Alex McLean is a musician, software artist and researcher based in Sheffield UK, working as research fellow as part of the independent, open access studio Then Try This, while building up Sheffield Pattern Club in collaboration with Ray Morrison and Lucy Cheesman. Alex’s research explores ‘algorithmic patterns’, investigating heritage algorithms across culture, and how they can inform the new technologies he makes as part of his creative practice.
Alex has been live coding music since the year 2000, both solo and in a range of collaborations, including at No Bounds, Glastonbury, Sonar, Club Transmediale, Ars Electronica, Sonic Acts and Lovebytes festivals.
He is an active organiser across the digital arts, including co-founding and curating the Alpaca and AlgoMech festivals in Sheffield, co-founding the TOPLAP live coding and Algorave algorithmic dance movements, and instigating the free/open source TidalCycles and Strudel live coding environments. He co-edited the Oxford Handbook of Algorithmic Music in 2018, and co-authored “Live Coding: A User’s Manual” published open access in 2022 by MIT Press.
🔗 https://slab.org/
🔗 https://algorithmicpattern.org
🔗 https://patternclub.org/sheffield/
Credit
Photo : Frankie Casillo