GenComp Collective Berlin: Chaotic, cybernetic, and hybrid systems — Neurological and cybernetic research techniques have been adopted by many experimental music protagonists, such as Louis and Bebe Barron, Alvin Lucier, David Tudor and others. The GenComp Collective Berlin (Alberto de Campo, Hannes Hoelzl, and students, alumni and associates of the class Generative Art / Computational Art at UdK Berlin) explores the use of such systems for experimental performance. They use current developments like Rob Hordijk’s chaotic synthesizers (the Benjolin and the Blippoo box), Peter Blasser’s hybrid designs Fourses and the Rollz family of modules; they design, build and program their own performance systems based on a variety of sensors, analog electronics, and software synthesis.

The book to-be-launched: Critical Neuroscience. A Handbook of the Social and Cultural Contexts of Neuroscience, Choudhury, Suparna / Slaby, Jan (eds.): Critical Neuroscience brings together leading scholars in a collective effort to understand the impact of the intellectual, economic and political conditions on current views of the brain and how these models may in turn impact society. With illuminating insights and deep scholarly rigour, Critical Neuroscience offers a comprehensive interdisciplinary perspective that aims to enrich our understanding of the brain as situated in the body and world, and neuroscience as embedded in a complex cultural context.

Several authors have contacted Evomusart to get an extension of the submission deadline. It was therefore agreed, to extend the deadline for all events. Authors who have already submitted their work may update their submission until the deadline. The new submission deadline is December 7.

Evomusart 2012 :: 1st International Conference and 10th European Event on Evolutionary and Biologically Inspired Music, Sound, Art and Design :: 11-13 April 2012, Malaga, Spain :: Part of evo* 2012; evomusart: http://www.evostar.org/2012/call-for-contributions/evomusart/

evomusart 2012 is the tenth European event on Evolutionary Music and Art. Following the success of previous events and the importance of the field of evolutionary and biologically inspired music, sound, art and design, evomusart has became a evo* conference with independent proceedings. Thus, evomusart 2012 is the tenth European Event on Evolutionary and Biologically Inspired Music, Sound, Art and Design and the first conference on the field.

The use of biologically inspired techniques for the development of artistic systems is a recent, exciting and significant area of research. There is a growing interest in the application of these techniques in fields such as: visual art and music generation, analysis, and interpretation; sound synthesis; architecture; video; poetry; design; and other creative tasks.

The main goal of evomusart 2012 is to bring together researchers who are using biologically inspired computer techniques for artistic tasks, providing the opportunity to promote, present and discuss ongoing work in the area.

The event will be held from 11-13 April, 2012 in Malaga, Spain as part of the evostar event.

Publication Details : Accepted papers will be presented orally at the event and included in the evomusart proceedings, published by Springer Verlag in a dedicated volume of the Lecture Notes in Computer Science series.

Post-Conference Journal Publication : Authors of selected papers will be invited to submit expanded versions of their work for a planned special issue on Evolutionary Art and Music of the Springer journal Genetic Programming and Evolvable Machines.

Topics of interest : The papers should concern the use of biologically inspired computer techniques - e.g. Evolutionary Computation, Artificial Life, Artificial Neural Networks, Swarm Intelligence, other artificial intelligence techniques. - in the scope of the generation, analysis and interpretation of art, music, design, architecture and other artistic fields. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

– Generation
- Biologically Inspired Design and Art - Systems that create drawings, images, animations, sculptures, poetry, text, designs, webpages, buildings, etc.;
- Biologically Inspired Sound and Music - Systems that create musical pieces, sounds, instruments, voices, sound effects, sound analysis, etc.;
- Robotic Based Evolutionary Art and Music;
- Other related artificial intelligence or generative techniques - in the fields of Computer Music, Computer Art;

– Theory
- Computational Aesthetics, Experimental Aesthetics; o Emotional Response, Surprise, Novelty;
- Representation techniques;
- Surveys of the current state-of-the-art in the area; identification of weaknesses and strengths; comparative analysis and classification;
- Validation methodologies;
- Studies on the applicability of these techniques to related areas;
- New models designed to promote the creative potential of biologically inspired computation;

– Computer Aided Creativity and computational creativity
- Systems in which biologically inspired computation is used to promote the creativity of a human user;
- New ways of integrating the user in the evolutionary cycle;
- Analysis and evaluation of: the artistic potential of biologically inspired art and music; the artistic processes inherent to these approaches; the resulting artifacts;
- Collaborative distributed artificial art environments;

– Automation
- Techniques for automatic fitness assignment;
- Systems in which an analysis or interpretation of the artworks is used in conjunction with biologically inspired techniques to produce novel objects;
- Systems that resort to biologically inspired computation to perform the analysis of image, music, sound, sculpture, or some other types of artistic object;

Important Dates:

Submission: 7 December 2011
Conference: 11-13 April 2012

Submit your manuscript, at most 12 A4 pages long, in Springer LNCS format (instructions downloadable from http://www.springeronline.com/sgw/cda/frontpage/0,11855,5-164-2-72376-0,00.html) no later than December 7, 2011 to sitehttp://myreview.csregistry.org/evomusart12

The reviewing process will be double-blind, please omit information about the authors in the submitted paper.

Link: http://evostar.dei.uc.pt/2012/call-for-contributions/evomusart/

The *Network Music Festival* will take place in January 2012 in Birmingham (UK) in the heart of Birmingham’s creative community. Presenting a diverse programme of laptop performances, live coding, communicating home-made musical gadgets, sound installations, workshops and everything else in between, the Network Musical Festival boasts an international line-up including some of Birmingham’s best home-grown hi-tech musical performers. We are looking for proposals for performances, talks, installations, demos and workshops.

Network Music Festival aims to showcase a broad spectrum of musical and sound related works, research and participatory activities which use networking as part of their aesthetic, creation or performance practice. Network Music Festival would like to invite submissions in the categories of Performance (Concert or Club), Installation, Talks, Demos and Workshops. We are also open to other suggestions, where you are free to submit proposals that fall outside of the above categories but that you feel would be an appropriate addition to the festival programme.

PERFORMANCES : Performances where networking in an integral part of the aesthetics or performance practice. This could include: Laptop Ensembles/Orchestras/Bands, Instrumental and Electronic groups; Performances which use the internet as part of the performance; any performance that uses networking in some form.

Proposed performances should be 10-30 minutes in length.

INSTALLATIONS : Sound installations which use networking as central to the aesthetic and/or creation of the work. Could include static installations or installations which explore the surrounding area.

TALKS : We will be accepting submissions for informal talks, accompanied by slideshow presentations. Talk topics should be suitable for the general public.

DEMOS : The Network Music Festival will include an interactive hands-on session where festival attendees can try-out or see your hardware or software network music device/installation/toys/etc in action.

The session will be in the form of a market-place. You will be provided with a small space with a table where you can set up your tech for attendees to look at and have a go.

WORKSHOPS : Participatory workshops which cover topics related to sound and networking. May focus on technological and/or artistic aspects. Please note this is a submission to LEAD a workshop.

Please state the experience level required in order to take part in the workshop and the length of time and resources required in workshop description.

OTHER : If there’s anything that you would like to submit that you don’t feel is covered by the above categories but would be an appropriate addition to the festival programme, please submit a proposal with as much information as possible.

DEADLINE FOR ALL SUBMISSIONS: 30th NOVEMBER 2011

http://networkmusicfestival.org/open-call/

Preliminary Announcement and Call for Participation - ICAD 2012 :: The 18th International Conference on Auditory Display (ICAD2012) will be held June 18-22, 2012, at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the heart of midtown Atlanta, Georgia. The event will mark the 20th anniversary of the 1st International Conference on Auditory Display. Since 1992, ICAD has been the premier international venue for the dissemination and discussion of work related to the science, art, and practice of sound as a communicative display.

Through its active Sonification Lab and Center for Music Technology, Georgia Tech is pleased to host ICAD’s vibrant community of researchers and practitioners on its campus.

The primary conference venue will be the historic Academy of Medicine at Georgia Tech (). The facility is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places and is currently in the final weeks of a detailed restoration. The Academy’s theater — the primary lecture hall for ICAD 2012 — has been renovated with particular attention to acoustics and aesthetics. Special social events for the week will include a concert, a banquet, and a welcome reception. A variety of other informal social gatherings and excursions in the midtown and downtown Atlanta (and surrounding) areas will be available.

Technical areas for ICAD include but are not limited to: * 3D and Spatial Audio
* Aesthetics, Philosophy, and Culture of Auditory Displays * Accessibility
* Applications of Sound in Systems
* Auditory Display Theory and Methods
* Auditory Information Design * Evaluation and Usability of Auditory Displays
* Human Factors of Auditory Display * Sound Interaction
* Auditory Cognition, Perception, and Psychoacoustics
* Sonification and Exploration of Data through Sound
* Sonification as Art
* Technologies and Tools for Auditory Display

Proposals for Workshops, Tutorials, and Discussion Panels:
The organizing committee seeks proposals for workshops, tutorials, and panel discussions. Workshops and special sessions will be held June 17, 2012. Please send brief (1 page) proposals for workshops to the General Chair, Bruce Walker (bruce.walker@psych.gatech.edu) by November 15, 2011. Proposals should include the name(s) and full contact information for the panel chair (or co-chairs), a brief overview of the content of the proposed session, an estimated number of participants, and a list of relevant logistical needs for conducting the session (e.g., requirements for computer or audio equipment, etc.).

Proceedings papers will be archived and made publicly available in the Georgia Tech SMARTech system. This searchable system cross-indexes with Google Scholar. The types of submissions solicited for ICAD 2012 include:

Papers. Full papers should describe work that offers a substantial contribution to the field of auditory display. Paper submissions will be 6-8 pages in length, including all figures and references. Authors of accepted papers will be invited to give a 20 min oral presentation of their work, and at least one author must present the work at the conference for the paper to appear in the published proceedings.

Posters and demonstrations. Poster submissions should describe both finished work and work in late stages of progress. Work that is complete enough that meaningful conclusions can be drawn at the time of submission are encouraged. Submissions describing demonstrations should include interactive audio experiences that showcase work for which first-hand experience will be informative. Submission for posters and demonstrations require a proceedings paper of up to 4 pages in length. Authors of accepted submissions will be invited to participate in a 60 minute poster and/or demonstration session, and at least one author must present the work at the conference for the paper to appear in the published proceedings. When weighing the decision to submit to poster and demonstration sessions, we encourage authors to consider their work in relation to the potential positive benefits (both to authors and their audiences) afforded by the personal interactions that occur in this type of session.

Extended abstracts. The extended abstracts submission category is new for ICAD 2012. These submissions should include but are not limited to late-breaking results, works in early stages of progress, novel methodologies, unique or controversial theoretical positions, and discussions of unsuccessful research or null findings. Particular attention will be paid to the potential for extended abstracts to lead to engaging presentations of broad benefit to the auditory display community. Submissions for extended abstracts require a proceedings paper of up to 2 pages in length. Authors of accepted abstracts will be invited to give a 10 min oral presentation of their work, and at least one author must present the work at the conference for the abstract to appear in the published proceedings.

Sonification contest submissions. Composers, sound artists, and sonification researchers are invited to create sonifications of a specific data set (to be announced soon) for the ICAD 2012 sonification competition. Submissions must include an audio recording of the sonification as well as a 2-4 page statement describing the techniques used to create the sonification and the motivations behind them. A jury including members from both artistic and scientific backgrounds will select finalists to be featured during ICAD 2012, and the winner will be announced during the conference.

Doctoral Thinktank Consortium submissions. A consortium for graduate students will be held concurrently with workshops, tutorials, and panels on June 17, 2012. Details will follow.

Deadlines and Procedures
The deadline for submission of papers and posters will be on or around February 3, 2012, and other deadlines will follow. A full call for papers with detailed formatting and submission procedures, final deadlines, and links to the conference website will be forthcoming. All submissions will be peer-reviewed by a panel comprised of experts in the field of auditory display.

Call for Service
The organizing committee seeks the service and expertise of auditory display researchers, practitioners, and artists. If you are interested in serving as peer-reviewer for submissions, please contact the Program Chair, Michael Nees (neesm@lafayette.edu).

Conference Website
The conference website will be hosted at http://icad2012.icad.org. Please note that the site is currently under construction and will be available with full functionality in late October, 2011.

ICAD 2012 Organizing Committee:
General Chair: Bruce N. Walker, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA– bruce.walker@psych.gatech.edu
Program Chair: Michael A. Nees, Lafayette College, Easton, PA, USA — neesm@lafayette.edu
Concert Chair: Jason Freeman, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA , USA — jason.freeman@gatech.edu

The paper is available for download here .

1. Introduction

In 1933, F.T. Marinetti and Pino Masnata in the manifesto La Radia, propose the appearance of a cosmic form of radio that will surpass all forms of previous media, such as Books, Theater or Cinema. It does so by destroying narrative, imensifying space and amplifying the immaterial, the vibrations of living beings and nonliving beings. This apparatus folds time-space and in the process allows for its performance, where the:

“Struggles of noises and of various distances, that is, spatial drama joined with temporal drama” (Marinetti and Masnata 1992: 268)

The previous work in networked music reflects some of these issues. Audio connection between geographically displaced sites suggests the development of strategies that envisage the rendering of this new shared environment… Read more: http://people.brunel.ac.uk/bst/vol1001/ruichaves/home.html

The title of the inaugural issue of Interference – An Ear Alone is Not a Being: Embodied Mediation in Audio Culture – acknowledges acoustic practices that involve not just the ear but a corporeal body that senses, resonates, transduces and responds to sound, and furthermore, seeks to emphasize the legacy of this embodied listening subject in the practices, media, and conceptual frameworks that make up audio cultures. ‘Embodied mediation’ presumes a reciprocal process: the texts in this issue explore not only how listening experiences and acoustic practices are shaped by corporeality, but also attend to the many ways in which those processes work upon that body, through psychophysical affect and the representation and encoding of listening subjects in acoustic performances, technologies and cultural artefacts. — From “Editorial” by Rachel O’Dwyer

If the difference between 1911 and 2011 is electricity and computation, then Max Mathews is one of the five most important musicians of the 20th Century. – Miller Puckette

photo by Roger Linn

In 1957 a 30-year-old engineer named Max Mathews got an I.B.M. 704 mainframe computer at the Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill, N. J., to generate 17 seconds of music, then recorded the result for posterity. While not the first person to make sound with a computer, Max was the first one to do so with a replicable combination of hardware and software that allowed the user to specify what tones he wanted to hear. This piece of music, called “The Silver Scale” and composed by a colleague at Bell Labs named Newman Guttman, was never intended to be a masterpiece. It was a proof-of-concept, and it laid the groundwork for a revolutionary advancement in music, the reverberations of which are felt everywhere today….

Read more: here.

“Soundw(e)ave, (Christy Matson’s) piece on show, is a self-referential textile, where the actual sounds of computerized Jacquard looms were used to create woven compositions. Her noisy sound waves were turned into three patterned pieces of fabric, made by hand-operated, computer-assisted and fully automated (Jacquard) looms, respectively – each weave growing progressively denser with the more advanced technologies used in their production. The piece, says Matson, was a huge turning point in her practice; it pointed her towards a kind of digital craftsmanship, where she was better able to place value on the ideas, materials and skillfulness needed to be an artisan across contemporary digital, craft and art domains.

For example, Matson then began weaving copper wire directly into her fabrics, and, using the magnetic waves our interactions generate and alter, engendered new aural compositions. In other words, her sonic sculpture turns cloth into a Theremin, where movement and hand-waving at the gallery are transformed into the kinds of musical gestures often associated with science-fiction films of the seventies. While Matson’s earlier, sound-generated works were generative and performative on some level, here she moves into real-time interaction, invoking our embodied relations to textiles, craft, technology and language, all in one fell swoop.”

“I draw a sharp distinction between revolutionary music and critical music: “Revolutionary music” advocates for a particular (extra-musical) ideological position. This work is more wholly “political” in the way that term is traditionally understood. It is music about winning… This music is most often considered propaganda, and this may in fact be a fair judgment…

“Critical” music on the other hand doesn’t try to win — thus distancing it from a particular movement or ideology — but rather to observe, illuminate, and critique a particular aspect of society.” (via Until The Next Revolution by David T. Little, The New York Times.)

Schematic as Score features an eclectic range of young, contemporary artists who have revisited and expanded upon the philosophies and works of this earlier generation. Operating at the extreme edges of the DIY electronics scene, builder-composers such as Peter Blasser, Jason R. Butcher, Moritz Ellerich, Lesley Flanigan, Martin Howse, the Loud Objects (Kunal Gupta, Tristan Perich and Katie Shima), Jessica Rylan and Synchronator (Bas van Koolwijk & Geert-Jan Prins) all represent some of the most radical and idiosyncratic artistic approaches to creative circuitry of the moment. Their compositions take the form of systems which provide a map of what is possible, but lack a prescribed route on how to get there. The discovery — and the risk — is left to the moment of the performance.