Call for Papers, Music Performances and Sound Installations - Quick Links

Please note: SMC-17's submission period is now over. The calls for papers, music and sound installations have been gathered under this single page for reference purposes.

Click here to download the call for papers in PDF format.

Click here to download the call for music and sound installations in PDF format.

Easy Chair SMC-17 web upload system available here.

Paper templates:

Call for Papers

We are now soliciting original submissions for oral and poster presentations. We encourage submissions examining all areas of Sound and Music Computing, in particular:

  • Analysis, synthesis, and modification of sound
  • Automatic composition, accompaniment, and improvisation
  • Computational musicology and mathematical music theory
  • Computer-based music analysis
  • Computer music languages and software
  • High-performance computing for audio
  • Interactive performance systems and new interfaces
  • Multi-modal perception and emotion
  • Music information retrieval
  • Music games and educational tools
  • Music performance analysis and rendering
  • Robotics and music
  • Room acoustics modeling and auralization
  • Social interaction in sound and music computing
  • Sonic interaction design
  • Sonification
  • Soundscapes and environmental arts
  • Spatial sound
  • Virtual reality applications and technologies for sound and music

Papers should be between 4 and 8 pages, written in English and not previously published. All submissions will be peer-reviewed. Papers can be submitted for oral or poster presentation, but the program committee will make the final decision on the category.

  • Oral presentations: max. 8 pages, 20 min for presentation (a 15-min talk, 5 min of Q&A)
  • Poster presentations: max. 8 pages, a 1-min poster craze talk, and poster session

The papers must be submitted using the Easy Chair SMC-17 web upload system available here. Please prepare your manuscript using the SMC-17 template:

A draft version of the paper has to be submitted before February 17, 2017. This is mandatory to include your paper in the review process. If your paper has not been registered in the system before February 17, then it will be rejected immediately. Those who submit a draft version will have a chance to update it during a one-week period. The full submission must then be uploaded by March 3, 2017.

Upon acceptance, a final manuscript should be re-submitted before the deadline for camera-ready papers. All accepted papers will be included in the conference proceedings, which will be available online as an electronic publication. Please note that at least one of the authors of each paper must register in order for the paper to be presented and included in the proceedings. In accordance with the SMC tradition, we will award prizes for the best papers. The prize will permit the author(s) to publish an extended version of the paper in a scientific journal.

Important Dates
  • Full-paper draft submission deadline: Feb. 17, 2017
  • Full-paper submission deadline: March 3, 2017
  • Full-paper submission deadline: Feb. 24, 2017
  • Acceptance notification: April 21, 2017
  • Camera-ready papers and author registration due: May 19, 2017

Inquiries about paper submissions should be directed to the SMC-17 papers chair Tapio Lokki [tapio.lokki@aalto.fi].

Call for Music Performances

We invite live-performance submissions that respond creatively to the specific affordances of new interfaces for music. We expand the notion of composition to include the exploration of idiomatic writing for new musical instruments that engages the performance practice with unique affordances of the instrument through the way it relates sonic, social and spatial interactions. We strongly encourage submissions that explore idiomatic writing as a novel, exploratory, creative, physical, imaginative use of instruments in a live performance. We will consider live performance submissions that go well beyond demonstrating the interface/instrument and investigate specific musical and expressive possibilities that sound and music computing technologies provide. In addition to live-performance submissions, we invite composers/sound artists to submit fixed media works that respond specifically this year’s theme “Wave in Time and Space”. We will provide a multi-channel listening room in the conference venue for the fixed media works.

Submissions must be made using the Easy Chair SMC-17 web upload system available here. A draft version of the music performance proposal has to be submitted before February 17, 2017. This is mandatory to include your submission in the review process. If your submission has not been registered in the system before February 17, it will be rejected immediately. Those who submit a draft version will be allowed to update it during a one-week period. The full submission must be uploaded by March 3, 2017. Submitted proposals will be peer-reviewed by an international expert committee. We particularly invite premieres for the live performances from performers with a track record, whose proposed performance is technically feasible and within the artists’ capabilities.

Proposals should be submitted in PDF format (max. 4 pages) and should include the following:

  • Title and category (live performance or fixed media)
  • Instrumentation
  • Year
  • Duration
  • Contact information
  • Program notes (200 words max.)
  • Biography (100 words max.)
  • A link to one primary video documentation of an example performance of the work
  • Stereo MP3-formatted audio files or MP4-formatted video files if available (other supporting materials)
  • Performance scores and parts as PDF (if existent)
  • A clear description of the concept of the work – idiomatic writing composition related to the performance (if existent)
  • Evidence of the feasibility of the performance. Include documentation and listings of past performances or related works that demonstrate the submitter’s capabilities to implement the proposed performance.
  • Performers required (please state if you intend to bring your own performers). Within reasonable limits, we may be able to provide musicians to perform pieces but this would be negotiated on a piece-by-piece basis. Please also note that the organizers cannot provide funding to support performers’ travel or accommodation at the conference.
  • Technical specifications and setup (specify what you would bring and what you would expect SMC to provide)

Technical Notes: Typical SMC performance pieces last for 5-10 minutes, but shorter and longer performance / fixed media proposals may exceptionally be taken into consideration. Note that in case your piece is selected, you will need to attend the concert and pay the registration fee.

Call for Sound Installations

We invite sound installation submissions that respond this year’s theme “Wave in Time and Space”. We will have a number of locations that can be used to exhibit sound installation works. These are foyer location installations or room-based installations in connection to the conference venues. Submitted proposals will be subject to a peer review process by an international expert committee. Submissions must be made using the Easy Chair SMC-17 web upload system available here. A draft version of the sound installation proposal has to be submitted before February 17, 2017. This is mandatory to include your submission in the review process. If your submission has not been registered in the system before February 17, then it will be rejected immediately. Those who submit a draft version will be allowed to update it during a one-week period. The full submission must then be uploaded by March 3, 2017.

Please note that you will need to attend to the conference and pay the registration fee in case your piece is selected for the artistic program. Please also note that the organizers cannot provide funding to support travelling or accommodation at the conference. Those planning to submit should be prepared to arrive in Espoo to set up the installations on Monday, July 3rd. Please submit your proposal in PDF format (max. 4 pages) containing the following information:

  • Title of work
  • Names of contributing artists
  • Year
  • Duration
  • Contact information
  • Program notes (200 words max.)
  • Biography (100 words max.)
  • A clear description of the concept of the work; provide any documentation of previous presentations of this installation (if they exist)
  • Pictures, schematic diagrams and/or proposed floor plans; describe the space needed and the adaptability of the installation in terms of possible venues
  • MP4-formatted video files (other supporting materials)
  • Technical specifications and setup (specify what you would bring and what you would expect SMC to provide)
Important Dates
  • Deadline for music performance and sound installations draft submissions: Feb. 17, 2017
  • Deadline for music performance and sound installations full submissions: March 3, 2017
  • Deadline for music performance and sound installations full submissions: Feb. 24, 2017
  • Notification of music performance and sound installations acceptance: April 21, 2017
  • Notification of music performance and sound installations acceptance: April 28, 2017

Inquiries on music performance and sound installation submissions should be directed to the SMC-17 music chair Koray Tahiroğlu [koray.tahiroglu@aalto.fi].