Call for Entries – Georgia Tech’s 2012 Margaret Guthman Musical Instrument Competition

[Hank The Curmudgeon]

http://gtcmt.gatech.edu/?p=7751

Grow your ideas for the next generation of musical instruments at
Georgia Tech’s Guthman Musical Instrument Competition.

An annual event to find the world’s best new ideas in musicality,
design and engineering, Wired magazine has called the competition an
“X-Prize for music,” and contestants have likened it to a TED
Conference for new musical instrument designers.

Submissions are being accepted online until October 15, 2011.
Preliminary and final performances will take place in Atlanta February
16-17, 2012, where contestants will battle for $10,000 in cash prizes.

This year, winners will be selected by an expert jury panel
comprised of Atau Tanaka, media artist and researcher, and Cyril
Lance, chief engineer at electronic musical instrument manufacturer
Moog Music.

The event calls for entries in the following categories:

Mobile: musical instruments that take advantage of the unique
interface elements and extreme portability of either standard
smartphone platforms or custom-made hardware devices to revolutionize
how and where music is made. See an example from past competitions.

Robotics: mechanical devices that play an existing acoustic
instrument or contain such an instrument within their design,
facilitating the performance of novel music and/or creating novel
collaborations with other musicians while they demonstrate the
potential for musicianship in the robotic realm. See an example from
past competitions.

Repurposed: musical instruments that are inspired by existing non-
musical objects, building upon their design to show the latent
musicality we regularly encounter but might not otherwise notice. See
an example from past competitions.

Augmented: musical instruments inspired by existing acoustic
instruments, building upon their existing design, playing technique
and performance practice with new elements that extend their
expressive capabilities. See an example from past competitions.

Controllers: novel hardware interfaces that can be readily
connected to other software or hardware via a standard protocol,
immediately expanding the expressive performance capabilities of
anything with which they are linked. See an example from past
competitions.

Prizes will be awarded to Best in Show, Best in Category, Best
Student Submission and People’s Choice.