ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the interaction between humans and machines with the purpose of making music. First, it presents a generalized model of a musical instrument, which simply refers as a machine. Then, the chapter generates an analogy between the model of the musical machine and a model of the human with whom it interacts. As the interaction within a gestural agency system demands action to be taken in order to reach a musical goal, agents are necessarily presented with challenges. It has been argued that a musical instrument needs to pose a balanced challenge that is neither too much to be frustrating nor too little to be unappealing in order to be interesting. A musical machine demands a certain gesture from the human, to which the human has to respond, thereby changing internal connections to adapt to this requirement. Finally, the chapter examines the human and machine models acting within a system of musical interaction.
