Gradient-based optimisation of modulation effects
A. Carson, A. Wright, S. Bilbao, “Gradient-based optimisation of modulation effects”, Journal of the Audio Engineering Society (JAES), vol. 74, pp. 533–543, 2026.
CV
Education
- PhD Music and Informatics, University of Edinburgh, 2022-present (expected graduation 2026)
- MSc Acoustics and Music Technology, University of Edinburgh 2019-2020 (Distinction)
- BEng (Hons) Mechanical Engineering with International Study, University of Strathclyde, 2014-2018 (First Class)
Experience
DSP/ML Research Intern, Arturia, Montbonnot-Saint-Martin, France
Jan. 2026 – Apr. 2026
Developed a machine learning-based guitar amplifier modelling framework in Python and delivered a real-time VST plugin prototype using C++.Teaching Assistant, University of Edinburgh, UK
Sept. 2020 – Dec 2025 (part-time)
Delivered MATLAB tutorials, marking, and lectures for honours and postgraduate courses on digital signal processing and physics-based audio.Visiting Doctoral Researcher,Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
May 2023 – Jul. 2023
Led to the publication of paper “Sample Rate Independent RNNs for Audio Effects Processing”) and subsequent collaboration with the Aalto Acoustics Lab (“Resampling filter design for multirate neural audio effects processing”). Funded by SGSAH.Teaching Fellow in Acoustics University of Edinburgh, UK
Aug. 2021 – Aug. 2022 (full-time, fixed-term)
Lecturer and organiser for three courses on acoustics (honours/postgraduate), physics-based audio (honours/postgraduate), and spatial audio (undergraduate). Supervised three MSc theses.Graduate Software Engineer, IOTech Systems, Edinburgh, UK
Jan. 2021 – Aug. 2021
Developed Go-based software for an IoT deployment system, with experience in Linux, Docker, and Git.
Publications
Anti-aliasing of neural distortion effects via model fine-tuning
A. Carson, A. Wright, and S. Bilbao, “Anti-aliasing of neural distortion effects via model fine-tuning,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Digital Audio Effects (DAFx25), Ancona, Italy, Sep. 2025.
Resampling filter design for multirate neural audio effect processing
A. Carson, V. Välimäki, A. Wright, S. Bilbao, “Resampling filter design for multirate neural audio effect processing,” IEEE Trans. Audio Speech and Language Processing, vol. 33, pp.2163–2174, 2025.
Open-amp: Synthetic data framework for audio effect foundation models
A. Wright, A. Carson, and L. Juvela, “Open-amp: Synthetic data framework for audio effect foundation models,” in Proc. IEEE ICASSP, Hyderabad, India, Apr. 2025.
Interpolation filter design for sample rate independent audio effect RNNs
A. Carson, A. Wright, and S. Bilbao, “Interpolation filter design for sample rate independent audio effect RNNs,” in Proc. IEEE ICASSP, Hyderabad, India, Apr. 2025.
Sample rate independent recurrent neural networks for audio effects processing
A. Carson, A. Wright, J. Chowdhury, V. Välimäki, S. Bilbao “Sample rate independent recurrent neural networks for audio effects processing” Proceedings of the 27th International Conference on Digital Audio Effects (DAFx24), Guildford, UK, Sept 2024.
Differentiable all-pole filters for time-varying audio systems
C.-Y. Yu, C. Mitcheltree, A. Carson, S. Bilbao, J. D. Reiss, G. Fazekas, "Differentiable all-pole filters for time-varying audio systems", Proceedings of the 27th International Conference on Digital Audio Effects (DAFx24), Guildford, UK, Sept 2024.
Differentiable grey-box modelling of phaser effects using frame-based spectral processing
A. Carson, C. Valentini-Botinhao, S. King and S. Bilbao “Differentiable grey-box modelling of phaser effects using frame-based spectral processing”; Proceedings of the 26th International Conference on Digital Audio Effects (DAFx23), Copenhagen, Denmark, Sept 2023.
Aliasing Reduction in Virtual Analogue Modelling
A. Carson, “Aliasing Reduction in Virtual Analogue Modelling”, MSc Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2020