chris relyea
music technology @ stanford ccrma

Welcome! I'm Chris, a music technologist, computer scientist, synth nerd, and freelance french horn player. I'm from Rhode Island, and recently finished two bachelor's degrees in computer science and french horn performance at Boston University. I'm currently a MA student in Music, Science, and Technology at Stanford University's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA).

Current work: R&D Engineer Intern at Bose - Framingham, MA

Feel free to look around the site and learn about my experiences, projects, and music, or get in contact with me through the links on the left.

Education

Stanford University
MA Music, Science & Technology
2025 – 2027

Boston University
BA Computer Science
BM French Horn Performance
2021 – 2025

Work Experience

Research and Development Engineer Intern @ Bose
Summer 2025
• Supporting Rapid Design Engineering team in prototyping future products
Swift, Raspberry Pi, OpenAI API, Godot

Data Pipeline Engineer @ CommonTime Pathways
2024 – Present
• Developed scalable web-scraping pipeline for higher education music program data collection
• Implemented admin tools for data management
Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, HTML, Firebase

Software Engineer Intern @ Amica Mutual Insurance
Summer 2023
• Debugged and optimized company software used by employees and policyholders
• Led initiative to clean up script parameters and other backend developer tools, reducing overall technical debt
Java, Gosu, XML, Jira

FXNet: CNN for Audio Effects
Final project for DS 340: Intro to Machine Learning and AI at Boston University, Spring 2025. An audio ML experiment which can label clips of various musical instruments based on which audio effects (Distortion, Chorus, Delay, Reverb). Check out the paper and slide deck.

FXNet project image
FXNet project image

MidiHero
In-development JUCE plugin that allows a Guitar Hero controller to be used as a MIDI input device. In its current form, uses HIDAPI to detect Xbox 360 GH controller. Allows the user control over which MIDI event is triggered by each fret button. Planned work includes revamped UI and support for more controllers.

All-Purpose Lofi Facilitator (ALF)
JUCE VST/AU plugin for "lofi" effects, simulating physical audio formats. This was undertaken as a personal research project and presented for admission into music technology graduate programs. ALF allows the user to downsample/bitcrush an audio stream to create distorted, lofi signals. The design, process, and some discussion of the lofi movement as an aesthetic trend are presented in the companion paper.

FXNet project image
FXNet project image

Spin
Album cover image recognition Android app with Spotify API integration. Intended as a mobile music shopping assistant. The user can take a picture of a physical album and will be provided with the Spotify listing, accompished via an API chain which includes Google Cloud Vision. The Kotlin-based app also includes a store locator map and "my list" tool for the user's personal collection of records.
(with: Jonah Musher-Eizenman, Wai Lun Mak)

PyDrummer
Simple drum machine made with Python and the Pygame library. 16 beats, three sounds, adjustable BPM.

FXNet project image

Coursework

interruption

Christopher Relyea · interruption

A work in 5.1 created and mixed with Pro Tools completed as a final project for MT435: Composing with Electronic Sounds and Computers at Boston University, Spring 2025.

CER

I make electronic/synthwave music online and post it under the name CER. Right now, most of it is kept on SoundCloud:

C E R · 0906 sketch

I also post some music-related things on my Instagram page


A more organized release on other streaming services is coming soon.