Jeu de temps / Times Play 2021 (JTTP 2021)

Call for works from young and/or emerging electroacoustic artists

Deadline for submissions: 1 May (annually)

What Is JTTP and How Does It Work?

A large multi-levelled project coordinated by the Canadian Electroacoustic Community (CEC), Jeu de temps / Times Play (JTTP) is an annual project aimed at promoting and celebrating new electroacoustic works from young and/or emerging electroacoustic artists from (or living in) Canada.

JTTP 2021 is the 22nd edition of the project since the CEC began coordinating it in 2000.

What is “electroacoustic”?

The CEC subscribes to the broadest definition of “electroacoustic” practices, which includes, but is not limited to: acousmatic, musique concrète, electronic music, tape music, live electronics, acoustic ecology, soundscape, videomusic, circuit bending, hardware hacking, mixed media, turntablism, generative, glitch and beyond.

What does JTTP provide its participants?

The project offers an unprecedented degree of support to young and/or emerging electroacoustic artists. All of the participants benefit from:

• Inclusion in a competition with an international jury;
• Ongoing support and presence through the CEC’s website, where all programme notes and biographies are available, and all submissions can be heard / viewed;
• Inclusion in Sonus, the CEC’s online Jukebox for electroacoustic works.

Additionally, thanks to the generous contributions of our Project Partners, the composers of the top five prizewinning works are also offered:

• Awards packages that include CDs, books and journal subscriptions, as well as cash prizes to the top three winners (total prize packages worth over $3500);
• Multiple radio broadcasts by our Canadian and international Media Partners;
• International concert presentation of the top-scoring works;

The best way to find out about the project is to look through past editions of JTTP on the CEC’s website. There you can find lists of jury members and Project Partners for each edition, as well as listen to the submissions from all editions and read the programme and biographical notes.

Who is eligible?

Electroacoustic artists from (or living in) Canada.

What is a “young and/or emerging electroacoustic artist”?

This would be someone who is likely to be continuing studies in an educational facility or possibly someone for whom there has been little or no national or international recognition of their work and potential in the short period of time that they have been involved in the field.

Do I need to become a CEC member to participate in the project?

No. Participants are not required to be or become CEC members.

What about copyright?

All participants retain full copyright of their work but with their submission assign mechanical rights to the CEC so that it may promote the work publicly in the context of JTTP.

Submission Criteria and Rules

The deadline for submissions is May 1, 2021.

• Submissions can only be made online through a Sonus.ca user account.
• Late or incomplete submissions will not be considered.
• Only one work will be accepted per participant.
• There is no maximum duration for submissions.
• Videomusic and multi-channel works are eligible.
• The jurying process is anonymous.
• All works (except videos) submitted to JTTP will be automatically added to Sonus, the CEC’s online sound library of electroacoustic practices.

Your Submission Package

A complete and eligible submission package will include the following:

• A completed waiver (contact info, piece information, digital signature);
• Necessary files sent by Hightail (via the submission form).

NB: You must create a user account on Sonus.ca in order to submit a work to JTTP. Do not wait until the last minute to create your account, as this may take a little time, depending on the volume of requests.

Media Formats for Submission

JTTP only accepts audio files in non-compressed formats (no mp3, etc.).

Multi-channel Submissions

All multi-channel submissions must include:

• All files named according to the File Naming Conventions described below;
• A stereo mixdown of the work (NO mp3, only original non-compressed audio);
• A detailed Technical Sheet (see below) as a separate file (PDF);

File Naming Convention for Speaker Positioning

Use the format “lastname_keywordfromtitle_POSITION.extension” to name your files (change all special characters to Roman letters: e.g., change éèê to e, etc.). Do not include any other information in the file names (e.g., bit depth or sample rate).

To indicate the speaker position for each stem, use capital letters as follows for works up to 8.1 (larger setups should be based on this model and detailed in an annex to the Technical Sheet):

L = left
C = centre
R = right
F = front
S = side
B = behind
SUB = subwoofer

LF CF RF

LS    RS

LB CB RB

E.g.: The submission of a work by Kevin Austin titled The Mandolin Rises at Noon, for solo loudspeaker and subwoofer (1.1), would contain the following files:

• austin_mandolin_CF.aif
• austin_mandolin_SUB.aif

Technical Sheet for Multi-channel Submissions

Use keywords from the title of your work to name the Technical Sheet. Do not indicate your name or any identifying information, as this sheet will be provided to the jury.

Indicating the following information for your submission, and feel free to add any other relevant information:

• Sampling rate and bit depth of the multi-channel and stereo formats;
• Speaker positioning diagramme (use the convention indicated above);
• Proposal for channel assignment for a 5.1 setup;
• Proposal for panning positioning of channels to listen to the work in stereo (e.g., L LC C RC R)

NB: During the submission process you can choose whether or not to allow the multi-channel files to be downloadable by Sonus users.

Videomusic Submissions

In addition to the official work, a second version of videomusic submissions must be included that is identical except that any credits, names or other identifying features have been removed. This anonymous version will be provided to the jury.

All videomusic submissions must be in one of the following formats: Apple ProRes or Avid DNxHD.

NB: Even though Sonus does not currently accept video formats, your submission must be made using the form on the Sonus website. The video will NOT be integrated in Sonus.

Personnel and Contact

Who supports this project?

JTTP is supported by CEC membership dues and funding provided by the SOCAN Foundation, as well as by generous donations from a number of individual and institutional Project Partners.

Who can I contact for more info?

For any questions that have not been answered on this page or in the longer and more detailed explanation, email the project administrators at jttp@sonus.ca.

Project Schedule

1 May — Deadline for submissions
15–31 May — Jury deliberations
15 June — Results announced to the participants
August — Results announced publicly