School of Arts
& Department of Music
April Wei-West
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Key information
Key information
- Department
- School of Arts & Department of Music
- Qualifications
- MA Music (London), BMus Music (London)
- Subject
- Arts & Music
- Email address
- 668211@soas.ac.uk
- Thesis title
- Material voices in a digital world: creativity, embodiment, and identity in vocal synthesis
- Internal Supervisors
- Professor Rachel Harris & Dr Fabio Gygi
Biography
April Wei-West is a CHASE-funded doctoral researcher in the Music Department at SOAS. With research interests in digital cultures and Japanese popular music, her PhD is an ethnographic study of singing-voice synthesis creative practices, namely in Vocaloid, Utau, and Synthesizer V software.
Drawing upon previous digital ethnography on "vocal synth" software use, April's research examines creative practices from the manipulation of the synthesised singing voice. It focuses on how users express different kinds of subjectivity through creative practice, including non-conforming gender and ethnic identities. With a focus on Japan, from which the software originates, her research also puts vocal synth into transnational perspective, looking towards digital circulation and power in a globalised world.
As a researcher, April has presented her work at the British Forum for Ethnomusicology Annual Conference (2023 & 2025) and Student Conference (2024), and currently serves on the organisation's committee as BFE Student Liaison. In addition, April has been the network lead of the CHASE DiSCo (Digital Studies Collective) Network since February 2025. In this capacity, she has thus far successfully delivered the online publication of DiSCo Journal Issue 3, two in-person research workshop events, and the Network's inaugural 3-day student research conference. April has had her research published in Rising Voices, a student journal run by Society for Ethnomusicology, and Celebrity Studies Journal (forthcoming).
April holds a BMus in Music from King's College London where she developed her musicianship as a singer whilst getting a taste for ethnomusicology. She continued her studies as SOAS with the MA programme in Music, specialising in ethnomusicology. Here, she deepened her knowledge on ethnographic methods and Japanese studies, as well as learning to play the Japanese koto (13-string zither). As a freelance musician, April is an active singer, conductor, and teacher in and around London.
Research interests
- Creativity
- Voice studies
- Digital ethnography
- Online communities
- Japan
- Gender
Personal links
Contact April
- Social media
