Dean has played and toured extensively in a number of musical genres and recorded several albums. Dean’s compositional process is based on the principles of counterpoint where each instrumental line works as a stand-alone melody, yet are ultimately designed to function in concert. The philosophical tensions between the individual and the group are always at play in counterpoint – point/counterpoint, individual/group, rights/responsibilities.

Dean took a break from music from 2013–2016, but has recently returned to composition in his collaborations with Emma Febvre-Richards. Based on the theories of archaeoacoustics, Dean’s attention has turned more towards the effects of sound and vibration upon the human mind and body, and the consequent use of sound as the basis for research methods. Dean is currently completing his PhD, titled: …And the Trumpet Shall Sound: The Cosmological Effects of Sound and Music. He has published extensively and presented at conferences on sound and music, as well as community practice.