New Initiatives Bid Form 2009
Title of project Sound Thought 2009
Contact person / email address
Chris Hutchings (chair) – c.hutchings.1@research.gla.ac.uk
Jo Clements (treasurer) – j.clements.1@research.gla.ac.uk
Funding required £2167.50
Target Audience (please tick all that apply)
PhD Researchers
X
Postdocs
X
Other (please state) General public and all students
All Faculties
X
IBLS
□
Medicine
□
Arts/ Humanties
X
Vet med
□
Engineering
X
FIMS
□
Physical Sci
□
Education
X
LBSS
□
Provide a brief description of the project . Include the project aim, key deliverables and why you think it is important to the development of researchers at Glasgow (max
600 words)
Sound Thought is a research training and showcase event aimed at postgraduate researchers working on music-related subjects across disciplines. We aim to provide training for around 40 postgraduates from across the U.K. through three elements: training workshops, presentations of postgraduates’ papers and compositions, and presentation of posters. With the exception of the training workshops the event is open to the public. Sound Thought will take place on 27 th and 28 th November.
Sound Though aims to:

provide hands-on training in the delivery and publication of materials in musicology, composition and music technology

enhance the music research environment at the university through interdisciplinary collaboration and collaboration with professional musicians and academic institutions

provide a venue for the exposition and promotion of postgraduate research in music across the university, to both an academic and public audience

engage the public with music research at the university and promote understanding of the research field
Preparing and presenting research (including composition) to a variety of audiences is an essential part of academic and professional musical life. Yet it can be difficult to find the audience or resources with which to practise these skills. Sound Thought aims to provide training in communication skills E1, 2 and 3 under the RCUK’s Joint
Statement of the Skills Training Requirements for Research Students by providing an audience and resources for postgraduates to practise these skills. Engaging professional new music specialists, for example, will allow compositions of considerable complexity to be presented. For presenters and members of the audience Sound Thought offers opportunities to evaluate the findings of others (A5. under the Statement of Skills) and to give, receive and respond to “live” feedback (F3. under the Statement of Skills).
Sound Thought aims to bridge inter- and intra-disciplinary divides and stimulate dialogue and collaboration. Two workshops will open the event; “Composition as research” and “What makes music popular?”. These have been chosen to bring postgraduates from traditional categories together to see where research methods
Please return bids to the Researcher Development Initiative at No 10 The Square
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from one might be applied in another. These workshops will allow postgraduates to develop and maintain peer networks across institutions (F1. under the Statement of
Skills), as well as increase the peer-element of the audience for the showcase element.
Confirmed speakers are Professor Sara Cohen (University of Liverpool), Professor
Simon Frith (University of Edinburgh), Professor Martin Cloonan (University of
Glasgow), Dr. Fabrice Fitch (University of Durham) and Dr. Nick Fells (University of
Glasgow). In addition to their subject specific contributions it is hoped that these speakers will bring to bear their experience of interdisciplinary work in music research from angles as diverse as film and media studies (Professor Frith) and sociology
(Professor Cohen), and of crossing intra-disciplinary boundaries such as that between composition and historical musicology (Dr. Fitch).
Music fills people’s surroundings as never before yet the opportunities for postgraduate music researchers to engage the public in their research are few. Our event ties in with E4 in the Statement of Skills in contributing to public understanding of the research field, and with the AHRC ’s Knowledge Transfer Strategy in nurturing interaction with non-academic groups. Opening the showcase elements to the general public, and advertising widely throughout Glasgow will help to inform the public, raise the profile of individuals and increase the impact of music research at the
University of Glasgow, and into music generally. The inclusion of the public provides an opportunity for postgraduates to practise presenting materials to an audience of specialists and non-specialists (E2. under the Statement of Skills). For composers in particular there is a need to develop a strong public profile in order to enhance future employment prospects.
Which areas of the Joint Skills Statement does this project align to? (see
Appendix 1)
A
X
B
X
C
□
D
X
E
X
F
X
G
X
A3 . A knowledge of recent advance’s in one’s field and in related areas.
A4. An understanding of relevant research methodologies and techniques and their appropriate application within one’s research field.
A5. The ability to analyse critically and evalua te one’s findings and those of others.
B1. Show a broad understanding of the context, at the national and international level, in which research takes place.
B6. Justify the principles and experimental techniques used in one’s own research.
B7. Understand the process of academic or commercial exploitation of research results.
D4. Demonstrate self-awareness and the ability to identify own training needs.
E1. Write clearly and in a style appropriate to purpose
E2. Construct coherent arguments and articulate ideas clearly to a range of audiences
E3. Constructively defend research outcomes at seminars and viva examination
E4. Contribute to promoting the public understanding of one's research field
F1. Develop and maintain co-operative networks
F3. Listen, give and receive feedback and respond perceptively to others
G 2. Take ownership for an manage one’s career progression, set realistic and achievable career goals, and identify and develop ways to improve employability.
Monitoring and Evaluation, please describe how you will evaluate this project
We will evaluate the success of Sound Thought 2009 in a number of different ways:
1. Headcounts at the showcase elements – this will allow us to assess how successful Sound Thought is in promoting music research to the general public.
2. An exit questionnaire at the showcase event – this will allow us to assess how successful Sound Thought is in increasing public understanding of the research field,
Please return bids to the Researcher Development Initiative at No 10 The Square
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and in promoting music research to the public.
3. Collection of and evaluation of any published reviews - this will allow us to assess how successful Sound Thought is in promoting music research to the general public.
4. An immediately post-event questionnaire for participating postgraduate students – this will allow us to asses how useful postgraduates found the training in giving and receiving feedback and preparing and presenting materials to an audience of specialist and non-specialists, and how useful they found the more subject-specific workshops.
5. A questionnaire emailed to participating postgraduate students six month after the event exploring opportunities which may have arisen as a result of participating in
Sound Thought – to asses how successful Sound Thought is in raising the profile of individuals and fostering collaboration between disciplines and postgraduates in different academic institutions.
6. Informal feedback from postgraduate presenters on their perceptions of the audience response – to asses how successful Sound Thought is in increasing public understanding of the research field.
6. Informal feedback from the professional musicians on the audience response and on their willingness to return should the event run in 2010 – in order to asses the success of Sound Thought in promoting the research field and in fostering collaboration with professional musicians.
What is the intended timeframe for the project (include any key dates, project start and end dates? Is it a one-off or likely to become an ongoing activity?)
The event will take place on Friday 27 th and Saturday 28 th November 2009:

Friday 27 th November o 1400-1700 – Research training workshops “Composition as Research” and “What Makes Music Popular?” o 1900-2100 – Presentation of papers and compositions o 2100-0000 – Welcome reception and presentation of posters
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Saturday 28 th November o 1400-1800 - Presentation of papers and compositions, with intervals in which posters can be viewed o 1900-2100 – Presentation of papers and compositions, with a particular focus on electro-acoustic and acousmatic work o 2100-0000 – Performances by creative practitioners and end of event celebration
Planning began in December 2008
Milestones already completed:

Interested musicians have been contacted and venues booked.
 £2000 funding has been awarded by the University of Glasgow Graduate
School of Arts and Humanities Collaborative Research Training Initiative.
 £1000 has been awarded by the Hope Scott Trust.

A call for papers and compositions has been sent out to all University of
Glasgow postgraduates.
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Confirmation has been sent to postgraduate students whose proposals have been accepted from the departments of Music, Theatre, Film and Television
Studies, English Literature, Engineering and the Glasgow School of Art
A web page for the event has been created with dates and contact details.
Future milestones:

June-August – Further funding to be sought from the University of Glasgow
Research and Enterprise New Initiatives fund ( £2000 ), the Performing Rights
Society Awards to Festivals (£2000 ), and commercial sponsors.

31 st August – Visual identity of event to have been established and publicity materials to be prepared for printing and distribution
Please return bids to the Researcher Development Initiative at No 10 The Square
(e.adams@admin.gla.ac.uk)


31 st August – Potential commercial sponsors to have been approached.
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September – Publicity materials to be distributed, press releases written and release dates confirmed, website fully updated
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1 st October – Deadline for receipt of scores and parts of compositions
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Early October
– Parts sent to musicians
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1 st November
– Arrangements for payment of musicians to be in place
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Week prior to event – catering to be organised, rehearsals and workshopping of compositions
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26 th November – deadline for poster presentations to be sent to steering committee
We expect Sound Thought to continue past 2009, hopefully becoming a regular fixture within the university year.
Please provide a breakdown of costs
Please return bids to the Researcher Development Initiative at No 10 The Square
(e.adams@admin.gla.ac.uk)

Costs (£)
1598.50
Detail and rationale of costs
Design and printing of 5000 x A5 flyers and 200 x A3 posters and updating of website www.soundthought.info
Engagement with the public is a key element of the research training we aim to provide through Sound Thought . We anticipate that placing hard copy publicity material in music venues around
Glasgow, and flyering other new music events will be the most effective means to reach our target audience. This material will have to compete for attention with high quality professionally produced publicity material for other events. For this reason we would like to engage a professional designer to produce our material. This is, however, dependent on funding.
Hire of projection screen. 45.00
434.00
100.00
2400.00
450.00
140.00
Janitorial cover for venues
Keyboard tuning
Musicians’ fees for performances plus two rehearsals per postgraduate composer at current Musicians’ Union rates.
Workshopping their compositions with musicians and presenting their compositions to an audience are essential parts of the training of postgraduate composers that Sound Thought seeks to address.
The music produced by postgraduate composers is often highly complex and beyond the ability of most amateur musicians to reproduce accurately. Employing professional musicians who specialise in new music will allow the audience to experience the composer’s intentions most closely which will result in more useful feedback for the composer. Employing specialists in new music will also reduce the amount of rehearsal time needed and so the expenditure in this area.
Travel and accommodation expenses for two external workshop presenters
Having presenters from outside Glasgow University will widen the available fields of research significantly beyond what is currently available to Glasgow postgraduates. It is also hoped that they will raise the profile of the event significantly and so attract postgraduate students and the general public from other parts of the country increasing the opportunities for interdisciplinary networking and engagement with the public.
Catering - Friday evening reception and Saturday afternoon interval.
This catering will be provided in the same room as the poster presentations. It is hoped that this will encourage viewing of the posters and discussion with the postgraduate students presenting.
Total: 5167.50
Please return bids to the Researcher Development Initiative at No 10 The Square
(e.adams@admin.gla.ac.uk)