Dr Rowan Oliver

Dr Rowan Oliver

Senior Lecturer in Music & Director of Music

Faculty and Department

  • Faculty of Arts Cultures and Education
  • School of The Arts

Qualifications

  • PhD / DPhil (University of Hull)

Summary

Alongside his academic career, Rowan continues to record and perform internationally as a multi-instrumentalist session musician. He also produces original music and remixes, as well as composing for film.

Before joining the University's staff, he spent several years touring the world as the drummer in Goldfrapp (among various musical exploits).

Recent outputs

View more outputs

Book Chapter

In dub conference : empathy, groove and technology in Jamaican popular music

Oliver, R. (2017). In dub conference : empathy, groove and technology in Jamaican popular music. In Music and empathy. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge

Bring that Beat Back: Sampling as Virtual Collaboration

Oliver, R. (2016). Bring that Beat Back: Sampling as Virtual Collaboration. In S. Whiteley, & S. Rambarran (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Music and Virtuality (65-80). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199321285.013.11

Breakbeat syncretism: The drum sample in African American popular music

Oliver, R. (2015). Breakbeat syncretism: The drum sample in African American popular music. In J. Metcalf, & C. Spaulding (Eds.), African American Culture and Society After Rodney King: Provocations and Protests, Progression and 'Post-Racialism' (177-192). Abingdon, Oxon: Ashgate

Groove as Familiarity with Time

Oliver, R. (2013). Groove as Familiarity with Time. In E. King, & H. M. Prior (Eds.), Music and Familiarity : Listening, Musicology and Performance (239 - 252). Ashgate. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315596600

Research interests

Rowan's musicological research deals with groove, sampling and the musician’s relationship with time and sound, focusing particularly on Black Atlantic popular music and breakbeats. He is an associate member of the Centre for Black Music Research (Columbia College, Chicago), and was recently awarded a CBMR ‘Travel to the Collections’ grant to support a research visit to their archives. Other interests include composing for film and the use of technology in performance.

Postgraduate supervision

Dr Oliver welcomes applications in the areas of groove, rhythm, sampling, and Black Atlantic popular music.

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