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Dr Toby Huelin

Dr Toby Huelin

Profile

I am a musicologist and media composer based at the University of Leeds, where I hold the positions of Teaching Fellow in Film Music in the School of Music and Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Arts and Humanities Research Institute. 

My research and teaching explores music in the media industries, using interdisciplinary methods to analyse the practices of production and synchronisation that shape audiovisual cultures. My PhD thesis (awarded December 2022 with Recommendation of Research Excellence) examined the use of library music (also known as ‘stock’ or ‘production’ music) in the contemporary British TV industry. My research publications include peer-reviewed journal articles in Music and the Moving Image, Critical Studies in Television, and the European Journal of American Culture, and book chapters for several edited volumes (Palgrave Macmillan, Bloomsbury, Routledge). I am currently working on invited chapters for the Oxford Handbook of Music and Television and the Palgrave Handbook of Music and Sound in Peak TV. I am also co-editing two projects: a volume on contemporary screen-music and -sound production (under contract for the Ashgate Screen Music series), and a special issue of the journal Music, Sound, and the Moving Image on library music in digital media.

I am active within the TV industry as a media composer: my music has recently featured in the Emmy Award-winning series United Shades of America (CNN), the Grierson Award-nominated documentary Subnormal: A British Scandal (BBC One) and an international advertising campaign for internet brand Honey. My work is regularly heard on national primetime TV and recent series include Panorama (BBC One), Strictly Come Dancing (BBC One), Masterchef (BBC One), and Dispatches (Channel 4). I am a composer-member of BAFTA as part of their Connect scheme.

I hold a First Class degree in Music from the University of Oxford, a Masters in Composition with Distinction from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and a PhD in Music from the University of Leeds (fully funded by the AHRC via the White Rose College of the Arts and Humanities). I have also studied TV Scoring through New York University with composers including Sean Callery (24, Homeland) and Nathan Barr (True Blood, The Americans). I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and hold a PGCE in Music Education from the University of Buckingham.

Responsibilities

  • Pedagogic Research in Music - research cluster lead

Research interests

  • Film and television music
  • Library (or ‘stock’) music
  • Screen-music production processes
  • Media composition
<h4>Research projects</h4> <p>Any research projects I'm currently working on will be listed below. Our list of all <a href="https://ahc.leeds.ac.uk/dir/research-projects">research projects</a> allows you to view and search the full list of projects in the faculty.</p>

Qualifications

  • BA Hons Music, First Class (University of Oxford)
  • MMus Composition, Distinction (Guildhall School of Music and Drama)
  • PGCE (University of Buckingham)
  • PhD Music (University of Leeds)

Professional memberships

  • BAFTA (Connect)
  • BAFTSS
  • FHEA

Student education

I provide high-quality teaching in the areas of film-music theory and analysis, screen-music production, music industries, and music history, at undergraduate and taught postgraduate levels. I also supervise UG and PG dissertations and applied projects.