The term "mixed music" refers to musical works that combine classical instruments and electronic sounds. Mixed-music issues are renewing musical problematics, in particular those linked to music as performance and musical performance as a collective process.
The first point refers to the distinction between a score and its interpretation. Unlike a computer program and its mechanical execution, a score leaves room for freedom to the performer, whose choices will complete, refine and convey the meanings of the musical material. These choices are guided by instrumental practice, musical history and culture, but also by the fact that music is played by many, and that the collective dynamic will greatly influence these interpretative decisions.
The computer lacks these cultural references. Is it therefore possible for it to interpret an electronic score in harmony with the musicians' playing in the heat of the concert? Using examples from contemporary music creation and an automatic accompaniment application for the general public, our talk will present the approach developed in the Antescofo system to answer these questions, and more specifically their temporal aspect: how to reconcile and harmonize human time and machine time in mixed music.
