UNESCO COLLECTION OF TRADITIONAL MUSIC – How to Submit Proposals
Editor: Wim van Zanten
The collection has now been discontinued. Please see the October 2005 ICTM Bulletin for details.
I - DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION (3 series)
To be admitted to the Collection, music should fit into one of the three series described below:
1. Music and Musicians of the World aims at presenting popular or learned musical traditions from various cultural regions of the world as a witness to current, endangered or extinct modes of expression that are highly representative of a community heritage, civilization, musical system or channel of artistic creativity.
2. Anthology of Traditional Music groups the most representative manifestations of the great musical traditions of every continent. Priority in this series is given to musical genres based on explicit theoretical systems and to uninterrupted recordings of long duration (traditional opera, ritual ceremonies recorded without a break, music for meditation, ceremonies of different religions).
3. Traditional Music of Today aims to inform people of how traditional music came into being or is reconstituted by performers today: well-known contemporary soloists or little-known groups, urban, popular, concert, festival or carnival music and music that has recently been developed or is evolving.
II - CONTENTS OF DISCOGRAPHIC DOSSIERS FOR SUBMISSION
A. Recordings
Cassette copy (for preliminary evaluation only) of a master stereo recording. The original master recordings should be on reel-to-reel magnetic tape speed 7 1/2 ips (19 cm/s) or 15 ips (38 cm/s), or on Digital Audio Tape (DAT); the final edited version should have no less than 50 and no more than 70 minutes of recorded music.
In preparing the final edited version - preferably on DAT tape - please take care to place the individual items in the correct sequence, with approximately 5 seconds of silence between the individual items. Please provide a list of the items as they appear on the tape, with sequential number, title, exact duration, and a brief description in terms of voices or instruments to be heard. This will help technical services to identify the items on the tape when preparing the production master tape.
B. Folder and jacket
1. Track listing: full title of each track, duration and names of performers or groups
2. Text : no more than 10 typewritten pages (1500 characters/page) in English, French or Spanish, consisting of:
(i) a general introduction describing the particular music in its geographical, historical and cultural context and its stylistic characteristics compared with other types of music of the country or region concerned ; and
(ii) a description of the contents and style of each track: instruments used, features of performance, usual duration of such pieces in normal conditions of performance. In case of an extract: full duration of the piece from which this has been extracted. Song text where appropriate.
3. Photographic documents
5 color slides (send copies of possible!), or, if not available, color prints for the jacket and four black and white prints for the folder, with mention of photo credits. For the cover, clear and close-up photos of musicians in performance are needed. The most suitable photos will be selected by the editors and the publisher for the actual publication.
* Care should be taken to provide photos of high technical quality - preferably taken by a professional photographer - and relevant content.
Since photos will be reproduced in relatively small size on the front cover or inside the booklet, they should show performers in performance or instruments clearly and in the foreground. The publication of several otherwise excellent submissions has been delayed for lack of useable illustrations.
The submitter should be the owner of the rights concerning the aforementioned audiovisual and written documents. These should not infringe any copyright or other rights and should not contain anything libelous or in any way unlawful.
The submission should be prepared, wherever possible, by or with the assistance of a recognized music researcher, and should involve an `insider' - a competent person from the tradition/country whose music is presented, preferably as author or co-author.
Inquiries, preliminary proposals (2-3 pages with a sample cassette) or complete submissions should be sent to
ICTM/UNESCO RECORDS
Attention: Dr. Wim van Zanten
Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology
Leiden University
P.O. Box 9555
2300 RB Leiden
The Netherlands
Zanten@fsw.LeidenUniv.NL
The International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM), a Non-Governmental Organization in Formal Consultative Relations with UNESCO, to which UNESCO has entrusted the preparation of new titles, will arrange for the scientific and technical evaluation of submissions by experts and specialists from the geographical area concerned, will assist in the editorial process, and in cooperation with the UNESCO Records Editorial Committee, will schedule completed submissions for release in accordance with a Master Plan which aims at the representation of the musical traditions of all countries in the UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music. Upon recommendation of the Editor, a contract will be concluded directly between UNESCO and the submitter(s).
INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC
Australian National University
Building 100
Canberra, A.C.T. 0200
Australia
fax: +61 2 612 59775
email: secretariat@ictmusic.org
website: http://www.ictmusic.org/ICTM/