Rate My Professor Andrew Milne

Associate Professor Andrew Milne specializes in music cognition and computation within Western Sydney University's School of Humanities and Communication Arts. He earned his PhD in Music Computing from The Open University, UK (2009–2013), MA in Musicology from the University of Jyväskylä, Finland (2007–2009), and BA in Fine Art from Sheffield Hallam University, UK (1985–1988). His career at Western Sydney University began in 2013 as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, progressing to Senior Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2018–2020), Senior Research Fellow (2020–2024), and Associate Professor (2025–). From 2024–2025, he served as Associate Professor and Director of Academic Programs for Music and Music Therapy. As leader of the Music Science Lab, Milne investigates the cognitive and mathematical foundations of music and their effects on creativity, learning, and wellbeing. His research encompasses cross-cultural music cognition informed by field experiments, cognition and creativity in musical rhythms and harmony including microtonal systems, and cognitively informed interfaces and algorithms for music composition, performance, and generation.

Milne has obtained substantial funding, including leading a $914,548 ARC Discovery Project (2025–2028) on revealing universal and cultural origins of musical affect, an ARC DECRA Fellowship ($369,000; 2017–2020) on uncovering universal mechanisms for musical emotion communication, a €12,940 USIAS research visit to Strasbourg University (2022–2023), and grants for projects on interactive music-making for older adults and music's impact on word learning. Key publications include 'Acoustical and cultural explanations for contextual tonal stability' (Music Perception, 2025; with Hearne and Dean), 'Micro-variations in timing and loudness affect music-evoked mental imagery' (Scientific Reports, 2025; with Ayyildiz et al.), and the Music Perception Toolbox v2.0.0 (2026). He is Editor of the Journal of Mathematics and Music (2025–2027), supervises PhD students, and has delivered invited talks such as on the voice-leading Tonnetz digital instrument. His software, including XronoMorph for rhythmic loops, supports applications in education, aged care, and creativity for people with disabilities, with XronoMorph featured in commercial recordings.