Inventors, composers, creators and designers of all ages and affiliations are encouraged to submit ideas to the second annual Guthman Musical Instrument Competition for the chance to win up to $5,000. Hosted by the Georgia Tech Center for Music Technology, entries will be accepted online until November 15.

In total, $10,000 in cash prizes will be awarded to the best novel musical instruments as selected by an expert panel; and the grand prize of $5,000 eligible to all participants, and given by Sharon Perry Galloway in honor of her late husband Dr. Thomas D. Galloway, Dean of the College of Architecture from 1992 to 2007.

This annual competition is supported by the philanthropic family of Tech alum Richard Guthman in honor of his musical wife Margaret. It is designed to showcase new uses of technology to enhance participation in music performance and music creation.

See last year's submissions at Wired.com.

Instruments
Any new musical instrument is eligible for the competition. Instruments may generate sound acoustically or electronically; they may exist in physical or virtual manifestations; and they may be played by humans, robots, or computers. They may modify, improve or extend existing instruments--including the human voice--or they may offer entirely new design paradigms. New instruments which cross over these categories or which defy any such categorization are also welcome.

Performance and Demonstration
Contestants will be asked to briefly describe and demonstrate their instrument and its key qualities, and to perform a musical work with their new instrument to demonstrate its musicality, design and engineering features. Performances may include traditional acoustic and/or electronic instruments alongside the new instrument. They may also include multimedia elements such as video, animation, graphics, text, kinesthetics, hydraulics, dance or acting. The performed work may be composed by anyone, including the entrant, or it may be an arrangement of an existing work. It may be in any musical style. The duration should be two-to-four minutes.

Entrants must be prepared to perform with their instrument at Georgia Tech on February 27-28, 2009. In most cases, performances will be public and open to all Guthman Competition attendees. Following the performance there may be a brief question and answer session with the judges.

Judging Criteria
A panel of three judges will evaluate each instrument with respect to its musicality, design and engineering. Judges will give each category equal weight in their decisions. They may consider a variety of factors in making their decisions, such as range of musical expression, playing technique, usability and physical construction.

Innovation is a central theme of the competition. Judges will look for instruments that are novel or extend previous work in meaningful ways.

It is important to note that judges will use the performance to better evaluate the musical instrument. In the end, the competition is not primarily about the virtuosity of the performer. However, the more that the performance demonstrates and highlights the unique features of the instrument the more persuasive it is likely to be.

Dates
Submissions due: November 15, 2009
Admission notification: December 1, 2009

Electronic Submission Site

Questions
Contact Leslie Bennett