Dr Ben Schogler, Beat Blocks
David de la Haye, freshwater soundscapes
Thanks to Cass Productions Ltd and Bobby Saviour for videography, and Matt Beech and Adam Gasson for photography.
Recorded at Western Audio Studios in Swindon with additional audio recorded at The Old Library Studio, Mansfield.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We are UK Research and Innovation, the UK's largest public funder of research and innovation. If you're a UK tax payer, your contributions help fund the work we showcase on our channel. And if you liked this video, follow us on these channels:
Medium: medium.com/@UKRI
Instagram: instagram.com/weareukri
Facebook: facebook.com/weareUKRI
YouTube: youtube.com/c/UKResearchandInnovation
Or sign up for our weekly newsletter public.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKRI/subscriber/new?topic_id=UKRI_newsletter
We wondered: what if we brought together local musicians with some of the UK’s most innovative music researchers and technology? This song is the result.
Listen out for:
Blackstar Amplifiers’ digital signal processing-based guitar amplifiers. These are indistinguishable from valve-based amps in terms of sound and tone quality
First Light Pianos’ vertical ‘standing grand’ piano, invented by Sarah Nicolls, winner of the 2024 Women in Innovation award
The CMPSR by Digit Music, which uses video-gaming hardware to make playing an instrument more accessible
Playable Technology Limited’s Beat Blocks that enable you to build music with Lego
SEAboard, a MIDI keyboard that allows musicians to shape notes in real time with simple finger movements through ROLI Ltd’s SEA interface technology
David de la Haye, whose work focusses on freshwater soundscapes and how the listening process can deepen our connection with the natural world
All have received support from UKRI to develop their ideas and technology.
The performers are:
Sean Ivens, Drums – All Ears Avow
Rob Pellow, Guitar – The Real Cheesemakers
DJ Harman, Bass – Wild Isles
Tom Haynes, Keyboards/synths
Jess Fisher, CMPSR
Si Trew, CMPSR (app version)
Sarah Nicolls, standing grand piano, ROLI keyboard
Dr Ben Schogler, Beat Blocks
David de la Haye, freshwater soundscapes
Music is all about innovation and experimentation. And for centuries, evolving music technology has helped musicians push the boundaries of their sound.
We brought together musicians from Swindon's music scene with researchers who are transforming music technology. The result was a song called Circles, which premiered at the 2025 Swindon Shuffle.
From making beats with Lego Bricks to reinventing the piano and listening in on pond life, we hope to show that innovation in music is never finished.
Featured technology:
Blackstar Amplifiers’ digital signal processing-based guitar amplifiers. These are indistinguishable from valve-based amps in terms of sound and tone quality
First Light Pianos’ vertical ‘standing grand’ piano, invented by Sarah Nicolls, winner of the 2024 Women in Innovation award
The CMPSR by Digit Music, which uses video-gaming hardware to make playing an instrument more accessible
Playable Technology Limited’s Beat Blocks that enable you to build music with Lego
SEAboard, a MIDI keyboard that allows musicians to shape notes in real time with simple finger movements through ROLI Ltd’s SEA interface technology
David de la Haye, whose work focusses on freshwater soundscapes and how the listening process can deepen our connection with the natural world
All have received support from UKRI to develop their ideas and technology.
The performers are:
Sean Ivens, Drums – All Ears Avow
Rob Pellow, Guitar – The Real Cheesemakers
DJ Harman, Bass – Wild Isles
Tom Haynes, Keyboards/synths
Jess Fisher, CMPSR
Si Trew, CMPSR (app version)
Sarah Nicolls, standing grand piano, ROLI keyboard
Dr Ben Schogler, Beat Blocks
David de la Haye, freshwater soundscapes
Thanks to Cass Productions Ltd and Bobby Saviour for videography, and Matt Beech and Adam Gasson for photography.
Recorded at Western Audio Studios in Swindon with additional audio recorded at The Old Library Studio, Mansfield.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We are UK Research and Innovation, the UK's largest public funder of research and innovation. If you're a UK tax payer, your contributions help fund the work we showcase on our channel. And if you liked this video, follow us on these channels:
Medium: medium.com/@UKRI
Instagram: instagram.com/weareukri
Facebook: facebook.com/weareUKRI
YouTube: youtube.com/c/UKResearchandInnovation
Or sign up for our weekly newsletter public.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKRI/subscriber/new?topic_id=UKRI_newsletter
