Deadline Extension - Summer School
The deadline to apply for the ACTOR Summer School has been extended to February 17!
ACTOR student presentations
Summer School - Tutors confirmed
Speak Web
SpeaK seeks to improve our knowledge about sounds in relation to auditory expertise and is calling on experts of music and sound to use the new web version to “create and share sound lexicons associated with a specific corpus of sounds.” Follow ACTOR to keep updated with projects such as SpeaK!
Timbre Geeks Networking - Funding Opportunity
TGN
Ruth A. Solie Award
The American Musicological Society gave the 2022 Ruth A. Solie Award to Emily I. Dolan & Alexander Rehding (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Timbre (Oxford University Press, 2021). This volume includes essays by ACTOR members Stephen McAdams, Meghan Goodchild, Robert Hasegawa, Michael Tenzer, and Zachary Wallmark, as well as by the editors. Check out the December Newsletter to learn more!
Newsletter / Bulletin #24
Monthly Newsletter Announcement
ACTOR Speaker Series: Kevin Holt
Save the Date! In this coming ACTOR Speaker Series event, Dr. Kevin Holt will present a talk entitled "Crunk, Trap, and Compositional Representations of Embodied Experiences." Join us for his Zoom presentation on January 18 at 12pm EST.
Amazing Moments in Timbre
Call for Contributions, Amazing Moments in Timbre: In this series we will explore many instances of musical moments in which the use of timbre plays an important role in the unfolding of a composition.
Stephen - Royal Society
Congratulations to ACTOR director Stephen McAdams who has been elected Fellow of The Royal Society of Canada! This is an outstanding accomplishment and is the highest recognition granted to the individual in the arts & social sciences by the RSC.
Summer School - Call for Applications
We are excited to announce the first ever Timbre and Orchestration Summer School, held from July 8-12 at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece!
The Angel of Death
The Angel of Death lives again! The seminal collaboration between the composer Roger Reynolds, psychologists Stephen McAdams, Emmanuel Bigand, and Sandrine Vieillard, and musicologists Philippe Lalitte and François Madurell was originally published as an e-book by IRCAM-Centre Pompidou in 2005, edited by Stephen McAdams and Marc Battier. With the expert help of MA student Corinne Darche, it has been translated to javascript and is available to all on a new website. Many great timbral and orchestrational musical moments and scientifico-musicological reflections to be had. Enjoy!
EduFilm #1 | What is ACTOR?
Learn about timbre and orchestration with the ACTOR project!
ACTOR (Analysis, Creation, and Teaching of Orchestration) is a multi-institution research partnership. We stimulate the development of new tools for learning, creating, and studying timbre and orchestration in concert, club, film, and video-game music, sensitizing audiences young and old to the wonders and complexities of musical sound.
In Episode 1, Stephen and his assistant Cameron Chameleon explore what goes on inside the ACTOR labs
Summer School - Save the Date
Save the Date! The Analysis, Creation, and Teaching or Orchestration (ACTOR) project is pleased to announce the first ever Timbre and Orchestration Summer School! It will take place at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece from July 8-12, 2023.
Newsletter / Bulletin #23
Lovin’ You — by Minnie Riperton
Learn more from Michelle Sulaiman about Minnie Riperton's unique, incredible whistle tone and technical style in Lovin' You.
Newsletter / Bulletin #22
Unveiling the Mystery of Timbre
As part of ACTOR’s series of Timbre Stories, “Unveiling the Mystery of Timbre”, explores what makes timbre so complex, yet fascinating. Click the link below or in our bio to read more from this anonymous author on his journey to understanding timbre!
ACTOR Speaker Series
SAVE THE DATE! The Sub-Saharan African and Afro-Diasporic subgroup of the Diversity working group are pleased to formally announce the Speaker Series: Afrological Perspectives on Timbre and Orchestration. The series, spearheaded by Jason Winikoff, Joshua Rosner, and Jay Marchand Knight, will take place over the 2022-23 academic year and will launch with a talk by Dr. Bibian Kalinde entitled, “Unraveling timbre in the music of the marriage ceremony of the Chewa and Bemba in Zambia.” Other invited guests include Kevin Holt, Andile Khumalo, Joel Larue Smith, Marvin McNeill, and Stephanie Shonekan. Bibian Kalinde’s talk will take place on Friday 30 September 2022 from 12:00pm-1:15pm Eastern (6:00pm-7:15pm in Zambia) and will be given over Zoom. Information about links to attend the event will be sent out closer to the date of the event.