Meet the
Team
The project draws on the complementary research expertise of the team: Dr Dr Jan Herbst, a musicologist and accomplished metal music scholar (editor of the Cambridge Companion to Metal Music) and Dr Mark Mynett, metal music producer and author of the first handbook for metal music production (Metal Music Manual).
Principal Investigator Dr Dr Jan Herbst
© Jan Herbst
Jan is a popular music scholar, musicologist, music producer, and guitar player. At the University of Huddersfield, he is Reader (Associate Professor) in Music Production. His background in popular music performance brought about an increased interest in music technology and production. Rock and metal production in professional practice and research are his speciality. He has published more than eighty books, research articles, chapters and reviews in the areas of popular music studies, psychology of music, the art of record production, music technology, and music education. Jan is also a regular reviewer for Routledge’s Perspectives on Music Production book series and the Popular Music Elements series of Cambridge University Press, member of the editorial board of IASPM Journal, member of the advisory board of Metal Music Studies journal and editor of the Cambridge Companion to Metal Music and the Cambridge Companion to the Electric Guitar. Furthermore, Jan is a member of the Peer Review Panel of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). Besides HiMMP, Jan is Principal Investigator of the EU-funded project ‘Extreme Metal Vocals’ (EMV), ‘The Impact of Digitization and Online Spaces on Women's Electric Guitar Practice‘ and the AHRC-funded project ‘Songwriting Camps in the 21st Century’ (SC21).
Co-Investigator Dr Mark Mynett
© Mark Mynett
As well as Senior Lecturer in Music Technology and Production at Huddersfield University, Mark is a live music engineer and record producer, engineer, mix, and mastering engineer with his own studio – Mynetaur Productions. He has had an extensive career as a professional musician with six worldwide commercial album releases with his band Kill II This, along the way working with renowned producers Colin Richardson and Andy Sneap and several years of high-profile touring in Europe. He engineered, produced, and mixed the last two albums of Kill II This. He then began a 10-year career as a self-employed record producer within the indie, rock, and metal genres, initially combining this work with gaining a BSc in Popular Music Production from Manchester University. He has recently collaborated on a number of projects with distinguished Swedish producer Jens Bogren. In recent years, he has increased his live sound engineering, with highlights including front-of-house engagements at Download Festival, Donnington Park, and Bloodstock Festival, Catton Hall.
university profile // personal website // artist credits
Project Partners
The HiMMP International Advisory Board
Our International Advisory Board consists of world-leading experts in music technology, production, and metal music:
Prof Michael Ahlers (Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany): an expert on empirical research methodologies and popular music
Prof Samantha Bennett (Australian National University Canberra, Australia): an expert on music technology and production
Prof Karl Spracklen (Leeds Beckett University, UK): an expert on metal music studies
Dr Niall Thomas (University of Winchester, UK): an expert on metal music production
Prof Rupert Till (University of Huddersfield, UK): an expert on popular music and music production
Prof Simon Zagorski-Thomas (University of West London, UK): an expert on music technology and production
The HiMMP research approach is based around collaboration, a meeting of minds and, above all, a profund love of music in all its forms.
Conducted with the support of the following departments at The University of Huddersfield: