Friday, 25 January 2013

3rd Workshop on Evolutionary Music: ECMusic 2013

CALL FOR PAPERS

WORKSHOP ON Evolutionary Music: EcMusic

to be held as part of the

2013 Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO-2013)

July 6-13, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Organized by ACM SIGEVO

http://www.sigevo.org/gecco-2013

Submission Deadline for this workshop: March 28th, 2012

New Orleans offered the perfect place to launch the first EcMusic Workshop,

where research was shown, and EC-generated music was performed and listened to.

Philly held the place for the second edition of the workshop.

This year Amsterdam will be the place for the third edition of the workshop, which

will be held in cooperation with GECCO 2013.

Music provides a perfect area of research for Evolutionary Computation.

A number of problems are present and still open to new

proposals, such as:

* Generative Music Composition.

* Creative Intelligence applied to music.

* Evolutionary Music Modeling.

* Rhythmic structure and Key analysis.

* Music Transcription.

* Music Improvisation.

* Music Genre classification.

* Music mood analysis.

* Optimization of Music Performance.

* Sound synthesis.

* Machine learning methods for audio content analysis.

* Automatic tagging of audio signals.

* Content-based audio retrieval.

* Music information retrieval.

* Music recommendation.

* User interfaces for music management and retrieval.

* Intelligent audio effects.

* Audio restoration.

* Etc.

The workshop aims particularly at providing a place where the research

is not only shown but also performed. Authors will thus be encouraged

to send both regular papers describing new approaches and results,

along with audio records allowing to appreciate the quality of the

works.

PAPER SUBMISSION:

Please submit original research results papers not published or

submitted for publication in other forums. All submitted papers will

be carefully evaluated based on originality and quality.

Paper should be a maximum of 8 pages and conform to the same

ACM formatting requirements as for regular papers.

Details and templates can be obtained at the GECCO website.

Accepted Workshop papers will be published in the GECCO 2013 Companion Material,

included with the proceedings on a CD, and also in the ACM Digital Library.

Papers should be submitted as a single PDF file via email to gustavo.reis@ipleiria.pt

IMPORTANT DATES:

Paper Submission: 28th March 2013

Paper Notification of Acceptance: 15th April 2013

Paper Camera Ready Submission: 25th April

* GECCO-2012 Workshops: 6th & 7th July 2013

* GECCO-2012 Conference: 6th to 13th July 2013

GECCO is sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery Special

Interest Group on Genetic and Evolutionary Computation (SIGEVO). SIG

Services: 2 Penn Plaza, Suite 701, New York, NY, 10121, USA,

1-800-342-6626 (USA and Canada) or +212-626-0500 (Global).

Workshop Co-Chairs:

* Gustavo Reis, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria.

* Francisco Fernández de Vega, University of Extremadura.

* Carlos Cotta, University of Malaga.

---

Gustavo Miguel Jorge dos Reis
Department of Computer Science
School of Technology and Management
Polytechnic Institute of Leiria
Apt. 3063 – Morro do Lena – Alto do Vieiro
2401-951 Leiria – Portugal
Tel. Directo +351 244 820 381
Tel. +351 244 820 300 (ext. 3181)
Fax +351 244 820 310
e-mail: gustavo.reis@ipleiria.pt
URL: http://www.estg.ipleiria.pt/~gustavo.reis/

--

Dr Evangelos Himonides
Institute of Education
University of London

Saturday, 19 January 2013

ISME sistema SIG News Update #1

Dear colleagues,

My first newsletter circulation is a short one and three weeks in advance of the planned circulation date for reasons that will become apparent! Three short items:

1.       Sistema Fellows application 2014

Applications are invited by February 8th for next year's Sistema Fellows programme. If you know of people who might be interested in applying the link is: http://necmusic.edu/sistema-fellowship . There's a link on that page to the form, and I've attached it to this email as well. Do let anyone know that they can contact current Sistema Fellow Elaine Sandoval at echangsandoval@gmail.com if you have more questions.
2.       Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM) tour to the US
Erika Donald has recently returned from her second visit as an invited guest artist and teacher at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM) in Kabul. Though it's not explicitly a 'Sistema-inspired' program, the school has many methods and goals in common with El Sistema. Most notably, the school educates boys and girls, as well as children from all ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds, side by side. About half of the students are orphans or kids who used to work selling items on the street to help support their families.
An Australian film about the school's beginnings has just been posted in its entirety (48 min.) on Al Jazeera's website: http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/witness/2013/01/201311412401920574.html. Erika writes that it's enlightening and inspiring to see what these people go through and how studying music is changing their lives.
The ensembles of ANIM will be touring to the United States in early February, performing at the NEC in Boston, Kennedy Center in Washington, and Carnegie Hall in New York.
Here is the press release for the tour, in case people are in/near those cities: http://www.21cmediagroup.com/mediacenter/newsitem.php?i=1093 And here is an article from the World Bank, who provide a great deal of support to the school: http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/2013/01/17/afghan-music-students-take-show-on-road
3.       Thanks from me!

Thanks from me to Elaine and Erika for sharing this information. Please let me have any further news items by February 15th (or sooner) for posting on February 18th. We can decide on the frequency of our future newsletters in response to the nature of your news!

Richard

Richard J Hallam MBE
m +44 (0)7850 634 239
fax +44 (0)1908 690078
www.dickhallam.co.uk

Wednesday, 14 November 2012

UNESCO to name two internationally renowned opera singers as Goodwill Ambassadors

14 November 2012 – Two of the world's most acclaimed opera stars, the tenors Juan Diego Flórez and Placido Domingo, will be appointed Goodwill Ambassadors for the United Nations cultural agency, with the aim of helping spread its ideals through their advocacy.

According to a news release from the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the appointment of the Peruvian bel canto tenor, Mr. Flórez, is in recognition of his "dedication to initiatives related to social inclusion and education, especially in his capacity as President of the foundation Sistema de Orquestas Infantiles y Juveniles del Perúand to the ideals and aims" of UNESCO.

The foundation supports the creation of children's and youth orchestras and choirs throughout Peru, in order help transform society through music, "reflecting the idea that orchestral and choral practice gives children and youth important values and helps preserve them from the dangers of drugs and crime," UNESCO stated.

The ceremony for Mr. Flores will be held on 16 November at UNESCO's headquarters in the French capital of Paris, with the President of Peru, Ollanta Humala Tasso, in attendance, in addition to UNESCO's Director-General, Irina Bokova, who will make the appointment.

Born in Lima in 1973, Mr. Flórez has gained an international reputation performing in the most prestigious opera houses around the world, mainly in works by composers such as Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini, according to UNESCO. Also, in frequent recitals and concert performances, he has included Peruvian and Latin American music.

The ceremony for Mr. Domingo's appointment will take place on 21 November, also at UNESCO's offices in Paris.

The agency stated that the 71-year-old Spanish tenor and conductor's appointment comes in recognition of his "exceptional artistic career, his inestimable support for young opera musicians through the Operalia competition, and his dedication to the values and ideals of UNESCO."

Founded by Mr. Domingo in 1993, Operalia, also known as the World Opera Competition, is an annual international competition which aims to discover and help launch the careers of the most promising young opera singers of today.

On the same evening as his appointment ceremony, a fundraising gala will be held for the UNESCO-backed Education for All programme, and Mr. Domingo will also present the latest winners of the Operalia competition as well as musicians involved in his development programme at the Washington Opera.

First launched in Thailand in 1990, the Education for All is an international initiative which aims to bring the benefits of education to 'every citizen in every society.' It involves a broad coalition of national governments, civil society groups and development agencies such as UNESCO, all committed to achieving six specific education goals:

According to UNESCO, its Goodwill Ambassadors are an "outstanding group of personalities" who have agreed to use their talent and status to help focus the world's attention on the work of the United Nations in education, science, culture and communication.

Thursday, 8 November 2012

Little Kids Rock: Shelter from the storm

Many people are reeling in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. They are cold,their homes have been destroyed and their world has been turned upside down. During difficult times like these, we especially appreciate the things that bring us together and that help us express our pain.

Music is one of those things.

That is what Jailine, one of our 12-year old students from New York City discovered after another natural disaster, the devastating Haiti earthquake of 2010. She wrote this uplifting song which remains as poignant today as it was on the day she wrote it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLdfkfaAQ6w

When times are tough, you can still play a guitar, write a song, and use the magic of music to help get you through.

Our own offices have just reopened in the wake of the storm. Please let us know if we can help you in any way and feel free to come by if you need a warm, friendly place to charge your phone or have a coffee. In the meantime, stay safe, stay dry, and rock on!

Little Kids Rock

Restoring and revitalizing music education in our schools!
www.littlekidsrock.org • facebook • youtube • twitter • blog

Saturday, 27 October 2012

Gibson guitar becomes ISME 'Olympic Torch'

Saturday, October 20, 2012 at 7:25AM
MusicEducationUK in Global

As part of the 30th ISME World Conference on Music Education, which took place in Thessaloniki, Greece, last July, the International Society for Music Education (ISME) was presented with a silver Gibson Les Paul guitar at the ISME/Gibson International Awards for Music Education ceremony.

Sam Kidd playing the silver Gibson Les Paul guitar with 23 Fake Street, one of the bands that has grown from the 'School of Rock' project.

According to Lee Higgins, past ISME Director and Associate Professor of Music Education at the Boston University School of Music:

'Rather than the guitar being some sort of inanimate trophy, I proposed a project to Nina Miller, Executive Director of the Gibson Foundation, and Graham Welch, then President of ISME. The guitar would be put to work as a symbol for the ISME/Gibson Award. The proposed project was nicknamed the ISME 'Olympic Torch' as a metaphor for the instrument moving from one place to another. The general idea is that the guitar will become 'resident' in a small number of projects during the biennium 2012-2014.

'On 14 September, the guitar began its journey at a project named School of Rock in the Wirral on Merseyside. This project has three components. Firstly, the young people have lessons on instruments of their choice: guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, vocals etc. Using a mixture of professional and trainee tutors drawn from recipients of past projects, this provides formal instruction on instrument and vocal techniques. The tutors have to deal with a range of skills from beginners upwards and the individual lessons take place in rooms spread across a youth centre and a church hall. After six weeks of technique, everybody is divided up according to instrumentation and put into bands to rehearse as an ensemble the songs they have been learning in the individual lessons. Finally, the bands perform two gigs including one at the O2 in Liverpool.

'The School of Rock project finishes in December 2012 so the instrument will then make its way to US where Joe Pignato's popular music class at the State University of New York will enjoy it. To record the journey, I have placed a 'moleskin' notebook inside the case so everybody who plays it can write a message. Over the two years, we should be able to capture many of the experiences people have had playing the instrument.'

Lee Higgins will give a report of the ISME 'Olympic Torch' project at the 31st ISME World Conference on Music Education which takes place in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 2014.

Article originally appeared on Music Education UK | The national music education hub (http://www.musiceducationuk.com/).

See website for complete article licensing information.

Sunday, 14 October 2012

About OpenSoundS

What is OpenSoundS?

OpenSoundS is a collaborative online environment, where students from across Europe can

showcase their works on Music & Sound
collaborate with their peers
exchange knowledge and know-how
learn about the latest tools in Music Technology and I.T.
engage in constructive online dialogue
learn about intellectual property, copyright and sharing
learn how to manage and participate effectively in collaborative projects,
and, also, have fun engaging in these activities.

The OpenSoundS platform ensures that this online experience is achieved within a secure, intuitive and accessible environment.

Who is behind OpenSoundS?

OpenSoundS is a collaborative European project, funded by the EC's Education and Culture Lifelong Learning Programme.

Partners of the OpenSoundS project are:

Istituto tecnico Attilio Deffenu [visit]
EarMaster [visit]
DEI - Università di Padova [visit]
MidiWare [visit]
Nuvole [visit]
Brightonart [visit]
International Music Education Research Centre (iMERC) [visit]

Access and Registration

How do I access the online collaborative system?

The OpenSoundS collaborative platform is accessible at: live.opensounds.eu

How do I start?

Although you don't need an account in order to browse projects and listen to the available tracks, you can only have the full OpenSoundS experience if you have an online account. Please see below, depending on whether you are a teacher or student.

I am a teacher, how do I get involved?

During this testing phase, accounts can only be activated by a project partner. If you would like to be involved, please contact an OpenSoundS project partner (information about the OpenSoundS partners can be found here: http://www.opensounds.eu/partners). You can apply for an OpenSoundS account by visiting the OpenSoundS collaborative platform here: live.opensounds.eu, and selecting the create a new account linkat the very top right hand side. You will receive the necessary information from the OpenSounds system once your account has been activated.

I am a student, how do I get involved?

Make sure that your teachers know about OpenSoundS! Ask them to join (see above). Once they have joined, they will be able to create an account for you. You can apply for an OpenSoundS account by visiting the OpenSoundS collaborative platform here: live.opensounds.eu, and selecting the create a new account linkat the very top right hand side. You will receive the necessary information from the OpenSounds system once your account has been activated. The person that will be responsible for your account is likely to be your Head of Music, or Music Technology, but things could be different in your school. A member of the OpenSoundS team will let you know if there is a problem.

My parents are concerned about having accounts online. How safe is it to use OpenSoundS?

Open SoundS is a platform created and actively maintained by Professionals, Researchers and Academics with great experience, internationally, in virtual learning and online collaboration. Your work and activities are safeguarded at numerous levels. Student users are protected by 4 levels of scrutiny:

their peers
their teachers
the project partners
the OpenSoundS server administrators

OpenSoundS is a closed family (although a BIG family!!!). All family members are welcome to enjoy their online activities and sharing using a safe online platform and free of bullying, negativity, and non constructive criticism. It is essential that all OpenSoundS registered users treat their colleagues in a respectful and courteous manner. We operate a zero tolerance policy about abusive behaviour.

Project Area

I have an account, now what?

Congratulations! You are now able to post ideas, create projects, collaborate, discuss and communicate with all OpenSoundS users.

How do I log onto OpenSoundS?

go to live.opensounds.eu
click on Log in (top right)
type in your username
type in your password
click on the Log in button at the bottom

How can I see the latest projects posted on OpenSoundS?

click on the Latest Projects link, available on the left-hand side navigation panel
a list of latest projects appears in the main window
There, you can have a quick overview of
- the project title,
- the owner,
- a brief description,
- and information about the project activity...
you can, of course, listen to the main project mp3 file!
you can also use the fast OpenSoundS search engine and search by project title, tags and owner.

How can I browse all projects available on OpenSoundS?

simply follow the link named Browse Projects under the Projects sub-menu on the left-hand side
this will take you to the Projects page where the complete body of available projects can be found
Don't forget to use the dynamic search boxes on the top if you are looking for something specific, you can search for project Title, project specific Tags and project Owner

An additional way to navigate through the numerous projects posted on OpenSoundS is to use the Projects List available under the Projects sub-menu.

Collaborative Area

What should I start with? An idea, or a project?

Normally, you should start with an idea on the OpenSoundS collaborative platform. The Ideas section is where you can describe your aspirations, find interesting musicians around Europe to collaborate with, discuss the different technologies that are likely to be needed once the idea develops into a fruitful project, discuss the level of experience/expertise, and describe your needs/requirements and thoughts about how you could have a successful project.

It is common for us musicians to want to go straight into playing our instrument and making music, but years of research and evidence from extremely successful past research projects demonstrate that the more careful your planning is, and the more detailed the information that you provide during the framing of your idea, the greater the success of your final project is going to be. Help other musicians work with you meaningfully and enjoyably. You will be rewarded!

What are OpenSoundS ideas?

An idea in OpenSoundS is what you can post when you are not yet ready to post your project. This is where you can:

invite other's to a discussion about a future project
invite expression of interest from other OpenSoundS users that might be willing to contribute to a future project
request help from other instrument players (e.g. you are a guitarist that looks for a bass or drums player)
discuss the possibility of a collaboration with other musicians and producers
let the OpenSoundS community know about something that you are working on

How do I post an idea?

First, you need to log onto your OpenSoundS account. Only logged on users can post on OpenSoundS (see above: How do I log onto OpenSoundS?)
Under the Collaborate section of the left-hand side menu, select Create Idea
The Create Idea page appears, where you can give your idea a title and
Provide a summary (see above: what are OpenSoundS ideas)
Describe the level of musical expertise that you expect from the project team, by choosing the drop-down list (basic, intermediate, advanced). If your particular idea is open for musicians and collaborators with various expertise, please choose the 'Not specified' option.
Describe the level of software expertise that you expect from the project team by choosing the drop-down list (basic, intermediate, advanced). If your particular idea is open for musicians and collaborators with various software/technology expertise, please choose the 'Not specified' option.
Describe the various software and/or technologies that you envisage using once your idea leads to a project. Try to be as specific as possible as this will help other people around the world to understand your needs and assess whether they could become part of the team.
Select the type of Creative Commons License that the resulting work will become available under. This is a very important part of the idea (and the project that the idea will lead to). Understanding copyright and intellectual property is a key objective within the OpenSoundS collaborative system. You can find a very helpful tutorial about Creative Commons right onto the OpenSoundS portal. Please feel free to read it.
Finally, you can upload any supporting material that you wish onto the platform, so that other people can form a better understanding about your idea, and asses how they could become part of your team. This could be anything that is related to you idea, like lyrics, chords, recordings, scribbles, diagrams, etc.
Once you finished providing the above information, simply click on Save
That's it! Your idea is now live and visible to your future team members!

How can I access Ideas on OpenSoundS?

Simply click on List of New Ideas under the Collaborate sub-menu on the left-hand side. There you will see all ideas that have been posted onto the OpenSoundS system, appearing in chronological order. Remember, you need to be logged onto OpenSoundS in order to post a response!

I am ready to create my own project. What should I do?

First, you need to log onto your OpenSoundS account. Only logged on users can post on OpenSoundS (see above: How do I log onto OpenSoundS?)
Upon successful login, click on the Create Project link, under the Collaborate sub-menu on the left-hand side
the Create Project page appears
first, give your project a title. This should be representative of your whole project (e.g. think of the title of a music album)
second, add an mp3 file as you main media file. This has to be an mp3 file so that everybody can play it on whatever technology or system they are using (computer, telephone, tablet device, etc)
third, select you team members! this is why it is always better to start with an idea (see above)! Here is where you invite other members of OpenSoundS to be part of your project!
fourth, add a description of your project: this is a very important part of your project. Explain what your ideas are about, what your aspirations are, what your needs are, what tools you have or planning to use, as well as any other information that will help the OpenSoundS community understand more about your project. The more information you provide, the greater the chances that people will want to collaborate with you!!!
fifth, if you have any additional composition elements that you want to post (e.g. individual tracks, sounds, effects, samples, loops, patches) you can post them into the composition elements section. Or, if you are using other people's work that is available in OpenSoundS, you can select them from the OpenSoundS file library. OpenSoundS supports a wide variety of file formats like wav, mp3, aif, aiff, ogg, wma, aac, flac, m4a, ape and others.
sixth, upload any other files that are not main composition elements. These can be instrument patches, notes, schemas, scores, or any other file that will help the team make music and/or create new composition elements and tracks.
seventh, provide keywords for your project and separate them with a comma (e.g. classical, violin, romantic). This is a very important part of your project. OpenSoundS hosts hundreds of projects and one of the easiest ways to navigate through those is to use appropriate keywords.
eighth, select the licence under creative commons that you want to release your project (see more information below). Attribution: acknowledge the author; non-commercial: cannot be used for commercial purposes; share-alike: apply the same license to derived works.
last, if your project has a constant beat, provide the Beats per Minute value (BPM). Classical tempi can be specified as TAGS eg. andante, presto, moderato, etc. Do not try to add these in the BPM box.
All done... click on Save and your project is now ready and online!

What are OpenSoundS tags?

OpenSoundS tags are meaningful keywords/labels that describe what the different projects are all about! This is an integral part of Web 2.0 and the semantic presentation of information. Tags help you

search for related work
make others understand what your work and ideas are about
identify projects that you might want to be involved with
locate samples and files that you could use in your own project
find people in the OpenSoundS community that you might want to collaborate with in the future
help other users find your project quickly using the OpenSoundS dynamic search engine

How can I browse the OpenSoundS projects' tags?

click on the Browse Tags link under the Collaborate sub-menu on the left-hand side
the Browse Tags page appears
all available tags appear in a cloud-view (also known as tag cloud, word cloud, or weighted list)
this means that the bigger and bolder a tag, the more popular it is
the list of tags is 'clever', you can click on any tag and you will automatically be shown all relevant projects on OpenSoundS

Can I find all of my projects and posts in one place?

Yes you can! First, simply log onto your OpenSoundS account (see above: How do I log onto OpenSoundS?). Upon successful login, go to My Page under the Collaborate sub-menu on the left-hand side.

How can I update my profile information?

First, simply log onto your OpenSoundS account (see above: How do I log onto OpenSoundS?).
Upon successful login, go to the top-right of the screen (where your username appears) and click on your username
a drop-down list appears
select the first option which is My account
press the Edit button at the top right of your profile page
update your information
click on Save at the bottom of the page
your new details are now online...

How do I post a comment?

First, you need to log onto your OpenSoundS account. Only logged on users can post on OpenSoundS (see above: How do I log onto OpenSoundS?)
Go to the project that you want to post a comment about (as mentioned above, there are numerous ways of doing that, either by using the search tool, or by browsing all projects, or by using the project tags, or the list of all projects... to name a few!)
Once you are inside the project page, navigate to the bottom of the page
Click on the Add new comment link
simply type your comment in the available box (you can also add a title if you want to - but this is not compulsory)
click on Save
All done, your comment has been posted online!
Remember: the OpenSoundS comments system is clever... it allows you to add media comments as well (for example, you can post a comment that includes a sound file -- like in YouTube where you can post a Video Response)

How do I share information about a project with other social media (e.g. Twitter or Facebook)?

simply go to the project that you are interested in using any of the above presented ways (browsing, search, recent projects, tags, project owners)
inside the project page and under the attributions information on the right you will see a share toolbar
if you hover your mouse pointer over the share toolbar, you will see a list appearing, with a large number of available social media (over 300, if you click on more!!!)
let say that we want to post the project information on Twitter
click on More... at the bottom-left of the sharing pop-up window
find Twitter (all social media appear in alphabetical order)
the tweet posting window appears, the message containing information about the project has been added automatically for you
simply use your login information (username/email and password)
click on the sign in and tweet button
all done!