lonestranger
Oct 17, 2009
Undergraduate / 'Music based on Math' - Stanford essay: intellectually engaging experience [4]
here goes nothing->
In the words of the great Leibniz
"May not music be described as mathematics of the sense, mathematics as music of the reason?"
Mathematics and music, the most sharply contrasted fields of scientific activity that can be found, are yet fundamentally related at their core. Both are avenues through which human creativity reaches its zenith, and a true expression of the human spirit emerges. My experience working with Fibonacci sequences and Fourier transformations in music was a breathtaking ride into the intricacies and underlying complexities of the world of music. It was a completely new approach and viewpoint to look at the sounds that we hear every day and how these sounds are transformed into the notes, tones and rhythms that make everlasting music. The idea of trying to connect math and music came to me one day when I was learning music theory, and observed the simple math involved in the intervals, octaves and chords. It seemed more than just a mere coincidence that everything musical at a fundamental level seemed to follow a basic mathematical framework, and hence, I decided to delve deeper into the roots of music. I combined notes produced by the Fibonacci sequence over different scales, and out came a beautiful melody ready to take stage. I then extracted the individual tones produced and converted them to the mathematical form of waves, using the idea of Fourier series. Once all the equations were produced, I could create new and beautiful tones and sounds straight from the waves which are the true architects of music as we perceive it. It was an immensely gratifying feeling, to be able to relate two of the most important things in my life and produce a new sound, a new music, based on math.
here goes nothing->
In the words of the great Leibniz
"May not music be described as mathematics of the sense, mathematics as music of the reason?"
Mathematics and music, the most sharply contrasted fields of scientific activity that can be found, are yet fundamentally related at their core. Both are avenues through which human creativity reaches its zenith, and a true expression of the human spirit emerges. My experience working with Fibonacci sequences and Fourier transformations in music was a breathtaking ride into the intricacies and underlying complexities of the world of music. It was a completely new approach and viewpoint to look at the sounds that we hear every day and how these sounds are transformed into the notes, tones and rhythms that make everlasting music. The idea of trying to connect math and music came to me one day when I was learning music theory, and observed the simple math involved in the intervals, octaves and chords. It seemed more than just a mere coincidence that everything musical at a fundamental level seemed to follow a basic mathematical framework, and hence, I decided to delve deeper into the roots of music. I combined notes produced by the Fibonacci sequence over different scales, and out came a beautiful melody ready to take stage. I then extracted the individual tones produced and converted them to the mathematical form of waves, using the idea of Fourier series. Once all the equations were produced, I could create new and beautiful tones and sounds straight from the waves which are the true architects of music as we perceive it. It was an immensely gratifying feeling, to be able to relate two of the most important things in my life and produce a new sound, a new music, based on math.
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