Mathemusic

(where mathematics and music meets)

Chandan Prasad Gupta

080103, II B.Sc. CME
gupta.chandan1@gmail.com

Department of Mathematics
St. Philomenas College
Accredited by NAAC with A+ grade
Bannimantapa, Mysore-570015
University of Mysore
 Acknowledgement:

This paper is presented during the seminar conducted on “applications of

mathematics” conducted in St. Philomenas College on date 27 march, 2010. I am
very thankful to Department of Mathematics of St. philomenas college and the
teachers Ms. P.k. Mery and Mr. Sanjay for giving a chance to present a paper on
this day. The topic choosen here is very interesting as it finds the application of
mathematics in musics and related different branches of it in music. I went
through many articles related to music and math and also read some related e-
books and finally found some interesting facts related to math and music.
Although English dictionary doesnt contain this world I would love to fantasize the
relation between math and music by calling it “mathemusic” and hope in coming
days we can have this word defined as “where math and music meets”.

Chandan Prasad Gupta

Abstract:

Mathematics and music have a strange connection. Music is the only art form,
where the form and the medium are the same. Mathematics is the only science
where the methods and the subject are the same. Mathematics is the study of
mathematics using mathematics. Music is only created and experienced as music.
Thus, there is a natural connection between mathematics and music: Both are
experienced as pure objects of the brain, and both have meaning outside of the
brain only by artificial connections.
In this paper we elaborate how branches of mathematics like set theory, abstract
algebra, numerical analysis and others are related to music and how golden and
fibonacci numbers are used in composing musics.

Introduction:

Math and Music: A Primer

Math and music have always been considered closely connected in many ways. It
is widely believed that students who do well in music also excel in math. Some
research shows that starting music lessons at a young age enhances math
ability . One theory is that music strengthens the neural chords that transmit
information between the two hemispheres of the brains.

Time, rhythm and metre:

In Old English the word "rhyme", derived from "rhythm", became associated and
confused with rim - "number"- and modern musical use of terms like metre and
measure also reflect the historical importance of music, along with astronomy, in
the development of counting, arithmetic and the exact measurement of time and
periodicity that is fundamental to physics.

Frequency and harmony:

When you pluck a string on a guitar, it vibrates back and forth. This causes
mechanical energy to travel through the air, in waves. The number of times per
second these waves hit our ear is called the ‘frequency’.This is measured in Hertz
(abbreviated Hz). The more waves per second the higher the pitch
A scale has an interval of repetition, normally the octave. The octave of any pitch
refers to a frequency exactly twice that of the given pitch. Succeeding
superoctaves are pitches found at frequencies four, eight, sixteen times, and so
on, of the fundamental frequency. When expressed as a frequency bandwidth an
octave spans from 110 Hz to 220 Hz (span=110 Hz). The next octave will span
from 220 Hz to 440 Hz (span=220 Hz). The third octave spans from 440 Hz to 880
Hz (span=440 Hz) and so on. Each successive octave spans twice the frequency
range of the previous octave. Human ears interpret all octaves as spanning a
range of pitches the same size, even though a sub-bass octave may span 40 Hz
and a super-treble octave can span 4000 Hz.

"Give me an A" = 440hz

Some basics: Music is made up of sound. Sound is made from repeating sound
waves. The musical pitch of each note has a corresponding frequency measured
physically in hz (hertz) or cycles per second. There are some important
mathematical relationships between the notes played in music and the frequency
of those notes.
There are two constant values in music. The first is that the A note that is 9 white
keys below middle C has a frequency of 440 hz. The second constant value in
music is the 12th root of 2 (1.0594630943593...) which is the ratio of the
frequencies between half tones. So, the frequency of A# is 440 × 1.059... =
466.16376... The frequency of B is 466.1637 × 1.0594 = 493.8833. After you do
this 12 times you end up with A an octave higher which equals 880hz. Doubling
the frequency creates a note an octave higher. Reversely, dividing the frequency
in half creates a note an octave lower

Harmonics

Why does a flute and a violin sound different when they play the same note? The
answer is harmonics. Harmonics is also why scales have different feels to them.
Most of what follows was discovered by German scientist Hermann Helmholtz in
the 19th century, but surprisingly many musicians are unaware of this hidden
connection between math and music.
When you play a note on a flute, you are only producing that particular tone. On
an old Moog synthesizer, you can do the same thing by using a sine wave to
produce the note. When you play a note on a violin, you are not only producing
that tone, but numerous harmonic tones as well. The Moog synthesizer uses a
sawtooth wave to do the same thing.
In Physics, harmonics are waves at proportional frequencies, and at inversely
proportional amplitudes. If we play an "A" (440hz) with full harmonics we will not
only hear the 440hz tone, but also an 880hz tone at half the volume (first
harmonic), a 1320hz tone at a third the volume (second harmonic), a 1760hz tone
at a quarter of the volume (third harmonic), etc., until the frequencies get too
high or the volume gets too low to be heard.
Lets look at those harmonics from a note perspective. Remember that with the
tempered scale nothing is exact. for simplicity sake we will play an "A" at 110hz.
The first harmonic is another "A" an octave up at 220hz. The second harmonic is
at 330hz which corresponds to a "E" on the second octave. The third harmonic is
also "A" two octaves up at 440hz. The fourth harmonic is 550hz which is a "C#"
on the third octave, and the fifth harmonic is another "E" on the same octave. You
music know-it-all's should understand the significance of this right off the bat. A,
C#, and E are the notes that make up the A major chord. The notes sound natural
and pleasant together because they emphasize one another's harmonic patterns.
(The sixth harmonic is between F# and G, and the seventh is A again three
octaves up.)

Here is a chart of the harmonics of a C Major chord (C-E-G) and how the
harmonics emphasize one another:
C 261. 523. 784.8 1046. 1308. 1569.
62 24 6 48 1 72
E 329. 659. 988.8 1318. 1648. 1977.
62 24 6 48 1 72
G 391. 783. 1175. 1567. 1959. 2351.
99 98 97 96 95 94

Here is a similar chart of a C minor chord, the missing harmonic correspondence

creates a darker "feel" to the chord:
C 261.6 523.2 784.86 1046.4 1308.1 1569.7
2 4 8 2
D 311.1 622.2 933.38 1244.5 1555.6 1866.7
# 3 5 0 3 5
G 391.9 783.9 1175.9 1567.9 1959.9 2351.9
9 8 7 6 5 4
connections to set theory:
Musical set theory uses some of the concepts from mathematical set theory to
organize musical objects and describe their relationships. To analyze the structure
of a piece of (typically atonal) music using musical set theory, one usually starts
with a set of tones, which could form motives or chords. By applying simple
operations such as transposition and inversion, one can discover deep structures
in the music. Operations such as transposition and inversion are called isometris
because they preserve the intervals between tones in a set.

connections to abstract algebra:

Expanding on the methods of musical set theory, many theorists have used
abstract algebra to analyze music. For example, the notes in an equal
temperament octave form an abelian group with 12 elements. It is possible to
describe just intonation in terms of a free abelian group.
Transformational theory is a branch of music theory developed by David Lewin.
The theory allows for great generality because it emphasizes transformations
between musical objects, rather than the musical objects themselves
The golden ration and fibonacci numbers:
It is believed that some composers wrote their music using the golden ratio and
the Fibonacci numbers to assist them. However, regarding the listener, the degree
to which the application of the golden ratio in music is salient, whether
consciously or unconsciously, as well as the overall musical effect of its
implementation, if any, is unknown.

Pythagoras
The first person to make the connection between math and music was Pythagoras
of Samos, a famous philosopher. He also is the first to believe in the idea that
mathematics is everywhere.
One bit of evidence of underlying rational numbers was in Greek music. At the
time, music was not as complicated as it is today. The Greek octave had a mere
five notes. Pythagoras pointed out that each note was a fraction of a string. Lets
say you had a string that played an A. The next note is 4/5 the length (or 5/4 the
frequency) which is approximately a C. The rest of the octave has the fractions
3/4 (approximately D), 2/3 (approximately E), and 3/5 (approximately F), before
you run into 1/2 which is the octave A.
Pythagoras was excited by the idea that these ratios were made up of the
numbers 1,2,3,4, and 5, and that there were five planets that moved along similar
ratios and that all this meant something (ultimately the universe turns out to be
irrational, which may explain a lot). Pythagoras imagined a "music of the spheres"
that was created by the universe. A wonderful idea that inspired many composers.
The 18th century music of J. S. Bach, has mathematical undertones, so does the
20th century music of Philip Glass. (Whenever I hear the expression "music of the
spheres", I start hearing Glass's "The Grid" from Koyaanisqatsi in my brain.)
So, how did we get the 12 notes scale out of these six notes? Basically, some
unknown follower of Pythagoras tried applying these ratios to the other notes on
the scale. For example, B is the result of the 2/3 ratio note (E) applied to itself. 2/3
* 2/3 = 4/9 which lies between octave A (1/2) and octave C (4/10). To put B in the
same octave we multiply 4/9 by two to arrive at 8/9. G is produced backward from
A. As B is a full tone above A at a string ratio of 8/9, we can create a missing tone
below A by lenthening the string to a ratio of 9/8. To add G to the same octave we
apply 9/8 to 1/2 (octave A) and by multiplication we get 9/16 as the ratio to G.

The golden ratio and Fibonacci numbers

It is believed that some composers wrote their music using the golden ratio and
the FIbonacci numbers to assist them. However, regarding the listener, the
degree to which the application of the golden ratio in music is salient, whether
consciously or unconsciously, as well as the overall musical effect of its
implementation, if any, is unknown.

Math and music have always been considered closely connected in many ways. It
is widely believed that students who do well in music also excel in math. Some
research shows that starting music lessons at a young age enhances math
ability . One theory is that music strengthens the neural chords that transmit
information between the two hemispheres of the brains.

Conclusion:
Hence we see that many branches of mathematics is related in an amazing way
to music, its composition and its formation. Whether be it directly or indirectly,
mathematics is involved when a musician plays music or composes music.
Besides we also saw that knowledge of music inhances the mathematical
hemisphere in brain and people with musical skilss are supposed to be good in
mathematical analysis. Thereby, we find applications of mathematics in music.

If all art aspires to the condition of music, all the sciences aspire to the
condition of mathematics. - George Santanaya
Music is the pleasure of the human soul experiences from counting
without being aware that it is counting. - Gottfried Leibniz