The Soundtrack

Special Issue Call for Proposals:  Musical Disruptions in Video Games

Guest Editor:  Stephanie Lind (Queen’s University)

Deadline for submission:  Friday, March 15^th, 2019

While music in many video games is often designed to seamlessly embed into the player’s experience, thus contributing to immersion, in some games music functions instead as a disruption, interrupting the gameplay experience.

For example, in rhythm games such as Guitar Hero, these disruptions function as cues to the player about their progress through a level game; a failed level means that the audio is cut (literally disrupted).  But in subtler cases, musical disruptions may function as anachronisms, or as dramatic contrast meant to emotionally engage the player.  For example, in Assassin’s Creed, electronically-distorted music and sounds are a reminder to the player that their character is a modern-day victim transported virtually to the past through memory.  In Battlefield 1’s “Flight of the Pigeon”, a shift of orchestration from percussion-heavy, low-register brass and strings to a higher-register piano is a dramatic contrast that highlights the shift from human to bird perspective, disengaging the player from the heavy emotional impact of battle to a spacious, uplifting moment of freedom. 

These musical disruptions can signal elements of narrative, of success versus failure in gameplay, of changes in perspective, and more.  As a result, these disruptions are a key element of the game experience, contributing not only to the narrative of the game but also to its emotional impact on the player.

We seek a range of work on the topic of musical disruption in video games incorporating musical and/or inter-disciplinary perspectives, including but not limited to musicology, ethnomusicology, music theory/analysis, communication/media studies, cultural studies, sound studies, and cognition studies.  Questions about the suitability of a possible proposal are encouraged and may be sent to the e-mail listed below before the deadline. 

Call for Papers
The Gothic, the Abject and the Supernatural: 200 Years of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
October 31- November 1, 2019
Carleton University, Ottawa

After two centuries, the Frankenstein myth—and indeed Gothic horror in general—has proven remarkably resilient, continuing to fascinate the Western cultural imaginary in literature as well as visual art, music, film, drama, women’s studies, cultural studies, and related​ disciplines. The impact and​ resonance Mary Shelley's 1818 novel has had, very broadly, across the spectrum of cultural history is fertile ground for a fresh examination that brings these disciplines together. Our conference seeks to foster the creation of knowledge about the extraordinarily influential tale in an environment of multidisciplinary dialogue and engagement. The program committee invites submission on topics including (but not restricted to) areas of inquiry such as the following:​

Frankenstein and the Gothic in music, film, visual arts, and architecture;
The Gothic Imagination, conceptions of the Gothic;
Frankenstein as “Other”;
Frankenstein as Christian allegory​;
Mary Shelley and her creative milieu;
Frankenstein reception;
Issues relating to robotics, automatons, artificial intelligence;
Related gender issues, then and now​;
Frankenstein and disability.

Appel à communications
Journée d’étude : Transnationalisme et transculturalisme dans la musique canadienne, 1969-2019
Université d’Ottawa
École de musique
Vendredi 27 septembre 2019

Dans le cadre des célébrations marquant son 50e anniversaire, l’École de musique de l’Université d’Ottawa organise une journée d’étude le vendredi 27 septembre 2019. Intitulée « Transnationalisme et transculturalisme dans la musique canadienne, 1969-2019 », cette journée d’étude offrira des opportunités d’échanges et de débats sur le thème de la musique classique contemporaine canadienne et sur les façons dont celle-ci fut influencée par la mondialisation, l’immigration, les déplacements, l’exile, le multiculturalisme, l’exotisme et tout autre phénomène dénotant la créativité des dialogues et des rencontres transcendant les frontières géographiques et culturelles canadiennes historiquement fondées. En se concentrant sur la composition musicale de tradition classique, cette journée d’étude vise à promouvoir le travail universitaire sur les compositeurs et les musiciens canadiens à la fois émergents et de grande renommée.