Timbre and Orchestration Resource (TOR)

Summary | Contact | Overview | Subgroups | Projects

This groups aims to build and expand the TOR, which is the open-access pedagogical, web-based resource that will be a cornerstone output of the ACTOR project.

Kit Soden, Ben Duinker, Andrés Gutiérrez Martínez

Contact: Kit Soden at actor-webmaster.music[at]mcgill.ca

This innovative, pedagogical, web-based resource is a tool for timbre and orchestration education, bringing together the knowledge and expertise of the Analysis, Creation, and Teaching (ACTOR) Project. The Timbre and Orchestration Resource (TOR) offers collaborative resources on a vast range of orchestration issues. The TOR serves as the public face of all ACTOR Project research and provides an exploration tool for students, composers, and orchestrators.

Our goal is to help you learn and explore the exciting topics of Timbre and Orchestration, through the lens of the research taking place at the ACTOR Project.

As the TOR represents the public face of the research of the Working Groups, the “Subgroups” are essentially all the Working Groups themselves; each will be contributing to the TOR in many ways.

Proposed Development Plan for the Timbre and Orchestration Resource (TOR) 

Educational Modules

1. Research-Creation Modules: for ACTOR members’ composition methodologies, or performance practice, or creative software applications, or multimedia work, or recording techniques, etc.

2. Timbre Research Modules:

   • highlight ACTOR members’ timbre research

3. Instrumentation / Organology : in depth information about instruments

   • Instruments overview

   • History

   • Construction

   • Acoustics

   • Classification(s)

   • Extended Techniques

   • Ranges

   • Descriptors / Qualities

   • Orchestral exemplifications (examples from Treatises)

4. Edutainment

   • Lesson Plans for younger children built around ACTOR deliverables and member creations like Sonic Solveig apps, Cameron Chameleon, etc.

   • Timbre and orchestration oriented companion curricula to existing pieces (similar to but not limited to the ones that are “always” taught)

5. Taxonomy modules: text and audio modules exploring the taxonomies being worked on by some members of the ACTOR Project:

6. CORE: Recordings, scores, interviews, analysis, etc.

7. Reorchestration module: audio and score-based examples of reorchestrations

8. Orchestral Repertoire: lists, audio links, and descriptions

9. Video Presentations: Paper presentations (conference), Long presentations (visiting lecture)

10. Tutorials: Text-based or Video-based tutorials.

11. Sound Recording Module: Expand on ODESSA pages, include more recordings from the ODESSA’s in Geneva and Detmold

12. Assisted orchestration module

Timbre and Orchestration Blogs

1.     Current blogs: Amazing Moments in Timbre Blog and Timbrelingo Blog: Solicit more blogs from student members or as class projects.

2.     Possible New blogs:

• Teaching Orchestration (could link to some of the curricula and lesson plans)

• Teaching Timbre  (could link to some of the curricula and lesson plans)

• Timbre and Performance

• A music theorist’s guide to timbre

Resources/Links

1. Timbre and Orchestration bibliography.

2. Support for published edited volumes: Web compliment with audio files and scores on ACTOR website protected page

3. Links to resources for teaching, learning, and composing with extended techniques

Internal:

1. TMC and KMC

   • create modules for resources for students

   • research methods

2. Timbre thesaurus

3. Linking to ORCHARD

Connect

SLACK Channel

• Contact Andre Martins de Oliveira if there are any issues accessing this Slack Channel

Workgroup Reports

Related Funded Projects