Computer Coordination With Popular Music: A New Research Agenda

Computer accompaniment is now a well-established field of study, but nearly all work in this area assumes a Western classical music tradition in which timing is considered a flexible framework that performers manipulate for expression. This has important implications for the music, accompaniment, and performance style, and therefore the fundamental design of automatic accompaniment systems. Popular music has a very different set of assumptions and requirements for (human or computer) performers. In particular, the tempo is generally very stable, which would appear to simplify the synchronization problem, but synchronization must be quite precise and the music is not strictly notated, making coordination more difficult. The practical requirements for computer coordination with popular music create many problems that have not been addressed by research or practice. Some preliminary investigations in this area are reported, and future opportunities for research are discussed.