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<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB"></span><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">The second
Leonardo-EMS Award was given to Michael Bullock, a young researcher
from <st1:City w:st="on">Troy</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">NY</st1:State>
who gave a
presentation during EMS08 (the annual conference of the Electroacoustic
Music
Studies Network) which was held this year in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Paris</st1:City>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">France</st1:country-region></st1:place>.
After deliberation, the jury, composed of Marc Battier (France),
Ricardo Dal
Farra (Argentina) and Kenneth Fields (Canada/China), selected Bullock’s
paper
titled “</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"
lang="EN-GB">Noise to Signal:
Consumer electronics and the rise of underground electro-acoustic
scenes.”</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"
lang="EN-GB"> Of all the papers presented by young
researchers, Michael's was outstanding by its originality, clarity and
insight.
Besides his academic research at <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Troy</st1:place></st1:City>'s
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Bullock performs experimental music
with his
bass and with electronics. He is as active and innovative in his
playing than
in his research. Bullock’s paper</span><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">
will be posted on the Leonardo website and will also be published in an
upcoming issue of Leonardo Journal (TBA).<o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">The EMS
Network
was organized to fill an important gap in terms of electroacoustic
music,
namely focusing on the better understanding of the various
manifestations of
electroacoustic music. Areas related to the study of electroacoustic
music
range from the musicological to more interdisciplinary approaches, from
studies
concerning the impact of technology on musical creativity to the
investigation
of the ubiquitous nature of electroacoustic sounds today. The choice of
the
word, “network” is of fundamental importance as one of the goals of the
EMS
Network is to make relevant initiatives more widely available. More
about the
Electroacoustic Music Studies Network can be found at
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.ems-network.org">http://www.ems-network.org</a>. <br>
<br>
Leonardo/OLATS has established a collaboration with the EMS network
through
which annual Leonardo-EMS Awards for Excellence are made for the best
contribution to the <st1:place w:st="on">EMS</st1:place> symposium by
a young
researcher as decided by a joint jury.<o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">The
following
is the abstract of Bullock’s paper presented at EMS08:<o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">Michael T.
Bullock</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">Noise to
Signal: Consumer electronics and the rise of underground
electro-acoustic
scenes</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute - Department of the Arts, <st1:City w:st="on">Troy</st1:City>
(<st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region>)</span><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">The growth of a
consumer-electronics culture in the home – especially audio electronics
since World
War II, and Internet technology since circa 1990 – has led to a radical
reorientation of the means and site of music production. Broadcast and
recording technology gave to musicians and non-musicians alike the
means to
create and embody sound when and where they desired; it also raised
awareness
of noise as idiomatic to audio technology and to recordings. Audio
technologies
became instrumentalized when they became recognized as sounding bodies
beyond
simply archives of previous sound. Eventually, this elevation of noise
and
instrumentalization of electronics were reapplied to extended
techniques on
traditional instruments, and developed a new form musical engagement:
self-idiomatic improvised music.</span><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">I make a
distinction among four general categories of extended instrumental use
in
modern music and sound. The first three are: extended technique on
"traditional" instruments; instrumentalization of audio electronics;
and creation of entirely new musical instruments (for this paper we'll
focus on
electronic and electro-acoustic instruments). The fourth category cuts
across
the other three categories and addresses a radical realignment of the
site of
music and sound: the creation of sound environments.</span><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span>
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