Only some material in the fonds has been digitized. Please contact Banff Centre Archives to explore the whole fonds. If unannotated, duplicates were removed.
The Tuning of the World was an international and interdisciplinary conference that took place between August 6th-29th 1993 at Banff Centre. The conference was concerned with acoustic ecology, namely: the relationship between sound and the environment. The conference was co-sponsored by Banff Centre and the University of Calgary and consisted of exhibitions, performances, lectures, and panel discussions. Artistic events were interspersed within the conference program, with a number of performances taking place in the natural environment of Banff National Park. Among these featured a performance of R. Murray Schafer's ritual outdoor opera, "The Princess of the Stars," which took place during sunrise at a mountain lake, with archetypal characters represented by giant canoe-driven puppets. The conference represented the culmination of the R. Murray Schafer's World Soundscape Project, initiated nearly twenty-five years earlier at Simon Fraser University. Exhibitions at the Nickle Arts Museum, curated by Katherine Ylitalo, ran contiguously from August 6th to 29th. Conference participants included, but were not limited to: R. Murray Schafer, Ursula Franklin, Louis Dandrel, Marisa Fonterrada, Pauline Oliveros, Victor Flusser, Violeta Hemsy de Gainza, Steve Feld, Hildegard Westerkamp, David Lowenthal, and Edward Poitras. Major contributors to the conference included the Government of Canada's Cultural Initiatives Program and Monique Landry, Secretary of State of Canada and Minister of Communications. The conference received further support from the University of Calgary, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, The Rex Foundation, and the Calgary Region Arts Foundation. Timothy Buell served as the Conference Director; Carol Holmes as the Conference Coordinator; Gerald Rex Luthy as the Conference Manager, with technical support from Arnold Brookhaus and Martin Finnerty.
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Title based on the contents of the fonds
The fonds consists of material relating to the planning and proceedings of The Tuning of the World conference. The fonds is divided into five series which reflect the many items found in the fonds. materials in this fonds include procedural files including correspondence, budgets, reports, and planning documents belonging to Tuning of the World Conference Director Timothy Buell and Conference Administrator Annie Hillis. The fonds also includes photographs and recordings relevant to the conference.
Arrangement imposed by the archivist. Only the archival material in the donation was preserved. Contact the Archives for a full listing of the material that arrived with the donation.
The records were created by the Banff Centre and transferred to the Archives by the Tuning of the World conference administration after the event.
The fonds consists of the following accruals: 1990-58, 1993-71.6, 1994-38, and 1998-22. No further accruals are expected.
Some access restrictions may apply in accordance with Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy legislation. Please consult the archivist for more details.
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Series consists of documentation generated during the planning and execution of The Tuning of the World conference.
Some access restrictions may apply in accordance with Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy legislation. Please consult the archivist for more details.
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File consists of photocopied notes evaluating submissions; a list of presenters and presentation titles; an annotated list of accepted presenters with waived fees; a biography tracking sheet; annotated adjudication sheets, and notes.
File contains personal information. Access is restricted
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File includes job descriptions; notes; correspondence; memos; schedules; presenter bios; fax transmissions; room booking documents; meeting agendas, and registration fee breakdowns.
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File includes revenue and expense breakdown documents; receipts and correspondence regarding donated funds; an itemized technical services bill; documentation regarding blocked fees for University of Calgary students; documentation regarding food billing; a memo regarding the "Tuning Budget"'; grant correspondence, and annotated applied student listings.
File contains personal information. Access is restricted
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File includes Incoming, outgoing, and drafted correspondence concerning the planning and execution of The Tuning of the World conference. Materials are predominantly from Annie Hillis to Tim Buell. The file includes correspondence from R. Murray Schafer.
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File consists of draft mailouts to presenters and delegates, and a memo addressed to Annie Hillis.
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File consists of press releases and a flyer announcing and advertising the Tuning of the World Conference as well as the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology. There is also an itemized list concerning the "Tuning of the World Advertising Campaign."
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Item consists of two cardboard geometric "globes" with "The Tuning of the World" printed on select portions of the object.
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File consists of a draft copy of The Tuning of the World conference program; a conference schedule, and notes.
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File consists of final and draft copies of a brochure, flyers, and correspondence, including a memorandum from Gary Luthy regarding the "graphic identity" of the conference.
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Item is a promotional brochure for the Tuning of the World conference. The brochure contains an introduction from conference director Timothy Buell; calls for proposals; a list of conference direction and administration; a preliminary schedule; registration information, and information on invited speakers.
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File consists of a group photograph and notes regarding the "acoustic signatures" created for The Tuning of the World.
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File consists of a draft copy of the Soundwalk Booklet created for the "ear awakening exercises" that took place daily at 0700 as a part of The Tuning of the World conference.
File contains materials in German and Finnish.
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File consists of photocopied surrogates of newspaper clippings relating to the Tuning of the World Conference.
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File consists of correspondence, mailouts, a brochure, and several editions of a newsletter for the "World Forum for Acoustic Ecology."
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File consists of project reports and correspondence.
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File consists of volume one of The Tuning of the World's "Proceedings." The volume includes a preface from Director Timothy Buell; materials regarding the Nickel Arts Museum Exhibition; a summary of notes from Open Sessions; the scripts of the keynote speakers (Louis Dandrel's "Sound Town Planning"; Steven Feld's "From Ethnomusicology to Echo-muse-ecology Reading R. Murray Schafer in the Papua New Guinea Rainforest"; Marisa Fonterrada's "Music Education in Brazil: Murray Schafer's influence"; Ursula Franklin's "Silence and the Notion of Commons"; Violeta Hemsy de Gainza's "Schafer's Pedagogy of Music: An Analytical View of a Transcendental Approach"; David Lowenthal's "From the Harmony of the Spheres to National Anthem: Reflections on Musical Heritage," and Hildegard Westerkamp and Barry Traux's "The World Soundscape Project"); transcriptions of panel sessions ("Sound Sculpture and Sound Art"; "The Unwanted Sound Spectrum"; "Seeing with Sound," and "Sound Ghosts: Stop the Silencing of the Land); abstracts, and biographies.
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File consists of volume two of The Tuning of the World's "Proceedings." The volume includes documents from the paper sessions, including the papers themselves. The publication includes materials from Ross Bandt ("Current Trends in Sound Sculpture in Australia"); Andres Bosshard ("Discovering and Exploring the Terrestrial Soundscape"); Sabine Breitsameter ("Acoustic Travelling- Acoustic Experience"); Leif Brush ("Sustained Aspects of My Terrain Instruments"); Deborah Butterfield ("Toccata and Fugue"); Austin Clarkson ("Uncursing the Silence: An Exploration of Sonic Imagination"); Robert Coburn ("Bell Circles II: A Sound Environment as Permanent Public Art"); Geoffrey Cragg ("The Rhetoric of Nature in New-Age Music"); Marc Crunelle ("Is there an Acoustical Tradition in Western Architecture?"); Charles de Mestral ("Composing Acoustic Space: Holophonic Installations"); Jeffrey Ediger ("Imaginative Listening and the Reverberations of the World"); Marcia J. Epstein ("Sound Barriers: Reverberations on Prehistory, Technology and Culture"); Victor Flusser ("A Conversation with R. Murray Schafer"); Ray Gallon ("Turning up the Content"); Stefan Haag ("De-colonizing the North and Murray Schafer's Project of Acoustic Ecology"); R.I.P. Haymen ("On The Way..."); Adrian Ivakhiv ("De/composing (in) the Postmodern Soundscape"); John Laughton ("The Re-enchantment of Sound"); Kirk Mackenzie ("The Composer and the Soundscape: Influences of Soundscape Research and Aesthetics on the Compositions of R. Murray Schafer); Koozoo Maeda ("Reconstruction of the Historical Japanese Soundscape through Analysis of Haiku"); Mark McLoughlin ("Island: Audio Origins and Directions"); Wreford Miller ("Ecology and the Ideology of Sound"); Douglas Quin ("Amazonia/Rio Negro Sound Mapping Project"); Randy Raine-Reusch (From the Jungles of Borneo, to the Temples of Japan: 10 (y)ears"); Dominique M. Richard ("Breaking the Sound Barrier"); Ramond Ringuette ("La Pollution Par la Musique"); Manuel Rocha ("Unfolding the Natural Sound Object through Electroacoustic Composition"); David Rothenberg ("Becoming Voices in the Forest: on the Aesthetics of Rainforest Recordings"); Claude Schryer ("A Report on the 7e Printemps Electroacoustique 1992"); Christopher Smith ("The Acoustic Experience of Place"); Keiko Torigoe ("A Soniferous Garden of Rentaroh Taki"); Barry Traux ("Composing with Time-Shifted Environmental Sound"); Jeff Volk ("Of Sound, Mind and Body"); Yu Wakao ("On Suikinkutsu-Japanese Traditional Sound Installation"); Hans U. Werner ("Sound-Environment Design, Germany Soundscapes"); Lynn Whidden "Native Song as Geography<<<< Index Generated Here >>>>"), and Gayle Young ("Harmony in Soundscape").
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File consists of planning documentation for the creation of the "Proceedings" volumes. It includes correspondence, financial breakdowns, an annotated conference schedule, layout mockups, materials relating to contact information, and a publication agreement.
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Series consists of personnel files containing documentation relating to invited keynote speakers and panel member files.
Some access restrictions may apply in accordance with Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy legislation. Please consult the archivist for more details.
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File consists of documents, primarily correspondence, generated by conference heads and prospective speakers who did not attend the conference.
Restricted.
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File consists of materials relating to Louis Dandrel regarding their involvement with the Tuning of the World conference. At the time of the conference Dandrel was a composer, writer, acoustician, and the founder and director of Paris' "Atelier Espaces Nouveaux/Diasonic," which specializes in research on the acoustic design of urban architecture.
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File consists of materials relating to Steven Feld regarding their involvement with the Tuning of the World conference. Feld was a noted ethnomusicologist and winner of the MacArthur Prize. A producer of nature recordings, he is known for his rainforest soundscapes.
File contains materials in French.
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File consists of materials relating to Victor Flusser regarding their involvement with the Tuning of the World conference. At the time of the conference, Flusser was a musician, educator, and professor at the university of Strasbourg. Flusser was granted a Medici prize by the government of France to carry out educational research projects in Canada involving increasing the awareness of acoustic ecology as a field of study.
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File consists of materials relating to Marisa Fonterrada regarding their involvement with the Tuning of the World conference. At the time of the conference Fonterrada was a professor of music at Sao Paulo University Brazil, and a specialist in environmental music. She translated R. Murray Schafer's writings on music education into Portuguese.
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File consists of materials relating to Ursula Franklin regarding their involvement with the Tuning of the World conference. There are also some materials relating to Victor Flusser's performance in this file. An experimental physicist, at the time of the conference Franklin was a Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto, a former board member of the National research Council and the Science Council of Canada, and an officer of the Order of Canada. She is the author of "The Real World of Technology," a book based on her celebrated 1989 Massey Lectures, which explored the impact of technology on human existence.
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File consists of materials relating to Violeta Hemsy de Gainza regarding their involvement with the Tuning of the World conference. At the time of the conference de Gainza was a professor of music at Buenos Aires University, as well as an author and educator of many books on music. She is internationally renowned for her theories on music education.
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File consists of materials relating to Richard Kostelanetz regarding their involvement with the Tuning of the World conference. The bulk of the materials comprise correspondence between Kostelanez, Carol Holmes (The coordinator of Tuning of the World), and Henning Lohner. At the time of the conference, Kostelanetz's career had been closely associated with John Cage. He was the author and editor of numerous books about John Cage, including "Conversing with Cage," "Writings about John Cage," and "On Innovative Music(ian)s."
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File consists of materials relating to David Lowenthal regarding their involvement with the Tuning of the World conference. At the time of the conference Lowenthal was a geographer, historian, and author of "The Past is a Foreign Country."
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File consists of materials relating to Pauline Oliveros regarding their involvement with the Tuning of the World conference. A composer noted for participatory soundworks such as "Sonic meditations," Oliveros is also known for her "deep listening" retreats, where participants are shown how to expand and deepen their appreciation for the sound environment.
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File consists of materials relating to R. Murray Schaffer regarding their involvement with the Tuning of the World conference. A noted Canadian composer, musical journalist, literary scholar, creative writer, music educator, and social critic, Schaffer initiated the first detailed study of acoustic ecology nearly 25 years ago when he founded the World Soundscape Project at Simon Fraser University. The title of his seminal book, "The Tuning of the World," was adopted for the conference as a tribute to Schaffer on his 60th birthday.
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File consists of materials relating to Klaus Schoening regarding their involvement with the Tuning of the World conference. Schoening was responsible for radiophonic production at West German Radio in Cologne. He directed numerous experimental acoustic works in Europe, the United States, and Australia. At the time of the conference, he had commissioned and produced over 1000 radio broadcasts for WDR including sound art pieces by John Cage, Mauricio Kagel, Pierre Henry, Pauline Oliveros, and Richard Kostelanetz.
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File consists of materials relating to Barry Traux regarding their involvement with the Tuning of the World conference. At the time of the conference Traux was an electroacoustic composer and associate professor in the Department of Communication at Simon Fraser University. He is the author of "Acoustic Communication."
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File consists of materials relating to Hildegard Westerkamp regarding their involvement with the Tuning of the World conference. This file also contains materials relating to Westerkamp's involvement in the planning of the conference. At the time of the conference Westerkamp was a Vancouver electroacoustic and radiophonic composer. She was a member of the original "World Soundscape Project," founded by R. Murray Schafer at Simon Fraser University.
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Series consists of personnel files containing documentation relating to consultants and commissioned artists.
Some access restrictions may apply in accordance with Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy legislation. Please consult the archivist for more details.
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File consists of materials relating to Robert J. Rosen regarding their involvement with the Tuning of the World conference. The file contains correspondence, contracts, and documentation regarding Rosen's role as a commissioned artist for the conference. Rosen's work "Animals" took place near dusk, outdoors, near the town site of Banff, and was commissioned by Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, with the assistance of the Canada Arts Council. At the time, "Animals" marked the most recent piece in the Canyon Shadows Project. At the time of the conference, the first part of the Project, entitled "Stones," had been performed in Grotto Canyon in Alberta, on Signal Hill in Newfoundland, and on the shore of Parry Sound in Ontario.
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File consists of materials relating to Claude Schryer regarding their involvement with the Tuning of the World conference. The file contains correspondence, contracts, and documentation regarding Schryer's role as a production consultant for the conference. The documents refer to a work Schryer was commissioned to produce: a mixed, fifteen-minute voice and 8 track tape. Schryer's commission for the conference was titled "les voix de l'ecologie," and was based on R. Murray Schafer's 1977 acoustic ecology text, "The Tuning of the World." The electroacoustic tape is a musical (re)interpretation of the book.
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Series consists of audio recordings documenting the Tuning of the World conference, including lectures, performances, and publicity for the conference. Not all conference proceedings were recorded.
Original ID: 1993-71.6
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File consists of an audio recording of an "audio invitation to Tuning of the World."
Original ID: 1994-38.1/1
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File consists of audio recordings of performances of Claude Schryer's "Les voix de l'ecologie," and Hildegard Westerkamp's "Beneath the Forest Floor." "Les voix de l'ecologie" is based on R. Murray Schafer's 1977 book "The Tuning of the World," and was commissioned for The Tuning of the World conference. "Beneath the Forest Floor" (1992) is composed of sounds recorded in old-growth forests on British Columbia's west coast, and was commissioned by CBC Radio for "Two New Hours," produced in CBC's Advanced Audio Production Facility in Toronto.
Original ID: 1994-38.1/2
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File consists of an audio recording of performances of David Eagle's "Music for aXiO," Manuel Rocha's "Ath," and Douglas Quin's "Kingdoms and Phyla." "aXiO" stands for "alternative expressive input object," a multi-dimensional instrument/controller with a Macintosh interface. "Kingdoms and Phyla," is a work for digitally assembled and processed wildlife sounds, electronic sounds, and a human voice.
Original ID: 1994-38.1/3
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File consists of an audio recording of performances of Frances Dyson's "Window Pain," and Pierre Marietan's "Rumor Goes Away...." "Window Pain" focused on women's experience of pain, and was created in July 1993 during a residency of the Audio program of the Media Arts department at Banff Centre. Supported by the Swiss foundation for culture, "Rumor Goes Away..." is concerned with the "medicalization" of noise.
Original ID: 1994-38.1/4
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File consists of an audio recording of performances of Diana McIntosh's "Murkings" and John Elmsly's "For the Kokako" an "Still Drum K." "Murkings" (1993), is an interpretation of Paul Dutton's "The Eighth Sea" that involves our relationship to the environment. "For the Kokako" and "Stilldream K..." are two related pieces that recall the song of the Kokako, one of New Zealand's endangered native birds.
Original ID: 1994-38.1/5
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File consists of an audio recording of a lecture/workshop The tape is labelled "M. Schafer String Quartet Concert." The presentation explores the relationship between soundscape awareness and musical composition in the string quartets of R. Murray Schafer. This event was sponsored by the Music Program at Banff Centre.
Original IDs: 1994-38.1/6-8
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File consists of three digital audio tapes, featuring "concert performances." The tapes are labelled "Cage Circus." Cage Circus was a celebration of John Cage in a multiplicity of spaces, produced, with commentary, by Richard Kostelanetz.
Description based on insert in the audio cassette's enclosure.
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File consists of an audio cassette containing the following recordings:
"Prelude: Introducing Ourselves (8'0"); Anne Moyls (20"); Koozoo Maeda : Shishi - odoshi (33"); Kenneth Eming (15"); Andres Bossard (39"); Don Wherry : The Last Blast: July 14, 1990, Excerpt from Harmour Symphony, 6 ships, St. John's Harbour, Newfoundland (32"); Thomas Kundadt : Pipeline Sounds (45"); Daniel Janke : Kora strings sounding in a breeze/Little Salmon River Ambience, Yukon, Canada (39");
Hiroshi Yoshimura (15"); Pierre Marietan (29"); Peter Kiefer (11"); Allyn Harris-Femin voix/Woman Sound (33"); Betsy Hanson : Sounds from Emissary Community Dining Room (16"); Mirostaw Raykowski (50"); Judith Strasser (23"); Fred Lipsett (4"); Gordon Rumson (18"); Jeff Hutner (1'7"); Lou Mallozzi (14"); Hugo Dionisio (22"); Leif Brush (15"); Manuel Rocha (13"); Marilyn Strachan (24") Lynn Whidden (19"); Diana McIntosh (21"); Elanie Guillot (34");
Henrik Karlsson (25"); Steven R. Heimbecker : Echoland: the Echosystem (29");
R.J. Hamil (37"); Tadahiko Imada (32"); Deborah St. George Butterfield (2'0"); Keiko Torigoe : Insect Voices: 1 (53"), 2 (1',5"); Nicole Fabler (9"); Helmi Jarviluoma and Marja-Leena Junttila : Seitseminen: a natural park in he southern Finland (2'); Leonardo Baeza (10"); Ins Brooks (18"); R.I.P. Hayman (30"); Postlude : Timothy Buell (1'38").
Original ID: 1994-38.1/9
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File consists of an audio recording of "welcoming remarks by Timothy Buell, Claude Schryer, and Hildegard Westerkamp."
Original IDs: 1994-38.1/10; 1994-38.1/11; 1994-38.1/11C Extra Copy
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File consists of an audio recording of Steve Feld's lecture on "Ethnomusicology to Echo-musicology."
Original IDs: 1994 - 38.1/12; 1994 - 38.1/13
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File consists of an audio recording of a panel discussion on sound sculpture and sound art, featuring Edward Poitras, Steve Heimbecker, Bill Buchen, and Mary Buchen. The discussion was moderated by Katherine Ylitalo, the acting curator at the Nickle Arts Museum.
Original IDs: 1994 - 38.1/14; 1994 - 38.1/15
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File consists of an audio recording of a panel discussion on "Soundscape Research and Education," featuring R. Murray Schafer, Violeta Hemsy de Gainza, Kirk MacKenzie, Stefan Hany, and Marisa Fonterrada.
Original ID: 1994 - 38.1/16
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File consists of an audio recording of a lecture by Jim Metzner titled "Radio, the Listener's Medium: Crafting Stories from Sound."
Original ID: 1994 - 38.1/17
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File consists of an audio recording of an open session co-chaired by Claude Schryer and Hildegard Westerkamp.
Original ID: 1994 - 38.1/18
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File consists of an audio recording of a plenary session on soundscape topics moderated by R. Murray Schafer.
Original IDs: 1994 - 38.1/19; 1994-38.1/20
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File consists of an audio recording of a [lecture] by Ursula Franklin, presumably "Silence and the Nation of the Commons."
Original IDs: 1994 - 38.1/21; 1994 - 38.1/22
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File consists of an audio recording of a panel discussion titled "The Unwanted Sound Spectrum" featuring Nevil C. Hircock, Barry P. Kimberley, Bev Longstaff, Mike McIvor, and William A. Tilleman, moderated by Marie Morgan. Panelists discuss the biological and social effect of unwanted sound, and possible methods of controlling them, from technological to legal solutions.
Original IDs: 1994 - 38.1/23; 1994 - 38.1/23 (copy)
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File consists of an audio recording of a [talk?] featuring Hildegard Westerkamp and Barry Traux, moderated by Claude Schryer. The tapes are labelled "The World Soundscape Project."
Original ID: 1994 - 38.1/24
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File consists of an audio recording of a panel discussion featuring Diana Brent, Eva [Gill-Sager?], and Kenneth Patterson, moderated by Doug Brent. The panel explores soundscapes from the vantage point of the visually impaired.
Original ID: 1994 - 38.1/25
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File consists of an audio recording of a "discussion" with David Lowenthal, possibly his presentation "From the Harmony of the Spheres to National Anthem: Reflections on Musical Heritage."
Original ID: 1994 - 38.1/26
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File consists of an audio recording of a "discussion" with Louis Dandrel introduced by Michael McMordie, possibly "Sound Town Planning."
Original IDs: 1994 - 38.1/27; 1994 - 38.1/28
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File consists of an audio recording of a panel discussion titled "Sound Ghosts: Stop the silencing of the Land," featuring Jerry Mander, Joyce Nelson, and Velcrow Ripper, moderated by Jill Spellisey.
Original IDs: 1994-43.1; 1994-43.2; 1994-43.3; 1994-43.4
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File consists of audio recordings relating to "The Princess of the Stars," including a soundtrack, a sound test, a "CBC Morningside review with Tim Wilson," and a tape labelled "Shafer and Wilson; Princess of the Stars."
Contact sheets are available.
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Series consists of colour negatives depicting presentations, performances, and installations at The Tuning of the World conference.
Contact sheet IDs: TW930800.1; TW930800.2; TW930800.3; TW930800.4; TW930800.5; TW930800.6; TW930800.7; TW930800.14; TW930800.15;
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File consists of photographs documenting the sound sculpture exhibition at The Tuning of the World conference.
Contact sheet IDs: TW930800.8; TW930800.9; TW930800.10; TW930800.11; TW930800.12
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File consists of photographs of the preparation rehearsal, and performance of Robert Rosen and Peter Christensen's outdoor performance "Animals," the second installation in the "Canyon Shadows" series.
Contact sheet ID: TW930800.13
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File consists of negatives depicting an outdoor group shot taken during The Tuning of the World conference.
Contact sheet ID: TW930800.16
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File consists of negatives depicting conference presentations, proceedings, and registration.
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Series consists of materials related to the exhibit at the University of Calgary's Nickle Arts Museum, which took place at roughly the same time as The Tuning of the World conference at Banff Centre, between August 6th and 29th.
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Item is a VHS tape documenting the exhibit at the Nickle Arts Museum that was conducted in cooperatively with The Tuning of the World Conference at Banff Centre. TRUCK: an artist run centre presented the work of Shigeaki Iwai, in collaboration with the Nickle Arts Museum. The VHS sleeve identifies the following artists: Janet Cardiff, Roy Hamill, Robert Hamilton, Steven Heimbecker, Shigaeki Iwai, David Keane and Reinhard Reitzenstein, Mirelle Perron, Ben Rubin, and Street of Crocodiles.