Call for Abstracts (Paper and Performance Submissions)

AHRC Workshop: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives on Expressive Performance
Computer Music Modeling and Retrieval (CMMR 2012) conference
Queen Mary, University of London
Tuesday, 19 June 2012, afternoon

Expression in performance is a challenging focus for study: though most musicians have an intuitive sense of what makes a performance expressive, emotive or creative, quantifying these concepts remains difficult. Persistent gaps between musical and scientific approaches to studying performance affect both fields, particularly in areas such as digital instrument design and musical pedagogy.

We invite submissions from any discipline in the engineering, sciences, social sciences, humanities and arts relating to how expression in performance can be modelled, supported or enhanced. Submissions should be in the form of a detailed abstract, 500 words maximum. Accepted authors will be asked to submit a paper of maximum 6 pages, outlining pertinent background, research questions, results and significance. Works in progress and position papers will be considered. Selected papers from the workshop will be invited to be expanded for publication in the refereed CMMR post-proceedings or in a journal special issue (details and format to be confirmed).

Each author will give a 10-minute oral presentation at the workshop. Demonstrations or musical performances are warmly welcomed in addition to (or in place of) the oral presentation. Some short performances may be possible during the workshop itself; performances will also be considered for an evening public concert following the workshop. A group discussion will follow the presentations, with the aim of identifying topics of future exploration across disciplines.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

* How digital or augmented instruments can be used to capture and analyse expressive details of a performance.
* How a performer's or composer's understanding of creativity and expression can guide digital instrument design; performer-engineer collaborations on instrument creation.
* Links between musical performance and human-computer interaction, either from the perspective of modelling user behaviour or designing interactive systems.
* Measuring and modelling physical gesture or body language in performance.
* Music information retrieval techniques for extracting expressive nuances from audio recordings.
* Digital instruments or MIR techniques applied to musical pedagogy.
* Audience perception of the expressive content of a performance, especially as it relates to audio or video measurements.

Abstracts should be submitted using the CMMR 2012 Easy Chair portal. Be sure to select the "Expressive Performance Workshop" track:

https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=cmmr2012

All abstracts should include the names and addresses of each author and any institutional affiliations. Submissions should be formatted as a PDF document, maximum 500 words not including names and affiliations.

Indicate in the comments with your submission whether you would like to present a demonstration or performance, and any technology needs beyond a basic projector and audio system.

If the abstract is accepted, at least one author is expected to register for and attend the workshop on 19 June 2012. Single-day and full-conference registration options will be available.

Deadline for abstracts: Tuesday 10 April 2012
Notification of acceptance: Friday 20 April 2012
Deadline for full papers: Friday 1 June 2012
Workshop date: Tuesday 19 June 2012

More information on CMMR 2012:
http://cmmr2012.eecs.qmul.ac.uk/

Please direct any queries to workshop organiser Andrew McPherson,[log in to unmask]