Synesthesia: the Mixing of
Senses
The NWEAMO board is pleased to announce that we are accepting submissions for our 2007 festival, with the theme of Synesthesia: the Mixing of Senses. We are seeking works with an audio component that investigate the reinterpretation of one type of sense through/by/with another, such as “seeing” smells, “hearing” touches or “feeling” sounds.
Synesthesia has fascinated composers for hundreds of years. The brain's ability and tendency to map one sense onto another and to cross connect between them has likewise remained a subject of intense scientific inquiry.
What roles might synesthesia play in pattern recognition, memory, association and other mechanisms of cognition?
What possibilities does this suggest for artistsic exploration?
Do works of music teach, train or condition us to smell colors, hear smells, touch sounds, taste timbres, see rhythms?
And what about works that map higher order concious funcions, such as language, onto non-liguistic sensory input?
We know that brooks can babble. Colors can shout. Can a smell yell? — or whisper?
Do you have a work that causes people to hear imaginary voices, or speak in tongues?
For the 2007 festival we are hoping to feature works that in the broadest sense explore the potential for these connections.
Many, maybe most existing works do this metaphorically by relating a title (for example with visual imagery) to musical content.
Hence, we think that nearly every electro-acoustic work is relevant to our theme, and hope to hear from all of you!
... and as usual, works do not have to adhere to the theme at all. We are looking for all genres and ideas in the world of electro-acoustic music!
Our call for works is also available in Korean (in RTF or PDF formats) and Spanish.
Texto en espa–ol en la parte de abajo.
This year's fall festival will be held in four fascinating North American cities: Morelia (Mexico), San Diego CA, Boulder CO and New York City.
• San Diego, CA - Oct. 5 & 6, 2007
• Boulder, CO - Oct. 12, 2007
• Morelia, Mexico - Sept. 19, 2007
• New York, NY - Oct. 26 & 27, 2007
The Mission of NWEAMO: To forge connections between the composers, performers and lovers of avant garde classical music and the DJs, MCs, guitar-gods, troubadours and gourmets of experimental popular music. When there is no connection, both suffer: When classical music does not connect with popular culture, it becomes a music of experts, unable to reflect and contribute meaningfully in the broad marketplace of developing ideas and cultural experimentation. When popular music has no connection and communication with the classical it becomes naive and superficial, untethered to its historical roots and broad cultural underpinnings. A healthy cultural milieu celebrates both.
BASIC GUIDELINES: (PLEASE READ!)
• We invite you to participate in our annual celebration of creativity.
Please regard this as an opportunity to meet with fellow composers and performers who are dedicated to exploring the edges of aesthetics, cognition and international culture through electro-acoustic music.
• Submission fee: There is a $15 upfront submission fee per work. This goes to support the festival in general. There are no other fees.
• Conference Fee: There is no conference fee. (NWEAMO is a grassroots affair. — In lieu of a conference fee we hope that selected composers and performers will get involved in some way with the presentation of their work and contribute their energy, enthusiasm and talents.)
• Attendance 1: Selected composers must attend the cities in which their work is performed. (except Jukebox selections—see below)
• Attendance 2: Jukebox selections — Composers of selected 2 channel tape-only works, with no performance element, are not required to attend.
• Attendance 3: How Many Cities Must I Attend?: (please see above) We want you to help out with the presentation of your music in each city where your music is on the program. This will vary from 1 city to 4 cities, depending on scheduling limitations of invitees and programming needs of the festival. We will work it out with you.
• Performers: Performers must be provided by applicant.
• Visual Element: Works with a visual element (live musicians/video/installations/dance/unusual lighting etc.) will be favored.
• 2 channel tape works: We welcome 2 channel tape works, and generally will present these in an ancillary Listening Booth, aka Jukebox — see above.
• Duration: In order to present 6-7 works per concert we are looking for works of approximately 10 minutes duration. This is not a firm restriction, but generally works at or under 10 minutes will be favored.
• File Type: All common compressed formats (audio and video) are acceptable. Please do not submit full-bandwidth pieces.
• Multi-channel Surround Formats: Please submit a 2 channel version for adjudication. NWEAMO will support 5.1 and 4 channel works.
• File Size: 20 MB maximum
• Travel Funds: Generally NWEAMO cannot provide funds for travel, accommodation, performance fees etc. Small honorariums may be available, depending on the overall costs of the festival, but these will not come close to covering the costs of attending.
• Submission fee: There is a $15 upfront submission fee per work. This goes to support the festival in general. There are no other fees.
• Apologies: Works cannot be considered until submission fee is paid. This helps to fund the festival and to prevent frivolous submissions. The online process makes it very easy to submit works, and consideration of your work sets into motion a multi-layered process that takes months. In past years the board has wasted many hours considering the works of composers who had no serious intention of attending. The submission fee helps to assure serious submissions. Since we are all volunteers, and since our time, like yours, is valuable, we need protect ourselves as much as possible. We want to focus our attention on the works of those who are serious about joining our celebration. Every year we get a few complaints about the submission fee. If you have never mounted a festival dedicated to supporting the work of the community of composers, I suggest you try it! Funding for these events is hard to come by. We raise as much money as we can, but we are all working artists, like you, and must divide our time between running a festival and pursuing our own careers. This means that our time for writing grants is limited. In truth we will help you as much as we can, with a bit of money if we have it, as well as a place to stay with NWEAMO volunteers when available. The great thing about running a festival like this is that if the funding dries up we can run it on good will and vapors. Truly a festival for our times!
• NWEAMO is an all-volunteer, not-for-profit, 501©3 corporation.
Submission Deadline: April 1, 2007
The NWEAMO board is pleased to announce that we are accepting submissions for our 2007 festival, with the theme of Synesthesia: the Mixing of Senses. We are seeking works with an audio component that investigate the reinterpretation of one type of sense through/by/with another, such as “seeing” smells, “hearing” touches or “feeling” sounds.
Synesthesia has fascinated composers for hundreds of years. The brain's ability and tendency to map one sense onto another and to cross connect between them has likewise remained a subject of intense scientific inquiry.
What roles might synesthesia play in pattern recognition, memory, association and other mechanisms of cognition?
What possibilities does this suggest for artistsic exploration?
Do works of music teach, train or condition us to smell colors, hear smells, touch sounds, taste timbres, see rhythms?
And what about works that map higher order concious funcions, such as language, onto non-liguistic sensory input?
We know that brooks can babble. Colors can shout. Can a smell yell? — or whisper?
Do you have a work that causes people to hear imaginary voices, or speak in tongues?
For the 2007 festival we are hoping to feature works that in the broadest sense explore the potential for these connections.
Many, maybe most existing works do this metaphorically by relating a title (for example with visual imagery) to musical content.
Hence, we think that nearly every electro-acoustic work is relevant to our theme, and hope to hear from all of you!
... and as usual, works do not have to adhere to the theme at all. We are looking for all genres and ideas in the world of electro-acoustic music!
Our call for works is also available in Korean (in RTF or PDF formats) and Spanish.
Texto en espa–ol en la parte de abajo.
This year's fall festival will be held in four fascinating North American cities: Morelia (Mexico), San Diego CA, Boulder CO and New York City.
Festival Dates:
• San Diego, CA - Oct. 5 & 6, 2007
• Boulder, CO - Oct. 12, 2007
• Morelia, Mexico - Sept. 19, 2007
• New York, NY - Oct. 26 & 27, 2007
The Mission of NWEAMO: To forge connections between the composers, performers and lovers of avant garde classical music and the DJs, MCs, guitar-gods, troubadours and gourmets of experimental popular music. When there is no connection, both suffer: When classical music does not connect with popular culture, it becomes a music of experts, unable to reflect and contribute meaningfully in the broad marketplace of developing ideas and cultural experimentation. When popular music has no connection and communication with the classical it becomes naive and superficial, untethered to its historical roots and broad cultural underpinnings. A healthy cultural milieu celebrates both.
BASIC GUIDELINES: (PLEASE READ!)
• We invite you to participate in our annual celebration of creativity.
Please regard this as an opportunity to meet with fellow composers and performers who are dedicated to exploring the edges of aesthetics, cognition and international culture through electro-acoustic music.
• Submission fee: There is a $15 upfront submission fee per work. This goes to support the festival in general. There are no other fees.
• Conference Fee: There is no conference fee. (NWEAMO is a grassroots affair. — In lieu of a conference fee we hope that selected composers and performers will get involved in some way with the presentation of their work and contribute their energy, enthusiasm and talents.)
• Attendance 1: Selected composers must attend the cities in which their work is performed. (except Jukebox selections—see below)
• Attendance 2: Jukebox selections — Composers of selected 2 channel tape-only works, with no performance element, are not required to attend.
• Attendance 3: How Many Cities Must I Attend?: (please see above) We want you to help out with the presentation of your music in each city where your music is on the program. This will vary from 1 city to 4 cities, depending on scheduling limitations of invitees and programming needs of the festival. We will work it out with you.
• Performers: Performers must be provided by applicant.
• Visual Element: Works with a visual element (live musicians/video/installations/dance/unusual lighting etc.) will be favored.
• 2 channel tape works: We welcome 2 channel tape works, and generally will present these in an ancillary Listening Booth, aka Jukebox — see above.
• Duration: In order to present 6-7 works per concert we are looking for works of approximately 10 minutes duration. This is not a firm restriction, but generally works at or under 10 minutes will be favored.
• File Type: All common compressed formats (audio and video) are acceptable. Please do not submit full-bandwidth pieces.
• Multi-channel Surround Formats: Please submit a 2 channel version for adjudication. NWEAMO will support 5.1 and 4 channel works.
• File Size: 20 MB maximum
• Travel Funds: Generally NWEAMO cannot provide funds for travel, accommodation, performance fees etc. Small honorariums may be available, depending on the overall costs of the festival, but these will not come close to covering the costs of attending.
• Submission fee: There is a $15 upfront submission fee per work. This goes to support the festival in general. There are no other fees.
• Apologies: Works cannot be considered until submission fee is paid. This helps to fund the festival and to prevent frivolous submissions. The online process makes it very easy to submit works, and consideration of your work sets into motion a multi-layered process that takes months. In past years the board has wasted many hours considering the works of composers who had no serious intention of attending. The submission fee helps to assure serious submissions. Since we are all volunteers, and since our time, like yours, is valuable, we need protect ourselves as much as possible. We want to focus our attention on the works of those who are serious about joining our celebration. Every year we get a few complaints about the submission fee. If you have never mounted a festival dedicated to supporting the work of the community of composers, I suggest you try it! Funding for these events is hard to come by. We raise as much money as we can, but we are all working artists, like you, and must divide our time between running a festival and pursuing our own careers. This means that our time for writing grants is limited. In truth we will help you as much as we can, with a bit of money if we have it, as well as a place to stay with NWEAMO volunteers when available. The great thing about running a festival like this is that if the funding dries up we can run it on good will and vapors. Truly a festival for our times!
• NWEAMO is an all-volunteer, not-for-profit, 501©3 corporation.