Y3 | Instructions for Workgroup Leaders
Instructions for Workgroup Leaders
Supporting materials:
Given that we are hoping to have less presentation and more discussion/brainstorming this year, we are asking you to provide materials that participants in your workgroup could read/listen to/visualize ahead of time. These will all be put on the ACTOR repository in the ACTOR_Y3_Workshop section under appropriate folders for each of the workgroups. It would be most efficient if they were put there at least two weeks prior to the workshop, so by June 28th at the latest.
The materials may be pdf files of text, scores or graphics, videos, sound files, links to websites (.webloc), or anything else you deem appropriate. They should also include a clear agenda with rough timings for each workgroup. In your workgroup session, you should leave ample time to discuss action items (who will do what over the next year). Presentations should be limited to less than 1/4-1/3 of the time.
Please send the materials for the repository in an email or send a link to bigger files on your preferred file transfer site to bennett.smith@mcgill.ca and actor-project.music@mcgill.ca. Specify which workgroup folder they should go in. The list of folder names is below (along with the chairs of each workgroup). If by any chance you have problems or need to make changes, please email bennett.smith@mcgill.ca specifying what the problem is and what folder is involved.
For those with Unix-based systems (such as Linux and macOS), we highly recommend using the rsync command to transfer everything directly to our server with a single command, bypassing the inconveniences of the Cloud. (Using rsync to update your data on the website is much easier than doing it over the Cloud.) Please contact Bennett for details. (rsync also exists for Windows)
We're looking forward to keeping the ACTOR fires burning in spite of the circumstances that keep us from coming together in person.
| Folder | Chair |
|---|---|
| Taxonomies_Orchard | Stephen McAdams |
| Diversity | Bob Hasegawa |
| Computational_Tools | Philippe Esling |
| Orchidea | Carmine Cella |
| Room_Acoustics | Malte Kob |
| CORE | Stephen McAdams |
| OrchView | Felix Baril |
| TOR | Kit Soden |
| Timbre_Semantics | Caroline Traube, Zachary Wallmark |
| Voice | Juanita Marchand Knight |
| Timbre_Orchestration_Analysis | Bob Hasegawa |
| Timbre_Course_Design | Emily Dolan and Alex Rehding |
Daily communication and follow up meeting
We are also asking workgroup leaders to schedule follow up meetings with their teams over the year to enhance progress. This can now be done via Slack, an online platform adopted by ACTOR for communication among its members. To facilitate the discussion within each group, specific private channels have been created (see the complete list below). Please contact actor-project.music@mcgill.ca for access to Slack or to add people to each of the channels.
Acoustics of musical performance rooms
Artificial intelligence and computational tools for orchestration
Computer-aided and target-based orchestration (Orchidea)
Composer-performer orchestration research ensembles (CORE)
Diversity Working Group
Orchestration analysis taxonomies and Orch.A.R.D.
OrchView — Score annotation
Timbre and orchestration analysis
Timbre and orchestration resource (TOR)
Timbre semantics
Voice Working Group
Zoom
Zoom Meeting Configuration:
It is best if people change their ‘Suppress background noise’ setting to low in their own Preferences/Audio menu so that their voices or sounds don't get garbled. If their speaking gets cut up or seriously garbled in spite of these settings and due to poor internet connection, at times it works to have them disable the video so there is more bandwidth for the audio. This could be mentioned at the beginning of the session, along with the unmuting procedure.
To maximize audio quality, particularly when playing sound examples from presentation software like PowerPoint, check this quick guide with suggestions for setting up Zoom meetings – Quick Zoom Guide
Zoom Etiquette:
Download the etiquette slide for your session here.
When not speaking, participants should remain muted to avoid disrupting ongoing discussions. One can temporarily unmute themselves by pressing on the space bar.
To manage interventions by different people (depending on the number you have), it is possible to use the "Raise hand" feature in the Participants window. In Gallery view, it is possible to see up to 49 participants on the screen (depending on your CPU) and then look for gestural cues such as physical hand raise.
The host needs to manage who talks when to avoid people talking simultaneously as Zoom attenuates any channel that isn't the loudest. It may be that a co-host or student helper could assist with keeping track of who requests speaking privileges.
Workgroup Report
Workgroup leaders are required to turn in a report with the main points discussed in their session and any action items. Every year, these reports are compiled into a workshop summary that is made available to the entire membership.
This year, the summaries from the initial three years of ACTOR (i.e., 2019, 2020, 2021) will be included in the midterm report submitted to SSHRC, which is due by the end of October 2021. For this reason, it is imperative that the workgroup reports are turned in by the end of the workshop, on July 16th. As usual, we will have student volunteers taking notes to help the workgroup leaders in that process.
List of workgroup organizers:
| Workgroup Session | Workgroup Name | Organizer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Acoustics of musical performance rooms | Malte Kob |
| 2 | Artificial intelligence and computational tools for orchestration | Philippe Esling |
| 3 | Composer-performer orchestration research ensembles (CORE) | Stephen McAdams |
| 4 | Computer-aided and target-based orchestration (OrchIdea) | Carmine Cella |
| 5 | Diversity Working Group | Robert Hasegawa |
| 6 | Orchestration analysis taxonomies and the Orchestration Analysis and Research database (Orch.A.R.D) | Stephen McAdams |
| 7 | OrchView | Felix Baril |
| 8 | Timbre and orchestration analysis | Robert Hasegawa |
| 9 | Timbre and Orchestration Resource (TOR) | Kit Soden |
| 10 | Timbre semantics | Caroline Traube and Zachary Wallmark |
| 11 | Voice Working Group | Juanita Marchand Knight |
| 12 | Timbre Course Design | Emily Dolan and Alex Rehding |