My first Twitter bot: @callforscores
On Monday, as I was having breakfast, I thought about @Twithaca, a cool bot that retweets anything tagged with #Twithaca (stuff happening/related to Ithaca, NY—where I now live). Bots are great but are subject to some very strict Twitter guidelines. But if they provide a “a community benefit,” they’re OK.
I don’t really know why, but the first application for a Twitter bot that I could think of while drinking my cup of tea was call for scores. If you’re not familiar with the concept, ensembles/orchestras/performers/presenters send calls for scores and composers submit pieces that match the requirements (age, instrumentation, duration, etc.)
There are a few online resources but a lot of musicians hang out on Twitter so why not create a “community benefit?”
A couple of hours later, @callforscores was born, based on the work of Amit Agarwal. @CallForScores will retweet every call for scores in which it is mentioned. The trick is that the bot can’t really tell it’s a call for scores (!) so it’ll retweet (and fav’) any mention.
The response was very positive and it got about 280 follows the day it was launched.
@icareifulisten has created a great twitter bot – @callforscores – to connect composers with performers looking for new music.
— Q2 Music (@Q2music) August 11, 2015
@callforscores Amazing idea, thanks for implementing it!
— Pedro Gómez (@pedrogomezcompo) August 11, 2015
@callforscores Amazing idea, thanks for implementing it!
— Pedro Gómez (@pedrogomezcompo) August 11, 2015
I love the idea of @callforscores. A network of composers and instrumentalists working together. Cool…..
— Benjamin Shirley (@hashtagmusicmo1) August 11, 2015
I am already working on a moderation tool to keep the feed “clean” and a real benefit to the followers. Stay tuned for v 2.0.
