"The idea of thinking music into existence has to be the ultimate goal of every composer. This could be the threshold of a whole new era and approach to the very idea of music." (Matthew Herbert, 2010)

Like nothing you've ever heard out loud before, Music Of The Mind opens doors to a whole new world of compositional possibility. But as BBC jazz award-winning saxophonist, flautist and composer Finn Peters proves, the tunes are probably already in your head...

Like something from a Kubrick film, Music Of The Mind (MOTM), is a truly unique project: one that combines scientific experiment, modern music, performance theatre and education, to make music that is both revolutionary and hugely enjoyable.

Inspired by the pioneering experiments of Dr Mick Grierson at Goldsmith’s University (an experimental artist specialising in real-time interactive audiovisual research with focus on cognition and perception), alongside Peters’ own research, MOTM utilises pioneering Brain Computer Interface (BCI) technology and specially commissioned software to allow musicians to literally think music into being. This is the first time ever that such technology has been used outside high-grade scientific institutions.

Dressed in white lab coats the musicians in Peters’ band will control a series of electronic instruments with their minds. They will also utilise their more traditional instruments to perform Peter’s inspired compositions based on the often surprising melodies produced and recorded by him using the BCI technology in various situations – agitation, meditation, sleep and synaesthesia.

The result is music that falls somewhere between Kraftwerk and Sun Ra and draws on influences from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, ‘60s sci-fi funk, and the avant garde disco of Arthur Russell.

In order to bring this project to life outside the research laboratory, Peters has recruited some of the UK’s finest and most innovative musicians. MOTM features Peters on flute and saxophones, Tom Skinner on drums and electronics, Dave Price on percussion, Oren Marshall on tuba, and Matthew Yee King, computer scientist and electronic musician utilising the groundbreaking Neurosky BCI headset and Supercollider sound creation software. Concert performances will also feature visuals by Yeast.

Peters and Yee-King explain their concept in the Music of the Mind documentary: