Bio

A composer and theorist with a specialty in computer music, Reginald Bain (b. 1963) holds degrees from Northwestern University (D.M. Composition 1991 & M.M. Composition 1986) and the University of Notre Dame (B.S. Mathematics and Computer Science 1985) where he studied composition and computer music with Gary Greenberg, Paul Johnson, M. William Karlins, Gary Kendall, and Alan Stout. As a Salter Fellow at the University of Southern California, he also studied composition with Robert Linn. He is currently Professor of Composition and Theory at the University of South Carolina (USC) where he serves as the Director of the Experimental Computer Music Studio (xMUSE).

Dr. Bain has composed a wide variety of music that has been performed by leading artists across the U.S. and Europe. He is an accomplished electroacoustic composer whose music employs unique algorithmic approaches, sonification techniques, and tuning systems. His music is available on the Centaur, Equilibrium, Innova, New Focus, and Red Clay labels, and his computer music is featured on the Centaur release Sounding Number.

Dr. Bain’s current research interests include mathematical music theory, sonification, and software development for music theory. He has been a frequent presenter at the Association for Technology in Music Instruction (ATMI) national conference and other academic symposia, and served as Chair of the College Music Society’s Technology Committee from 1998-2004. Since 2016, he has been involved in the Mutational Music Project – an interdisciplinary collaboration with biologist Jeff Dudycha that is the broader impact component of the National Science Foundation (NSF) project Mutational variance of the transcriptome and the origins of phenotypic plasticity. In the field of music theory, Dr. Bain served as editorial consultant for “An Introduction to Twentieth-Century Music,” the final unit of McGraw-Hill’s widely acclaimed undergraduate theory textbook Tonal Harmony by Stefan Kostka and Dorothy Payne. His computer music research has been published in the Csound Journal, Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference, Proceedings of the Bridges: Mathematics, Music, Art, Architecture, Culture International Conference, and Proceedings of the International Conference on Auditory Display.

At the USC School of Music, Dr. Bain has directed graduate and undergraduate studies in computer music since his appointment in 1991. He has also served as Composition Area Coordinator (1999-2013), Theory Area Coordinator (2007-2022), and Director of xMUSE (2004-present). A dedicated teacher who is always striving to find innovative ways to utilize technology in the music classroom, Dr. Bain has received four awards for his teaching: The Garnet Apple Award for Teaching Innovation, the Michael J. Mungo Undergraduate Teaching Award, the School of Music’s Cantey Outstanding Faculty Award, and the MENC Chapter’s Outstanding Music Educator of the Year Award.