to the QUICK #5
the journal magazine of media and cultural studies at Binghamton University

--Deadline MARCH 15, 2001
Issue Theme: "Sound-Medium-Muic"

Who says "academic" writing can't be exciting?

to the QUICK is accepting article proposals and completed manuscripts for a special theme issue. We are *ALSO* accepting non-thematic submissions for this issue. Our general submission guidelines follows immediately after this theme information:

This theme issue is particularly interested in the fragments of sound/recording/distribution/aural performance culture that fall outside the world of corporate-controlled aesthetics and pre-packaged pop, but we will consider all innovative analyses.

Possible topics include: found recordings in attics and flea markets, the world of record collectors, field recordings/native plunder, the ethics of bootlegging, homemade albums, "unlistenable" music, shareware mixing programs, MP3's—as well as other sound issues—such as the infamous record of the Jonestown suicides, issues of broadcasting and airwave control (the current Micro-FM station debates), "Democracy Now!" and Pacifica radio, phony genres/plantation radio, the consolidation of the record companies/price fixing, soccer/athletic chants, analyses of specific instruments (archaic instruments), the sociopolitics of wire-tapping, the physics of the turntable and sonic deconstruction, spoken word and "dub" poetry, national anthems and the performance of occasional songs, (online) speech archives, the African Orthodox Church of St. John Coltrane in San Francisco, cut-up sound experiments, answering machines/voice mail, audio museum tours, books on tape, James Earl Jones/corporate voices, new age ocean/whalesong/forest records, talking computers/greeting cards/voice record photo albums/pull-cord toys, and much more...

to the QUICK is open to all disciplines and perspectives. Submissions might consider the connections between sound and culture and think about the historical, economic, aesthetic, and/or political implications of these connections. The scope of this project is wide, covering everything from car horns to Yoko Ono to radio waves from outer space--but we are NOT looking for record reviews!

Additionally, TTQ will compile sound and music to accompany this issue on CD and the web. If you are a performing musician, archivist, or collector who has access to relevant sound recordings, please contact us for sound submission procedures. Essays submitted with sounds should be written in a context that does not depend upon the sounds being heard by the reader.

Electronic queries and submissions preferred. *Queries* in body of email, *Submissions* as Word/WordPerfect/RTF attachment. Note that March 15 is the final submission deadline, query well in advance. Include a SASE or email address for reply. to the QUICK takes FNA print and electronic rights. Direct to:

Davis Schneiderman
Submissions Editor
to the QUICK

or via snail mail at:

to the QUICK
English Department
PO Box 6000
Binghamton University
Binghamton, New York 13902

**to the QUICK's general submission guidelines follow, which also explain the journal magazine's approach and style:

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

CONTENT.
We want essays, articles, and columns (or proposals outlining such projects) that perform thematic, theoretical, and cultural analyses of media arts like TV shows, films, music, or cultural movements and issues as diverse as you can possibly imagine.

These media forms have in the past been dismissed as unimportant cultural markers when measured against the mass of "literary" studies. to the QUICK continues the work of media literacy and cultural studies programs by drawing attention to the meaning existent in all discussions and arts. We also take the notion of "interdisciplinary" to heart, believing that each discipline is another way of reading the world and yet is part of a very similar critical attitude.

to the QUICK therefore takes the stance that writing across disciplines-through carefully contextualized writing-can say informative and fascinating things even to readers outside of that field.

STYLE.
If not already implicit, you should make clear how your analysis is culturally relevant, what issues your reading is bringing up. The less the subject is popular or well-known, the greater the need to point out this cultural relevancy rather than relying on the weight of a theoretical framework.

It is not necessary that essays implement critical theory. However, theory is a way of reading the world and can be useful and exciting. Essays should still avoid one of the pitfalls of academic writing: the dropping of esoteric terms or phrases without context. Careful emphasis should be placed on the relevancy of allusions and terminology; the reader should not have to wallow through a dense litter of meaningless prose.

QUICKTIPS.
* Be sure to describe the subject in such a way that the reader does not have to know the subject in order to appreciate your point. Present your context!
* TTQ does not publish film or music reviews.
* If your essay exceeds our word limit, please "cut" it yourself!

SUBMIT.
Essays and articles: 4500 words maximum
Columns: 500 - 4000 words
Book reviews: 500 - 1000 words

To the Quick DOES read unsolicited submissions but encourages short queries. Query for book reviews. You may send in submissions at any time, but submissions received after each semester's deadline will be held until the next semester. Fall deadline: October 15. Spring deadline: March 15. Indicate word count for all text w/endnotes. Please observe Chicago Manual Style and put all parenthetical information into endnotes, with no Works Cited. If you have access to and permission for related photos or images, please indicate. Your article will be given a careful peer-review.

We are also interested in reprinting pieces published elsewhere. TTQ needs pieces for our columns: "The Obligatory Old Book Review" takes an "old" book, author, or theorist and presents an original argument as to its contemporary relevance; "The Rewrite Department" uses experimental non-fiction to comment on contemporary cultural issues; and "Slipstream" picks out an event of cultural significance from the contributor's life, describing and analyzing it in a memoir-like, creative style. For examples of these articles, as well as information regarding subscriptions and instructor desk copies, peruse our web site on-line at www.agoron.com/~matthewk/quick.

Our latest release (Issue #4, available at the end of January) focuses on PROTEST movements and includes articles on the Islamic Taliban, the Los Angeles Anarchists, the S11 World Economic Forum in Melbourne, and Piethrowing. To order Issue #4, send a check made out to "Joe Bisz," our Managing Editor, for $6.18 within the United States (add $.50 for Canada, $1.00 overseas). You may purchase Issue #4 and #3 together for $8.68. Our previous issues feature analyses of a variety of cultural icons, films, and television shows—see our website or contact us for more info.

(To join our TTQ announcement list and receive direct emails of our Call for Submissions, send an email to listserv@listserv.binghamton.edu with a message in the email (not the subject line) saying SUBSCRIBE TTQ FIRSTNAME LASTNAME where "FIRSTNAME" and "LASTNAME" are replaced by your first and last names.)