Organised Sound: An International Journal of Music and Technology — Sound, Listening and Place, Volume 16, Number 3 :: Date of Publication: December 2011:: Publishers: Cambridge University Press :: Issue co-ordinator: Katharine Norman (katharine.norman [at] city.ac.uk) :: Call for Submissions — Deadline: March 1, 2011.

In his provocative book, Ecology without Nature: Rethinking Environmental Aesthetics, literary ecologist Timothy Morton suggests that much ecocritical nature writing makes the same Romantic assumptions it seeks to critique. He posits that a properly ecological view of the environment must challenge aestheticised views of nature, and be immersed rather than observational. How can, and does, sound-based music ‘rethink’ environmental aesthetics? How can sound-based music, and writing on it, contribute to the ecocritical debate?

What is sonic ecology in art? This themed issue aims to move forward from the valuable foundations of early Acoustic Ecology and soundscape composition, considering related and different approaches sound-based music as ecological reflection of listening, sound and place. Topics for investigation might include (as suggestions):

· Soundscapes and sonic psychogeography.
· Sonic activists, eco-activism in sound art and sound-based music.
· Field recording projects that address issues of ecology, environmental stewardship and sustainability in the light of collective, or personal, experience of sound in the world.
· Sound-based music as the ‘transliteration’ of recorded experience and memory of time and place.
· Artistic projects arising from phonography communities and online dissemination of both music and materials.
· Online soundscape experiences and compositions (interactive soundbased works, curated sound-based music, sound collections, field recording projects, listening projects, virtual environments)
· Consciousness-raising, through sound-based music, in relation to listening and place.
· Artist statements, personal and subjective, ‘listening in the world’.
· Critiques and consideration of Acoustic Ecology.

As always, submissions related to the theme are encouraged; however, those that fall outside the scope of this theme are always welcome.

Submissions may consist of papers, with optional supporting short compositions or excerpts, audio-visual documentation of performances and/or other aspects related to your submission that can be placed onto a DVD and the CUP website for “Organised Sound”. Supporting audio and audio-visual material will be presented as part of the journal’s annual DVD-ROM which will appear with issue 16/3 as well on the journal’s website.