The Central Conservatory of Music Press invites Prof. Anthony Paul De Ritis to lead a team to do research on the instrumentation and orchestration of Chinese instruments. The research result will be a book in English and published by the Central Conservatory of Music Press in China. Proposed date of the publishing is 2023. The instruments covered in the book include most importantly used instruments in the current Chinese National Orchestra. The targeting readers of the book include English readers who are interested in composing Chinese music as well as those who want to get general knowledge on Chinese instruments.

Current trends in the works of Chinese composers and their electroacoustic music today embrace increased abstraction and individual self-expression, while others celebrate the importance of clear communication and a unified ‘Chinese model’. How is one to derive the current state of a Western art form imported by China, in the context of unparalleled sharing and convergence of ideas made possible by the Internet and extensive intercultural exchange in today’s globalized world? And how important is it to identify and measure the level of Chineseness in the artistic output of today’s electroacoustic music composers that embrace Chinese elements – whether born inside or outside of China? This article seeks to unpack some of the current thinking shared by institutional leaders, such as Yu Feng, President of the Central Conservatory of Music; scholars of Chinese electroacoustic music, such as Marc Battier, Ken Fields, Leigh Landy, Yang Yinuo, and Annie Yen-Ling Liu; and several composers and thought leaders in the most recent generations of Chinese electroacoustic music.

“Musicking” as defined by Christopher Small in his book Musicking: The Meanings of Performing and Listening, is “a verb that encompasses all musical activity from composing to performing to listening”. The art of musicking can help us to understand the relationships with people in our lives. Our “soul” may be described as our “sense of identity” that may be “revealed in a work of art or an artistic performance”. Editors Kimasi Browne and Zhang Boyu have asked the contributing authors of Musicking the Soul to consider the good human contacts that each has made through music and, in particular, through the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing (CCOM), a focal point of international exchange in music between the world and China. I interpret the title Musicking the Soul to reference the musical activity that helps us to engage with others, and, in turn, musical activity that helps us to define ourselves. The path that I’ve taken since my first encounter with Beijing’s Central Conservatory of Music in 1999, and the many directions that it has taken me since, have resulted in a deeper sense of self-identity and awareness. What follows is a narrative on the intellectual energy born from my relationship with CCOM that has led directly to personal expression and meaning within my life in and beyond music, and revealed through original music composition and performance, relationships with people and institutions, and (perhaps) in the even greater mission of cultural diplomacy. Musicking the Soul in the context of my life and its intersection with CCOM is a case study of the importance and far-reaching potential offered by international exchange through music.

Greetings! We are pleased to introduce this Special Issue of the journal, Global Media and China titled the “Media and Entertainment Industry: The World and China.” This Special Issue offers contributions from scholars and practitioners around the world with expertise in cultural and media studies, communication studies, digital media, law, economics, innovation and entrepreneurship, and the creative industries.

Global Media and China is a peer-reviewed, open access journal, which provides a dedicated, interdisciplinary forum for research. The journal welcomes articles on all aspects of international research in the field of communication and media studies and has a particular interest in how global media are impacting on, and are in turn being transformed by China, specifically Chinese institutions, industries and audiences. Research on digital platforms, social media and related policy is welcome. Please see the Aims and Scopes tab for further information.

In this chapter, we focus on the pedagogical uses of digital media in the design and development of eLearning; this chapter is divided into six sections. The Introduction defines “What do we mean by media in an online learning environment?” and provides current formats and methods of transmission; differences are cited to give deeper understanding to how media is used to aid teaching and learning. Media can be used in learning environments that are synchronous and asynchronous. The next section of this chapter considers media in online learning environments where the teacher and the learner are not communicating in real-time. Media can be transmitted continuously from a web site to a learner as a continuous flow of information also known as a stream. What if a learner is confronted with multiple streams of information at the same time? Does this help or hinder learning? We then ask the question, “Does multiple streams of data aid the user learning experience?” We then clarify the use of the term “interactivity”, which is often cited as a requirement for effective media-based learning. Next we focus on issues related to designing and using media with an interface as small as a cell phone. Given that the visual surface of cell phones and tablets can be 10 to 15% that of a PC monitor, what attributes must we consider in making mobile learning effective, especially when compared to those with larger screens? Given that much of the world uses mobile devices as the only access to asynchronous online learning environments, can we learn from their experiences? Lastly, we deal with the questions related to production quality and the use of media in asynchronous learning environments; a summary follows.

In order to facilitate a meaningful transdisciplinary discussion of human-machine interaction with a special focus on music, it is necessary to begin to standardize what is meant by “interaction” given the various ways in which the term is used and perceived. In October 1999, the first “Interactive Music Xpo” was held at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City. When I asked David Zicarelli, co-developer of the MAX interactive music programming language and the developer of MSP (Max Signal Processing), if he was going to participate in the conference, he stated, “Their type of interaction is not my kind of interaction.” This conversation initiated my current research on senses of interaction. What are the ways in which the various disciplines of music use the term? How do definitions of interactivity in music compare? At the Interactive Music Xpo, interactivity in music often meant nothing more than a simple download of an mp3 file. A variety of commercial-based music industries were represented, including the computer game industry, DJs, software companies, record producers, and digital content clearinghouses. When I asked Brian Schmidt, Program Manager of Consumer Windows Division for the Microsoft Corporation, “What does interactivity mean?” we only agreed that the term continues to evolve. In this paper I propose to summarize the different senses of interaction offered in interviews with individuals from a variety of music and non-music disciplines, and attempt to synthesize a methodology for continued research with the hope of stimulating and provoking innovations in the next generation of intelligent music systems.

Edizioni Curci, in association with Cidim, Comitato Nazionale Italiano Musica (Italian National Music Committee), is proud to present The Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco Collection, the first series ever published entirely dedicated to the composer from Florence (1895-1968) who settled in the United States, where he became known as “the Maestros’ Maestro”. The collection is edited by Angelo Gilardino, composer and scholar, who enjoys the full confidence of the Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s estate. The collection will present all of the musician’s as yet unpublished works, which are housed at the Library of Congress in Washington DC, according to the original manuscripts. Each volume has both Italian and English commentaries.