About

Calvin McCormack is a designer, multi-instrumentalist, programmer, and educator from the United States. He completed his undergraduate degree in Jazz Studies from the University of Michigan, where he focused on the intersection of jazz improvisation and non-western musical idioms. Since 2018, Calvin has been working with CED Society, a Dehradun-based non-profit dedicated to supporting women and people with disabilities in the Himalayan border region. Together with CED Society, Calvin has helped launch the Sound of Soul Recording Studio and Multimedia Institute, a nonprofit music education center and recording studio designed to empower disadvantaged women through music education, production skills, and creative expression. Calvin was awarded a Fulbright-Nehru research grant in 2022 and has spent twelve months in northern India designing and testing accessible musical instruments for people with disabilities in affiliation with Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.

Download my Curriculum Vitae

Research Interests

Calvin’s research focuses on creating new musical and artistic opportunities for marginalized communities and people with disabilities by creating adaptable music synthesis programs and accessible artistic interfaces. His research into hardware interface design has investigated the hybrid approach of combining movement, touch, and biosensors integrated into e-textiles, wearable devices, and repurposed electronics, with an emphasis on practicality and affordability. On the software side, Calvin has focused on designing integrated systems which meaningfully translate user interactions into digital music and art through algorithmic and AI assisted composition. Calvin is interested in researching techniques for real time music generation in which AI acts as a dynamic digital collaborator. Vital to this work also has been the need to design generative AI models around non-western musical idioms.  His digital music and multimedia work reflect this intersection of movement, touch, and biosensors in creative practice, and the exploration of audiovisual creation through sensor and AI driven digital interface systems.