My work in the field of sound heritage started with my PhD, Hearing the York Mystery Plays: acoustics, staging and performance. My work explored the role of virtual acoustics in studying the medieval drama cycle of the York Mystery Plays, by using a combination of acoustic measurements and acoustic computer models to explore different possible performance settings and explore the impact different staging choices and listener positions would have had on the auditory experiences of audiences. This work was followed by a grant from the British Academy for the project ‘The Soundscapes of the York Mystery Plays’ in which I explored how interactive media could be used to allow people to ‘play’ with the sounds of the past, while exploring the importance of acoustical heritage and the multiple possibilities the sonic past presents.  A demo is available below, with a further video available on my Vimeo page.

In December 2024 my book ‘Sonic Pasts: acoustical heritage and historical soundscapes’ was published by Routledge. The book explores the different ways in which sound heritage has been explored, by looking into both ‘humanities and social sciences’ and ‘engineering’ approaches, and exploring the need for greater interdisciplinarity. The book also explores the presence…and absence…of sound considerations in UNESCO listings, in relation to both the Intangible Cultural Heritage Convention and the World Heritage Convention. As part of the publication I have also expanded on a framework I created for the theoretical and practical consideration of sound heritage in museums, which I hope is insightful for researchers as well as heritage professionals and designers. ‘Sonic Pasts’ includes a reflection of my own practice as a sound designer of installations and online experiences, as well as that of others.

I have also had the pleasure of supervising two MSC Fellowships (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions) on the topic, working with Dr Cobi van Tonder on the project ‘Acoustic Atlas: Cultivating the Capacity to Listen,‘  with  Dr Lidia Álvarez Morales on ‘Cathedral Acoustics’. 

I also led The Sound of Cambridge, a partnership between CoDE (Anglia Ruskin University) and Parkside Federation funded by a Partnership Grant from The Royal Society.

The project had the aim of introducing younger generations to the importance of sound by studying the acoustics of the built environment. The project was divided into several parts, the first one included sessions on soundwalking, room acoustics and impulse response capture delivered by myself, whereas the second required the students to visit sites of their choice to study their acoustic characteristics. Students were encouraged to present their results to their peers as well as a team of STEM experts. Initial findings were presented at the Cambridge Science Festival 2016, where over 300 participants experienced the acoustics of different heritage sites. Here’s a short video that was created about the experience.