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23rd Sound and Music Computing Conference and Winter School
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Call for Papers

SMC 26 Submission Instructions

Theme: INTERPLAY

Inspired by the way Music Biennale Zagreb, in the first thirty years of its existence (1961–1991), functioned as an “interplay” between Eastern and Western European cultural and political discourses, we propose INTERPLAY and its heterotopic context as the central theme for the Sound and Music Computing Conference 2026. This theme emphasizes dynamic relations between humans, machines, and sonic environments, focusing on the reciprocal influences that emerge through technological mediation.

The notion of interplay encompasses multiple approaches. One perspective might examine how performers and intelligent systems co-create musical structure in real time in person and over distance, revealing new modes of shared agency. Another might investigate interactive sonic ecosystems, in which sensors, embodied interfaces, and adaptive algorithms continuously transform auditory feedback loops. Cognitive and perceptual dimensions of co-adaptation can also be explored, especially how users develop intuitive interaction strategies within complex sonic systems.

New methods and tools support these forms of interplay by enabling multimodal communication between human input, machine analysis, and sound synthesis. Such systems typically rely—besides expressive interface design and high-resolution sensing—on key processes such as modelling, prediction, gesture-to-sound mapping, and adaptive response. These are realised through classical signal analysis, machine-learning techniques, and deep neural networks that collaboratively advance gesture recognition, intention prediction, and context-dependent audio generation. In this expanded sense, interplay highlights the evolving entanglement of musical creativity and computational intelligence, opening possibilities for richer, more fluid human–machine musical interactions.

To reflect the wide range of research and artistic practices embraced by Sound and Music Computing, INTERPLAY welcomes contributions across the full spectrum of SMC-related fields, including but not limited to:

  • Algorithms and systems for music composition
     
  • Auditory display and sonification
     
  • Automatic separation, recognition, classification of sound and music
     
  • Automatic music generation/accompaniment systems
     
  • Computational musicology and ethnomusicology
     
  • Content processing of music audio signals
     
  • Digital audio effects
     
  • Hardware systems for sound and music computing
     
  • Humanities in Sound and Music Computing
     
  • Interactive performance systems
     
  • Interfaces for sound and music
     
  • Languages, protocols, and software environments
     
  • Models for sound analysis and synthesis
     
  • Multimodality in sound and music computing
     
  • Music creation and performance
     
  • Music information retrieval
     
  • Music performance analysis and rendering
     
  • Perception and cognition of sound and music
     
  • Social interaction in sound and music computing
     
  • Sonic interaction design
     
  • Sound and music for accessibility and special needs
     
  • Sound and music for AR/VR and games
     
  • Sound/music and the neurosciences
     
  • Sound/music signal processing algorithms
     
  • Spatial sound, reverberation, and virtual acoustics
     
  • Technologies for preservation, access, and modelling of musical heritage
     
  • Telematic music, interaction, and co-creation
     

Rather than prescribing a single interpretive direction, the theme invites a broad exploration of the ways in which sound, technology, and human creativity intersect across diverse artistic and scientific contexts. We encourage submissions that expand, challenge, or reimagine the idea of INTERPLAY, offering new insights into how sonic practices evolve through collaboration, mediation, and exchange.

 

Paper Submissions

All submissions will undergo a peer review process, but authors are not required to anonymize their contributions: SMC 2026 applies a single-blind peer review. All accepted papers will be included in the SMC 2026 Conference Proceedings, but publication is conditional on the presenting author’s participation in the conference. Please indicate in the submission form if the first author is a student. Information on registration procedures and fees will be published on this webpage. The proceedings will have an ISBN, and the electronic version will be available on the SMC website and on Zenodo.

The paper submission includes title, abstract, keywords, complete list of authors, and the full paper as PDF (maximum file size: 20MB).

Paper Templates

Submitted papers must be generated from our templates:

 

Deadlines

Submission deadline (paper & music): March 13th, 2026

Review deadline: April 30th, 2026

Results notification: May 15th, 2026

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