About

Aaron Demby Jones

I’m Aaron Demby Jones. My work comes from a long obsession with systems. I especially enjoy structures that misbehave: patterns with a mind of their own, tools that talk back, feedback loops that blow up.

I work in many disciplines, but there is often an underlying thread to my methods. Whenever possible, I crawl inside a system, tweak a few rules, and see what emerges. Sometimes it’s musical, sometimes visual, sometimes mathematical or satirical. Really, it is all a form of improvisation. The method is usually the same: hold most things steady, change one, and pay attention to what happens.

I build generative instruments, strange little apps, audiovisual experiments, frog-flavored math, and teaching frameworks for improvisation. My practice mixes logic and mischief: algorithms, randomness, glitches, and playful constraint.

A lot of my work comes from giving up the goal of control or perfection. I like when the system surprises me or when it gives me something ‘wrong.’ A lot of rigid structures can come to life if you actually let them.

Interested in collaborations, commissions, or odd problems that need an odd solution?

Get in touch →

Want to learn how to do this?

I offer lessons →
CV / Credentials

Performance

  • 30+ years of piano study; trained in classical, jazz, and free improvisation.
  • Selected repertoire: Bach (French Suite No. 1), Beethoven (Waldstein Sonata), Chopin (Scherzo No. 3, Ballade No. 4), Ravel (Le Tombeau de Couperin), Shostakovich (Prelude & Fugue No. 24)
  • Classical percussion training at Brown University; concerto soloist.
  • Experience with prepared piano and live electronics.

Selected Recordings

  • 2025 “Ghostly Double” — piano and live electronics improvisation
  • 2021 “Flow” — four-movement improvisational album on texture and timbre

Teaching

Workshop Leader & Music Educator — San Diego (2025–present)

  • Group workshops in piano improvisation, musical storytelling, and ear-based learning (Villa Musica, AmateurPianists).
  • 1:1 coaching in improvisation, listening skills, and creative approaches to the keyboard.

Interdisciplinary Teaching — Math, Music, Creativity (2009–present)

  • Over a decade across math, music, and creative technology, including Johns Hopkins CTY summer programs.
  • Worked with children, teens, and adults in both structured coursework and exploratory creative settings.

Selected Visual & Generative Work

  • 2025 “Shatter” — interactive system exploring visual instability and emergent fracture patterns (p5.js)
  • 2024 “Feathers” — generative abstract plumage examining organic growth through procedural randomness (p5.js)
  • 2024 “Encased Melting” — generative planetary forms exploring liquidity and structure (p5.js)
  • 2017 “Fluid Subspaces” — audiovisual system mapping fluid eigenmodes to sound (C++)

Publications

  • 2017 Bridges Conference — Paper + demo on mathematical visualization of fluid eigenvectors
  • 2016 SIGGRAPH/Eurographics SCA (Best Paper) — Compressing dynamic fluid subspaces

Education

  • PhD Media Arts and Technology, UC Santa Barbara (2017)
  • BA Music and Mathematics, Brown University (2009)