Microtonal Design Unconference 2011

Microtonal Design Unconference 2011(Please forward this announcement widely!)

Oddmusic Urbana-Champaign and the School for Designing a Society present
A MICROTONAL UNCONFERENCE (wiki) (blog)
Tuesday April 19 – Saturday April 23, 2011 at the Independent Media Center in
Urbana, Illinois

Through a series of historical accidents, Western society’s music has come to
be dominated by a single tuning system, often called “twelve tone equal
temperament.” This dominance is so pervasive that it is often completely
invisible. In this climate of intonational monoculture, those who oppose the
status quo with fresh and oddly-tuned musics need DESIGN.

Microtonality (or Xenharmonics) is a proposal to sing out of tune with
conventional wisdom and offer a badly-needed alternative to what everyone
already knows. The School for Designing a Society is currently holding
meetings to “unstick the ear” in a seminar called Microtonal Design, taught by
members of Oddmusic U-C. Its participants seek to collaborate and share what
they care about in an experimental format we’re calling an Unconference.

The ‘un’ in ‘unconference’ refers to a non-hierarchical organization. To
start, we’ll use a collaborative wiki to share plans and desires, and the
events will take shape from there. It’s an opportunity to present &
collaborate on what we are calling Microtonal Design (compositions,
instruments, performances, and other media) in a variety of formats, as
determined by the desires of participants. We imagine an intensive filled
with jams, recording projects, collaborative composing, manifestos, instrument
building, brainstorming for the future, research, etc.

The event is free and there are many capacities in which you might participate:
* You may decide to come to Urbana for the entire five days of the
Unconference, which begins in the afternoon on Tuesday, April 19, when we
finalize the schedule with our special guests and current students and
organizers.
* Or you may decide to come on Friday, April 22, for an all-day
interdisciplinary intensive which lasts until Saturday (IMC-OMNIA).
* Or may decide to come on Saturday, April 23, for a culminating event: a
three-hour gala with workshops, performances, and various other showings and
events related to Microtonal Design, which will be publicized in Urbana. You
may prefer to show up for the event and participate as a casual event-goer; or
you may bring something to present. In the latter case, please get in touch
ahead of time.
If you would like to participate in any capacity other than casual event-goer
on Saturday, April 23, please start by editing the wiki page for the
Unconference (anyone may edit, with or without a Wikispaces account) and add
your name to the list or participants.

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