Yudan Zou 邹愈丹 is a computer music composer-performer, producer, pianist, and a creative technologist interested in MIR.
Who I am
As a composer and experimental electronic producer, I explore and create from the intersectionality of atonality, computer-based improvisation, electroacoustic sound arts, and ethnomusicological music heritages.
Starting my first piano lesson at age 4, I fell in love with songwriting after listening to independent rock bands The Velvet Underground, PJ Harvey and Television. Constantly taking music theory lessons, the works of Arnold Schoenberg, Karlheiz Stockhausen, Vladimir Ussachevsky, and Gottfried Michael Koenig inspired me to dive deep into the 20th century composition techniques and the arts of electronic music.
As a creative technologist, I am interested in applying machine learning/deep learning engines in MIR (music-information-retrieval) fueling the understanding of ethnomusicology, promoting equal rights of expression of indie genres and global musicians.
I obtained my undergraduate’s degree in business management and a minor in finance from Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and a master’s degree in Music Industry from University of Southern California, during which I founded and managed the university chorus, worked as a music journalist, musical product marketer and music data analytics – being able to understand the field where musicians participate – the music industry itself as a challenging substance shaping culture deepens my passion as a composer-performer.
I enjoy writing for music journalism. From my visiting studentship from UCLA (phenomenology, Ancient Greek Democracy), HSE Moscow (Russia-US relation, Russian Politics), I was willing to adopt a global perspective, aiming to understand the ongoing change of political and cultural sphere since 2016. I conducted independent research in music royalty as a form of alternative finance, held research assistantship in social media text-mining and semantic analysis at US-China Trade dispute from USC Annenberg School of Communication, and had engaged in multiple social science projects.
My Research Interest
- Digital Composition
- Piano Improvisation + Live Electronics
- MIR
Yudan Zou 