14th International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME)

June 30 – July 3, 2014
Goldsmiths, University of London
London, UK
Introduction

NIME (New Interfaces for Musical Expression) is the premier conference in designing human-computer interfaces and interactions for musical performance. NIME gathers researchers and practitioners around lectures, installations, concerts, and workshops. We are delighted to host NIME 2014 at Goldsmiths, University of London, bringing NIME for the first time to London and situating the conference within highly developed UK research networks in music computing, media, design, and HCI, and connecting NIME research to a thriving local music scene, art, and interaction design communities.

In its second decade, one can say that NIME, as a field, has “arrived.” Sensing technology is ubiquitous in consumer products like smart-phones and video game controllers. Computer-based music performance is no longer contained in specialised genres, but has become the norm in a broad range of musical styles. The success of interactive music technologies puts in question the very need for NIME to even exist.

The take-up of NIME techniques in all music causes the technology to disappear and forces us to focus on the music. This represents a double-edged sword. While the focus on musical quality is paramount, it can only be built upon foundations of solid craft and excellent science. In order to avoid re-inventing the wheel, and worse yet, repeating mistakes, NIME needs to build a legacy of reproducible results, citable references, and transferrable methods and techniques that can be transmitted to students, broader groups of musicians, and amateurs eager to engage in richer musical experiences.

New instruments and interaction are at the heart of NIME. Lutherie and composition combine to create the means to deliver compelling live performances. This is an ideal, and is more often than not, assumed. In between the science of interaction and the art of music-making are the cultural and theoretical considerations about what comprises an exciting performance.

With the theme Liveness, we draw upon Philip Auslander’s reading of this seemingly simple word as a way to look at issues of authenticity, experience, and the role that theatricality and mediatization might play in reinforcing or detracting from a successful performer/audience dynamic.

We will build upon a productive history of collaboration between Goldsmiths and Brunel University in the Brunel Electronic and Analogue Music (BEAM) festival to bring added excitement to the NIME 2014 concert and exhibition programme. We will partner with high profile venues such as Café Oto and DIY communities like London Music Hackspace to open up the NIME artistic programme to the general public and connect our research community to the thriving music scene in London.
Call for Participation

On behalf of the NIME 2014 Committee, we would like to invite you to be part of the 14th international conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression.

We invite submission of new works in the following categories:

Papers and Posters
Performances and Installations
Workshops and Tutorials
Demonstrations and Demo-performances

IMPORTANT DATES:

Artistic programme: Performances & Installation works
Submissions due: December 1, 2013
Review Notification: February 1, 2014

Scientific programme: Papers, Workshops, Demonstrations:
Draft submission (mandatory): January 31, 2014
Final submission: February 7, 2014
Review notification: March 28, 2014
Camera-ready paper deadline: April 18, 2014

An online submission system will open on November 15th, 2013 and its address will be published here.

N.B. Please note that the art programme deadline this year does not coincide with the paper deadline.

N.B. Note the new system in the scientific programme for mandatory draft submission followed by full submission. We have implemented this new system to address the perennial deadline extensions. This year, we will not offer extensions. The Draft Submission deadline corresponds to previous years’ submission deadline. On this date, the author must be registered on the online submission system and have submitted a full draft manuscript of their paper. You will then have one week (the time of prior years’ extensions) to make minor edits to your manuscript.
Scientific Programme
CALL FOR PAPERS

We welcome submissions of original research on scientific and artistic use of new interfaces for musical expression. A non-exhaustive list of NIME related topics is found below. This list is inclusive, and indicative. The thematic focus of this year’s edition is Liveness, and is described in the introduction above. We also encourage submissions that extend, stretch, or challenge the NIME topics and themes.

Acceptance criteria: The paper under consideration must propose an original contribution to NIME research; it must cite prior related work and should demonstrate rigorous research methodology.

There are three different paper submission categories:

Full paper (up to 6 pages in proceedings, longer oral presentation, optional demo)
Short paper/poster (up to 4 pages in proceedings, shorter oral presentation or poster, optional demo)
Demo paper (up to 2 pages in proceedings, demonstration)

Submitted papers will be subject to a peer review process by an international expert committee. All accepted papers will be published in the conference proceedings, under an ISSN/ISBN reference, and will be archived online after the conference to be tracked by citation tools. A manuscript submitted for review cannot be already under review for publication elsewhere, or be submitted for a second review elsewhere while under review for NIME 2014. Authors of both full and short papers are greatly encouraged to submit a video in support of their paper. A video is mandatory for demonstration submission.

A best paper award will be presented to the individual(s) judged by the scientific committee to have written the best paper appearing in the conference proceedings.

In the aim to constantly improve the conference, this year the papers and demos will go through a modified review process compared to the previous years. The complete process is detailed below.
CALL FOR WORKSHOPS

We invite submissions for half-day (3 hours) or full-day (6 hours) workshops and tutorials. These can be targeted towards specialist techniques, platforms, hardware, software or pedagogical topics for the advancement of fellow NIME-ers and people with experience related to the topic. They can also be targeted towards visitors to the NIME community, novices/newbies, interested student participants, people from other fields, and members of the public getting to know the potential of NIME.

Tutorial proposals should clearly indicate the audience and assumed knowledge of their intended participants to help us market to the appropriate audience. Workshops and tutorials can relate to, but are not limited to, the topics of the conference. This is a good opportunity to explore a specialized interest or interdisciplinary topic in depth with greater time for discourse, debate, and collaboration.

REVIEW PROCESS

After you submit your paper, it will go through a rigorous review process that has been changed compared to the previous years. Overall, the review process comprises three layers of evaluation: reviewer, meta-reviewer and scientific chairs. The process is as follows:

Each paper is assigned to one meta-reviewer who is a representative of the general research topic that the paper deals with.
The meta-reviewer together with the scientific chairs are assigning the papers to the reviewers that will evaluate it according to a set of criteria. Each paper has at least two reviewers.
The meta-reviewer writes a meta-review based on the reviewers’ comments. The meta-reviewer may ask further details to a reviewer in case the produced comments are too concise.
The scientific chairs gather reviews and meta-reviews. They discuss with the meta-reviewers and finalize a decision for each paper.
The anonymity of the submission is preserved all along the review process.

Artistic Programme
CALL FOR PERFORMANCES & INSTALLATIONS

We invite submission of proposals for performances and installations. Proposed performances should have a clear connection with the substance of the NIME conference. We expand the notion of NIME in the performance programme, to include the exploration of existing interfaces into new sounds, new methods or new ways of being physical. These performances might re-insert the body into digital performance, or they might suggest new modes of performing and the presentation of live music that go beyond existing practices whilst exploiting the unique affordances of interfaces and technologies.

We encourage submissions that explore:

Novel and exploratory use of interfaces in performance
Both old and new interfaces
Use of innovative, imaginative and creative methods.

We invite you to consider fully what a performance can be: you should go well beyond demonstrating the interface and we will consider any performance that is in the realm of live, electronically-produced sound, where an interface is central to the realisation of the music.

Submitted proposals will be reviewed by an expert committee. Preference will be given to submissions with strong evidence that the proposed performance has already been realized or is technically feasible and within the artists’ capabilities. We particularly invite premieres from performers with a track record, or with interfaces that have been well tested.
CALL FOR DEMO-PERFORMANCES

This year, we introduce a hybrid zone between the artistic and scientific programme by creating a new category of demonstration-performance. This is particularly apt for new interfaces and performance sketches which are still in the testing or early artistic phase. A lively demo session will allow you to set up your piece or instrument and give short performances in an unstaged setting.
PERFORMANCE SUBMISSION FORMAT

You should submit a PDF document, maximum 4 pages. The proposal must include the following:

Title and detailed description of the proposed performance.
A link to one primary video documentation of an example performance with the relevant interface. If video documentation is inappropriate for your performance, please explain why and instead send an audio file with accompanying photographs (these do not need to be to marketing standard, they are more for explanation of how your performance will look).
Links to any relevant supplementary supporting media files (audio and video).
Number of performers and the instruments and technologies that will be used.
Names of all participants/submitters, with a short bio for each (100 words).
Details of technical requirements for the venue. Diagrams of the preferred stage setup and signal routing are recommended.
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.
A list of any equipment that needs to be provided by the conference organizers.
Any instrumental performers that would need to be provided by the organizers. Note that the conference organizers may not be able to accommodate your request. Please also note that the organizers cannot provide funding to support performers’ travel or accommodation at the conference.
Please specify if the performance is a demo.
Please note whether performance would be better in club, bar or traditional concert environment.

INSTALLATION SUBMISSION FORMAT

NIME 2014 will provide several locations for sound installations. Submitted proposals will be subject to a peer review process by an international expert committee. In order to present an installation for NIME 2014, please submit a proposal in the form of a PDF document, maximum 4 pages, containing the following information:

The title of the work
Names of contributing artists
A clear description of the proposed installation that will provide reviewers with a sense of its motivation and proposed realization. Pictures, schematic diagrams and/or proposed floor plans would be helpful here. You may also provide any documentation of previous presentations of this installation (if they exist)
Describe the space needed and the adaptability of the installation in terms of possible venues.
Provide a list of equipment required for the installation, clearly indicating what you will bring and what you would require the conference organizers to provide.

NOTES

Performance proposals in conjunction with paper submissions are allowed, but each will be judged on its own merit.
Typical NIME performance pieces last for 5-15 minutes, but shorter and longer performance proposals may exceptionally be taken into consideration.
Within reasonable limits, we may be able to provide musicians to perform pieces but this would be negotiated on a piece-by-piece basis.
Documentation of the performances will be available online after the conference unless this is impossible due to the nature of the performance.

Topics

Core topics central to NIME include the following. In addition to submissions that address specific themes of this year’s edition of the conference, original contributions are encouraged in, but not limited to, the following topics:
- Novel controllers and interfaces for musical expression
- Novel musical instruments
- Augmented/hyper instruments
- Novel controllers for collaborative performance
- Sensor and actuator technologies
- Haptic and force feedback devices
- Motion, gesture and music
- Interfaces for dance and physical expression
- Multimodal expressive interfaces
- Interfaces for musical expression for hearing or visually impaired people
- Interactive game music
- NIME intersecting with game design
- Robotic music
- Mobile music technology and performance paradigms
- Biological and bio-inspired systems
- Musical mapping strategies
- Interactive sound and multimedia installations
- Musical human-computer interaction
- Interaction design and software tools
- Interface protocols and data formats
- Sonic interaction design
- Perceptual and cognitive issues
- Performance analysis
- Performance rendering and generative algorithms
- Machine learning in musical performance
- Experiences with novel interfaces in live performance and composition
- Surveys of past work and stimulating ideas for future research
- Historical studies in twentieth-century instrument design
- Artistic, cultural, and social impact of NIME technology
- Novel interfaces in music education and entertainment
- Reports on student projects in the framework of NIME related courses
- Practice-based research approaches/methodologies/criticism
- User studies/evaluations of NIME
- Language and state in live interaction
- Musicianship of new musical interfaces
Organizing Committee

NIME 2014 is hosted by the EAVI group eavi.goldsmithsdigital.com at Goldsmiths, University of London, UK.

General Co-chairs
Atau Tanaka (Goldsmiths)
Rebecca Fiebrink (Goldsmiths)

Scientific Co-chairs
Baptiste Caramiaux (Goldsmiths)
Koray Tahiroğlu (Aalto University, Helsinki)

Artistic Co-chairs
Sarah Nicolls (Brunel University)
Adam Parkinson (Goldsmiths)

Posters and Demos Co-chairs
Marco Donnarumma (Goldsmiths)
Alessandro Altavilla (Goldsmiths)

Special Sessions Co-chairs
Marco Gillies (Goldsmiths)
Alex McLean (University of Leeds)
Jean-Baptiste Thiebaut (ROLI/Music Hackspace)

Student Volunteer Coordinators
Peter Mackenzie (Goldsmiths)
Anna Weisling (Goldsmiths)

Conference Producer
Stephanie Horak (Goldsmiths)