If you are a composer, you can be a part of this important research. We invite you to contribute to the study by filling out the online survey at the link below. The survey is estimated to take 20 minutes of your time. Your participation will broaden the study’s reach and give us a better understanding of current trends in the field. Thank you for helping us to help composers.

http://devcw.tc.columbia.edu/surveys/rcac/index.cfm

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Deadline: Postmarked by May 1, 2008
Application Fee: $40

Prize: The grand prize winner will have his/her piece programmed and performed on our 2008-2009 subscription series in downtown Chicago, and will receive a professional recording of the live performance. A special prize will be awarded to an outstanding local applicant (from IL, WI, or IN), and his/her piece will be programmed and performed on a non-series Fifth House concert in the Chicago area.

Requirements: Submissions must be under 10 minutes long, and can be written for a minimum of four players from the Fifth House roster (string quartet, wind quintet, bass, piano). Auxiliary instruments such as piccolo, alto flute, English horn, E-flat and bass clarinet are also available. The piece may have been previously performed but must not be published. Special consideration will be given to pieces with mixed wind and string instrumentation.

Please submit a completed application form with full score and a set of parts by mail or email in PDF format. Please note that materials will not be returned without a self-addressed envelope with full postage. In addition to score and parts, please submit a brief paragraph linking the work to Fifth House’s 2008-2009 season theme, Commedia dell’Arte. Winners will be notified by e-mail on or before June 15, 2008. Application forms and more information are available at www.fifth-house.com/ycc.html.

(We would like to thank Melissa Snoza for informing us about this competition)

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Changes in this build (1F2) since version 1.3.1 (1E15):

• Now a Universal Binary (will run natively on Intel-based Macs).
• Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) is now required.
• The framework for loading and saving sound file on disk has been replaced with entirely new code.

Known issues:

• Sound playback is inconsistent under Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard).
• Exporting to some file types (e.g. MP3) does not work properly.

Areas for testing:

Make backup copies of your song and drum kit files before re-saving them with this version of Doggiebox, particularly if running on an Intel-based Mac. With this in mind, test to make sure that files you create with this build still open and work properly in Doggiebox 1.3.1. Also verify sound file importing and exporting and note any problems with compatibility of output files or the user interface.

This Beta version of Doggiebox is only available to registered users. If you would like to subscribe to Doggiebox’s mailing list, you can do so either via this web-based form or by sending an empty message to doggiebox-subscribe@lists.zygoat.ca.

Other comments:

The move to Univeral Binary has meant increasing the minimum supported Mac OS version from 10.3 (Panther) to 10.4 (Tiger). This is a side effect of portability; put simply, the routines that Doggiebox has used since 1.0 for handling sound files (a library called libsndfile by Erik de Castro Lopo) is hard to build for both PowerPC and Intel without involving two physically different computers. Fortunately, starting in 10.4, the Mac OS has provided similar sound-file services. Thus the decision has been made to retire libsndfile in favour of the OS-provided code. Aside from the Universal Binary build, this is the new major change in this build.

The playback problems under Leopard still persist for the moment, but this issues
will be addressed soon.

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“The Salvatore Martirano Memorial Composition Award is an international composers’ competition held annually in memory of Mr. Martirano who was a faculty member at the University of Illinois from 1963 to 1995. Since its inception in 1996, the competition has attracted over 1,000 entries from over 30 countries. The first place prize consists of $1000.00 and a performance of the winning composition by the University of Illinois New Music Ensemble at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. Zack Browning who is an Associate Professor of Music at the University of Illinois directs the competition.” You can read more about Salvatore Martirano here.

The University of Illinois School of Music presents.
The 2008 Salvatore Martirano Memorial Composition Award.

Eligibility: Any composer, regardless of age or nationality.

Awards: First Prize cash award of $1000 and second prize cash award of $500 plus performances by the University of Illinois New Music Ensemble in the fall of 2008 at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. Additional awards and performances may be given at the discretion of the judges.

Judges: A panel of judges consisting of University of Illinois music composition faculty members will select the winning compositions. The winning composers are expected to attend the award concert/reception and will be responsible for their transportation costs (the competition will provide a stipend for lodging). The winning composers will assume full responsibility for providing adequate performance materials upon request.

Guidelines:
1. Medium: Full scores of any style or aesthetic direction for one to fifteen performers (including vocalists) may be submitted. Works for tape, electronics and/or mixed media with or without instruments/voices are eligible.
2. Duration: 20 minutes maximum
3. Limit: One entry per composer
4. Entry fee: A non-refundable entry fee of fifteen U.S. dollars ($15.00) in the form of a check must be included with each submission. All checks must be payable to the University of Illinois, and must be an international money order or drawn on a U.S. bank.
5. Anonymous Submission: The composer’s name must not appear on the score itself or on any item (tape, CD, etc.) submitted in supplement to the application. A sealed envelope must accompany the score and contain the composer’s name, address, telephone number/e-mail (if applicable) and a brief biographical sketch. If a recording of the work is available, it should accompany the score and be identified only by the title of the composition.
6. Return of Materials: Scores will not be returned unless a self-addressed, stamped envelope of the proper size is enclosed.

Send submissions to:
2008 Martirano Composition Award
Attn: Zack Browning, Director, Martirano Award
2136 Music Building
University of Illinois
1114 West Nevada
Urbana, IL 61801 USA
zbrownin@uiuc.edu
http://www-camil.music.uiuc.edu:16080/comptheory/Awards/Martirano.html
All submissions must be postmarked by February 29, 2008.

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Doggiebox is a drum machine application for Mac OS X that lets you create and manipulate percussion-based songs. What I really like about it is that all sounds are fully customizable. This means that you can create or record your own kits. For example, you can record your friend’s drumset (or your own if you have one) and create a kit with each of those sounds in Doggiebox. You can even create kits of “non-instrument” sounds (for example kits created with your voice, your kitchen pots, etc.). There are three things that make Doggiebox to me a very successful drum machine application. One (in no particular order), it’s only $39 dollars. Two, its ease of use. I was able to create a simple beat after minutes of installation. And three, you can create drum parts that sound pretty real.

This last thing is done by having different versions of the same instrument or variants within a kit:

“Some instruments in a drum kit can be played in several ways, or have their characteristics altered by the drummer, in order to produce different sounds. For example, a hi-hat can be played open or closed; a ride cymbal may be hit on the edge, or on the bell, or stricken like a crash; a snare drum might be hit with a rimshot. Such distinct sounds associated with the same instrument are referred to as variants.”

And by being able to change drum velocity:

“To give texture and realism to your percussion it is usually desirable to perform hits at different volume levels, as a human player would do in real life. Fortunately this is easy to control on a sound-by-sound basis.”

Doggiebox is a MAC only application. Songs of unlimited length can be edited in any number of tempos and time signatures. When you feel the drum part is ready, you can export it to one of a dozen file formats including AIFF and WAV, for use in other audio programs, or play back in realtime to a MIDI device. I’ve had Doggiebox for a week, so I’m sure I’m missing other features (so feel free to comment about your experience with it, good or bad). I still believe there is nothing like having a good drummer available to record your songs. Unfortunately and for various reasons, this is not always possible. Feed your Doggiebox when you can’t get one.

(I called that one “Doggie Bag”, a short beat I created with Doggiebox so you can get an idea of what you can do. I used GarageBand afterwards to add a little reverb and a bit of echo).

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On the site, players from the Philharmonia Orchestra explain the nature and technical limitations of their instruments with the intention to represent a realistic picture of the orchestra. The great thing about the site, is the use of video clips for explanations. The manual includes information about instrument construction, ranges, techniques, effects, and extended player’s tips and tricks, as well as resources, historical information and pointing to other helpful links.

The following paragraph is a description taken from the site:

“The aim of the user’s manual is to provide information about the orchestra, orchestration, composition and instruments, for the benefit of anybody with an interest in the subject. Unlike conventional text-based orchestration manuals, this features movies of players explaining relevant aspects of their instruments and technique, audio clips and samples of the instruments, and illustrative music from the repertoire drawn from the Philharmonia’s postwar recorded archive. The Philharmonia is the most recorded orchestra in history and from its birth in 1945 has been associated with new technologies. This use of the internet to convey information is entirely consistent with its desire to open up access to all areas of orchestral life and music-making.”

The Orchestra: A User’s Manual is one element of ‘The Sound Exchange‘, a site that provides opportunities for people to learn about the orchestra, about music and exploit the internet to help widen access to the orchestra.

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The directory is brand new, so some categories do not contain links yet. All feedback is welcome.

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This is the introduction to John Tusa’s interview with Elliott Carter aired in 2000 by BBC’s Radio 3, where Carter shares his view on various topics such as Charles Ives, Minimalism, John Cage, contemporary music, being a composer, music composition today, among other things.

Elliott Carter is now 98 years old and still composing. Even if you don’t like his music, it’s worth listening to the interview just to hear him talk about important historical events and some of the great figures of the 20th-century.

Listen to the 44 minute interview with Elliott Carter here (you’ll need Real Player) or read the transcript available on the BBC website.

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These are some of the things they are giving away:

• Akai MPC500 mobile music workstation
• Ableton Live 6 music production software
• Alesis ControlPad drum pad controller
• Glyph GT 050Q 250GB eSATA/USB/FW400/FW800 hard drive
• Moog Music Moogerfooger FreqBox VCO effects box
• Native Instruments Absynth 4 soft synth
• Native Instruments Elektrik Piano soft synth
• Numark Total Control DJ control surface
• PreSonus FaderPort

Sounds great right? The contest ends Monday, June 11, 11:59 P.M. NYC (US-Eastern) time. Enter here. Check out and bookmark their site while you are there, “Create Digital Music” provides great information on digital technology.

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