Mathematical Art in Connection to Music Composition
Mathematical Art in Connection to Music Composition
Music is always something that to me actually feels very structured. I like composers and ideas that help break away from that structure. Sometimes having algorithms or mathematical assignments to specific elements helps at least start the creative process of developing new ideas. There were things in music in the past such as the Renaissance Motet, or canons, palindromic canons.
Frédéric Vayssouze-Faure is a French animator who explores complex mathematical models via short animations he circulates on the Wavegrower Tumblr. Fractals, sine functions, and harmonic oscillations are all central concepts behind his swarming and undulating animations.
Through his statement:
"This blog is a subdivision of the wavegrower mission through which I am dedicated on combining multitude and minimalism to form dynamic artworks with over one level of reading, the original being that each cell constituting them has its simple periodic motion, implying frequent looping by twisting or spinning or balancing or stretching or swinging or revolving or beating or shaking or vibrating, in a word: oscillating. "
As with various other artists and designers operating with animation of this kind, Vayssouze-Faure shares the source code behind a majority of his work to assist others to study how they behave.
Come see more at http://wavegrower.tumblr.com/post/153731026845/fractal-oscillator
I wonder, has this been done in music? In ways, it has already. Here are a few structures that represent some more algorithmic thinking in written music.
Renaissance Motet
Renaissance Motets are some of the first vocal music to have polyphonic (chords) in the writing. The form was so free, it even still feels contemporary in structure. A Motet required lyrics and several parts. That's essentially all that was required to be called a Motet. These actually used to have some of the most advanced contrapuntal, rhythmic, and polyphonic "writing" by performing ever in music.
Round
A "round" is a musical piece that you can start in more than one place, and loop it, and it works. Usually, there is a specific place that you start up the next play of that melody, but it sounds cool. One might recognize Row Row Row your boat as a popular Round. I will attempt a short round for fun in a near future post.
Palindromic Canons
Bach was possibly the greatest innovator in music. Coming up with these crazy methods of producing music, while using strict rules of harmony and counterpoint to pull them off.
The following is a representation of what I would like to achieve, but with music.
More Designs
Steemians, what do you think of the illustrations in connection with how it could be applied to music? Would anyone want to see a few of the examples interpreted in music? Let me know your thoughts!
You might like Gurdjieff or P.D.Ouspensky for a philosophical read. They are a little (lot) abstruse, but the "Theory of Octaves" is worth a look-see.
Thanks! I will check it out for sure @pastbastard where did you discover that?
That particular quest began at the Baltimore Theosophical Society in '96. I read Ouspensky for a few years, then I approached the works of Gurdjieff around 2004. Have not visited the Gurdjieff/Ouspensky group in D.C. or Baltimore but I know the Brother who runs the Baltimore group. Just remember they were writing 100 years ago, so some of their terms have changed and some of their theories are disproved.
Join the contest @pandamama running - All entries will automatically be entered for the "Viewly Awards" coming up this month. Start looking at what video you can enter as well @playitforward