Suren Pahlevan

I am a PhD student in Music (Ethnomusicology of AI), and a student member of Emmanuel College Cambridge. My doctoral research is (currently) titled “AI-Enhanced Digital Audio Workstation Musicianship” and is focussed on ethnographically examining how music producers are using AI tools within their DAW production workflows, and their optimism and pessimism towards the increased development of AI music tools and music generative AI. I question how industry-experienced producers are adapting their signature sounds and their conceptions of musicking as music AI products and features increasingly gain popularity and mainstream usage. Within the project I incorporate literature from AI Ethics, human-computer interaction, music law, and sociology alongside works in ethnomusicology and Music AI studies surrounding the DAW.

I graduated with an MPhil in Music from Selwyn College Cambridge in 2023. Before my time at Cambridge, I graduated with a 1st class LLB in Law at the University of Leeds in 2022, and was awarded the Head of School Module Prize for receiving the highest grade in my cohort in Cyber Law. 

My research interests beyond the topic of my PhD include: AI and politics, binaural beats and related music psychology, and cultural theory. My PhD is supervised by Dr Alisha Lola Jones and advised by Dr Peter Harrison. My studentship is co-funded by the AHRC OOC DTP and the Isaac Newton Trust.