Newsletter no. 5
Editor’s Note
Happy New Year! ACTOR is looking forward to a productive 2021 full of new discoveries and collaborations. Thank you for keeping us updated on your scholarly and creative activities! To submit your recent accomplishments or announcements in our monthly newsletters, fill out this form on the website. The next deadline is February 28. Finally, we’re happy to announce that the ACTOR newsletter team now has its own email address—please feel free to contact us directly with questions or concerns at actor-news.music@mcgill.ca.
Lindsey Reymore, ACTOR analysis postdoc & newsletter editor
ACTOR Newsletter
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES | ACTOR BUSINESS
UPCOMING EVENTS | OPEN CALLS
OUTCOMES | AWARDS & HONOURS
Funding Opportunities
The ACTOR Training and Mentoring Committee is pleased to announce a call for proposals for a new collaborative student project grant. Up to four projects will be funded at $8,000.00 (CAD) each. The grant is for pairs of ACTOR student members (any level) from different ACTOR member institutions to work on collaborative projects. The deadline for submission is March 31, 2021. More information here: ACTOR Collaborative Student Project Grant
The upcoming deadline for Strategic Project and Research Creation funding is March 15, 2021.
March 15 also marks the deadline for applications for ACTOR Y3 student presentations at the upcoming summer 2021 (virtual) Year 3 Workshop.
Application forms and further information for all funding opportunities can be found on ACTOR’s internal pages (login required) under “Funding Opportunities.”
ACTOR Business
Slack
Slack is an online platform used by businesses and organizations for communication. ACTOR has recently adopted this platform for communication among its members; it is proving to be especially useful for committees and working groups to help centralize discussion and share documents. It can be accessed via desktop application, apps on iOS and Android, or via web browser.
Over 100 of our members are currently on Slack, but we’d like to get everyone on board! If you are an ACTOR member who has not yet joined Slack and would like to, send a request to actor-news.music@mcgill.ca.
For those on Slack, a few notes:
Please note that messages and documents are not permanently stored. We are working out a way to archive messages on the ACTOR repository, but we are only able to download records from public channels: records of discussions in private channels and direct messages must be kept by individual members.
In order to facilitate communication and keep things organized, we ask that you update your Slack profile to include your full name and add a photo if you feel comfortable doing so.
Internal Directory
Members, if you have not yet done so, please take five minutes to fill out the google form to provide your information for the ACTOR internal directory. The purpose of the internal directory is to help members with shared interests connect. We anticipate this will be especially useful in fostering collaborations among newer members and student members.
Executive Committee Meeting
The ACTOR Executive Committee met on January 7; topics covered included the Timbre and Orchestration Resource (TOR), the IRCAM forum, ACTOR working groups, and the budget. The approved meeting minutes are available for ACTOR members on the ACTOR Data Repository in the Reports section, which can be accessed through ACTOR’s internal webpages (login required).
Workshop Y3
We would like to inform the ACTOR community that this year’s Workshop will be held online from July 12th through 16th. More information will be available shortly.
Training and Mentoring Committee (TMC)
The Training and Mentoring Committee met on January 26 and 28; topics included the collaborative student project grant, a networking event for students to identify interinstitutional research partners (upcoming), facilitating student engagement and communication, and creating a student Slack channel within the ACTOR workspace.
New ACTOR Member Spotlights
Eli Marshall
Eli Marshall has co-directed a contemporary art music ensemble in Beijing following a Fulbright Fellowship with the China Music Research Institute; written film music in Hong Kong; and composed other music, including a recent chamber opera produced in Hong Kong which toured to New York City and San Francisco. Born in Maine (USA), he holds a D.Mus degree from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and other degrees from Bard College, Curtis Institute, and the Hamburg Hochschule für Musik und Theater. From 2012-13 he was a faculty member at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Since 2014, he has been lecturer of music at Cornell University's Department of Music, where he has taught courses in theory, composition, instrumentation, and introductory computer music. Since 2019, he has been a Collaborator Member with CIRMMT.
With ACTOR research groups, Eli is exploring timbre's role in a few interrelated areas: acoustic-derived analysis of notated and non-notated music; the timbre/pitch interface; a linguistic-phonetic understanding of sung music; and in new pedagogy fostering a wide range of genres and music creators. His current research project investigating blues and rock vocal parsing and micro-tuning touches on many of these areas.
Jimme LeBlanc
Jimmie LeBlanc completed a doctorate in composition at McGill University where he explored the concepts of capture of forces and logic of sensation, in connection with his musical aesthetics and the idea of performative figure. His music has carved out its place on local and international scenes with, among others, Ensemble Contrechamps, Esprit Orchestra, Quatuor Bozzini, Ensemble Paramirabo, Continuum Ensemble, Camerata Aberta, the Quasar Saxophone Quartet, and several soloists. Jimmie won 3rd prize at the Lutosławski Award in 2008, as well as the Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music (Canada Council for the Arts) in 2009. He is the author of Luigi Nono et les chemins de l'écoute (L'Harmattan 2010), “Xenakis’ Aesthetics: The Paradoxes of a Formalist Intuition” (Xenakis Matters, Pendragon Press 2012), and two contributions to La création musicale au Québec (PUM, 2014). Jimmie is responsible for the Cahiers d'analyse section of the journal Circuit: musiques contemporaines and a regular member of L’Observatoire interdisciplinaire de création et de recherche en musique (OICRM). He teaches composition and analysis at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal and is a new ACTOR member through his affiliation as professor of composition at the Université de Montréal.
As a composer, his theoretical research focuses on the musical experience at the aesthetic level: what makes the expressive force of a work, what is the nature of musical meaning, how can music be seen as capture of forces, how to approach music philosophically as logic of sensation—in short, he is interested in musical thought, but also in the way music prompts us to think. There are of course technical considerations at the basis of writing and composing, but there is also an artistic posture and a vision that lead us to take certain creative directions rather than others—how do these two dimensions interact? More specifically, he addresses these questions through musical analysis, semiotics, philosophy (especially Deleuzian) and creation, developing both a theoretical and artistic perspective on music and composition.
Upcoming Events
Speaker Series & Conference: “Future Directions of Music Cognition”
“Future Directions of Music Cognition,” a collection of events consisting of a three-month long weekly online speaker series and two-day virtual conference, will take place this Spring. The event is hosted by The Ohio State University and co-chaired by ACTOR postdoc Lindsey Reymore. From February 22 through May 31, the Future Directions of Music Cognition Speaker Series will run weekly online on Mondays at 4pm EST. Videos of each talk will be posted on OSF (Open Science Framework) following the weekly live event for global accessibility. The conference portion of the event will take place March 6–7. The speaker series includes talks by ACTOR members Zachary Wallmark (April 26) and Stephen McAdams (May 3). For a full schedule, click here.
The speaker series is free of charge, as is conference attendance; to receive links to the Zoom events and posted talks, register here.
IRCAM Forum
The IRCAM Forum “Spatialization, Orchestration, Perception,” rescheduled from 2020 due to the pandemic, will be taking place virtually February 4–6 and 11–12, 2021. It is co-organized by Robert Hasegawa, Associate Director of ACTOR. The schedule can be found here
Timbre Geeks Networking (TGN)
Are you an ACTOR student member? Want to know what your peers are doing? Need a place to meet others and form collaborations for the upcoming student project grant (which requires cross-institutional teams to apply for the $4k-per-student funding)? Come to the TGN meeting! Use this link to RSVP our tentative date, and/or enter your timezone so we can propose a different time based on who wants to come.
Open Calls
Timbre Semantics Study: Musician Participants Needed
We are pleased to announce that the experimental portion of the ACTOR strategic project “Orchestral Timbre Semantics Validation Study and Database” is underway. We are especially interested in collecting data from musical experts and invite you to participate. The study takes about 30–40 minutes to complete; headphones are required. To participate, click here.
-Jason Noble, Lindsey Reymore, Charalampos Saitis, Caroline Traube, and Zachary Wallmark
Applied Sciences Special Issue: “Advances in Computer Music”
ACTOR member Philippe Esling (IRCAM) is guest editor for an upcoming Special Issue in the journal Applied Sciences on “Advances in Computer Music” and invites the submission of manuscripts by March 31, 2021.
This Special Issue aims to cover large aspects of computational creativity applied to music, both in the recent trends of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and generative models applied to music, but also recent cutting-edge innovations in more traditional fields of mathematical modeling, sound synthesis and transformation, innovative interfaces for music expression, computer-based music composition and analysis and any other scientific approach aiming to challenge and push forward the limits of human creativity in music. Applied Sciences is an online, peer-reviewed, open access journal, published quarterly by MDPI AG, Basel, Switzerland. For further details on the submission process, please see the instructions for authors here.
ACTOR Outcomes
TOR Spotlight:
Instruments of the Chinese Orchestra:
Erhu, Gaohu, and Zhonghu
by ACTOR Student Member: Lena Heng
This edition of the Timbre and Orchestration Resource (TOR) Spotlight features a module on instruments of the Chinese Orchestra: the sweet and expressive erhu, the bright, silky, and rich gaohu, and the thick and rounded zhonghu. Learn about the techniques, ranges, construction and more of these instruments on our website - Instruments of the Chinese Orchestra.
The TOR is an innovative, pedagogical, web-based resource tool for timbre and orchestration education that brings together the knowledge and expertise of the ACTOR Project. The tool offers collaborative resources on a vast range of orchestration issues. For more information, visit - TOR
Creations and Productions
Synapses by Bob Pritchard
The first of Vancouver Turning Point Ensemble's 1+1+1 projects, in which individual performers commission new solo works, was released on January 23. Synapses was created for solo oboe and dancer with interactive light spine. The creative team includes David Owen, oboe; Emmalena Fredriksson, choreography/dance; Alaia Hamer, design/costuming; Daniel Tsui, lighting code; Danielle Lee, research assistant; Sean Shaul & Jalil Chaudry, video.
Reunion by Jason Noble
Jason Noble’s composition Reunion is featured in an article in the International Choral Review. This piece was composed at the end of his ACTOR postdoc. It was commissioned by Choir Alberta through The Convolution Project, and uses virtual spatialization as a key part of the orchestration. The spatialization is also symbolically important: convolution reverb was used to simulate specific acoustic spaces such as churches and concert halls in Alberta, virtually returning choral singers in that province to the musical spaces from which they had been separated by the pandemic.
Hyperscale Landscape by Eliot Britton
The world premiere of Hyperscale Landscape was broadcast on Dec. 6, 2020 as part of New Music Concerts’ 50th Anniversary online season and performed by NMC Musicians. The piece uses Machine Learning Tools for blending distanced chamber orchestra and live electronics.
Plug-in by Jorge Ramos
Jorge Ramos’ short piece Plug-in for violin, Bb clarinet, trombone, and double bass was premiered on December 3, 2020 by Cat’s Cradle Collective, conducted by António Breitenfeld Sá Dantas at Rádio Portuguesa UK in London, UK. This piece was written for the Das Tripas Coração Project, where Jorge was asked to create an imaginative new work based on a piece of Portuguese traditional music. The chosen melody was Lá vai uma, Lá vão duas. Jorge’s goal was to inform his instrumental orchestration approach from electronic music processes, such as delay, subtractive synthesis, 'pitch freezing', amongst others.
Soundtrack, Presentation film for the Candidacy of Braga for the European Capital of Culture 2027 by Jorge Ramos
Jorge Ramos wrote the soundtrack for the Presentation film for the Candidacy of Braga for the European Capital of Culture 2027, released on November 27th; subtitles can be activated within YouTube.
Live concert broadcast
Guillaume Bourgogne announced a live concert broadcast that took place on February 3, 20h CET at https://www.francemusique.fr
Ensemble Cairn
Jean Barraqué, La nostalgie d’Arabella pour voix et ensemble (premiere). Isabelle Druet, mezzo
Pascal Dusapin, Jetzt Genau ! Concertino pour piano et ensemble. Jean-Frédéric Neuburger, piano
More information here
Publications
Radford, Laurie. (2020). “Getting Into Place/Space: The Pedagogy of Spatial Audio” in Bell, Adam Patrick. The Music Technology Cookbook: Ready-Made Recipes for the Classroom. Oxford University Press.
Presentations
Dissertation Exposé Defense
ACTOR student member Jithin Thilakan successfully defended his PhD dissertation Exposé, “Complex sound sources and ensemble sound—psychoacoustic and objective assessment of virtual sound fields.” Detmold University of Music. The document and presentation can be viewed here
IRCAM Forum
Presentations and concerts by ACTOR members include:
Aurélien Antoine, Philippe Depalle, and Stephen McAdams (McGill University)
Harnessing the Computational Modelling of the Perception of Orchestral Effects for Computer-Aided Orchestration Tools (EN)
Jeffrey Boyd, Friedemann Sallis, Martin Ritter (University of Calgary)
The hallucinogenic belfry: analyzing the first forty measures of Keith Hamel’s Touch for piano and interactive electronics (2012)
IRCAM Forum Workshop with Carmine Emanuele Cella
Computer-assisted orchestration and Orchidea
François-Xavier Féron (STMS Lab [CNRS, Ircam, Sorbonne Université]), Cédric Camier (Saint-Gobain Recherche, CIRMMT), Catherine Guastavino (McGill University, CIRMMT)
The sound centrifuge: spatial effects induced by circular trajectories at high velocity
Louis Goldford (Columbia University)
Assisted Orchestration, Spatialization, and Workflow in Two Recent Compositions
Catherine Guastavino (McGill University, CIRMMT)
Spatial sound art in public spaces
Lena Heng and Stephen McAdams (McGill University)
Timbre’s function in perception of affective intents. Can it be learned?
Erica Y. Huynh (McGill University), Joël Bensoam (IRCAM), and Stephen McAdams (McGill University)
Bowed plates and blown strings: Odd combinations of excitation methods and resonance structures impact perception
Jean-Michaël Lavoie (University of Montreal)
Conductor of a concert with the Ensemble Paramirabo
Philippe Leroux (McGill University)
L’enseignement de la musique mixte: nouveaux outils - nouveaux concepts
Voi(rex) for voice and electronics, Vincent Ranallo, baritone, Frédéric LeBel, electronic
Stephen McAdams, Meghan Goodchild, Alistair Russell, Beatrice Lopez, Kit Soden, Er Jun Li, Alfa Barri, Shi Tong Li, and Félix Baril (McGill University)
The Orchestration Analysis and Research Database (Orchard)
Robert Normandeau (University of Montreal)
ControlGRIS/SpatGRIS3: Spatialization tools developed at UdeM
Jason Noble (University of Montreal)
A case study of the perceptual challenges and advantages of homogeneous orchestration: fantaisie harmonique (2019) for two guitar orchestras
Laurie Radford (University of Calgary)
Getting into Place/Space: The Pedagogy of Spatial Audio
Jonas Regnier
Compulsion-Spirale for alto saxophone and electronics, Tommy Davis, alto saxophone
Lindsey Reymore (McGill University)
Instrument Qualia, Timbre Trait Profiles, and Semantic Orchestration Analysis
Tiange Zhou (UC San Diego)
LUX FLUX: Design sound and light work in Max/Msp through DMX
Awards and Honours
Opera Calling!, an audiovisual and digital work co-produced by ACTOR partner Sonic Solveig and Les Clés de l’Écoute, is the winner of the 2020 C&M Innovation Prize. Opera Calling! aims to provoke a rich and unexpected encounter between opera and audiences who are unfamiliar with it via an augmented reality application, immersive murals and a soap opera web series bringing the whole history of opera to life. Sonic Solveig would like to thank this club of cultural professionals for their commitment to cultural entrepreneurship.