Fractal music is basically any kind of music that exhibits self-similarity in respect to some of its characteristics. The word “fractal” is used when talking about images, landscapes, sounds, and any other pattern that is self-similar in nature. Self-similarity can be described as looking at one small part of something, but still getting a sense of the whole picture. This chapter revolves around the fact that it is extremely difficult to explain the meaning of harmony and rhythm, and also explains the relevance of imitation to music. Aristotle and Plato both agreed that music imitates nature. It could be said to imitate natural sounds like heartbeats and the sound of cicadas, and then the tone patterns come into play, which is where musical pleasure derives from. Tones could be made from wind blowing over an object or even a cat’s howl. On top of all the natural rhythms and tones, we have humans who sing and play instruments. Program music however, has a different kind of imitation than others. For example, “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue” imitates a police car siren and the shot of a pistol. These imitative noises are a “trivial aspect of music” and can imitate things like emotions and beauty.
I was a little confused as to what fractal music had to do with math, until i got to the part where Gardner started talking about noises of different colors, dice, and spinners. White noise is a hiss that doesn’t change whether you make it go slower or faster. By using dice and spinners, white “tunes” could be easily composed. Brownian noise involves random movement of little particles suspended in a liquid and buffeted by molecules. Brown music can be made the same way as white music, but by varying the tone durations to make it more sophisticated. Noises can also be simulated by tossing dice. For example, the 1/f noise was simulated by tossing 10 dice. All of this might seem very confusing, but it is actually pretty simple. Its not very difficult to see how the algorithms produce sequences halfway between white and brown. The less significant digits, which are the ones to the right, change often while the more significant ones to the right are more stable.
I enjoyed reading this chapter, because music is one of my favorite subjects and I’ve never even heard of fractal music before. When I first started reading the chapter, I was slightly puzzled because it was such a new concept but as I got further into the reading, it got more interesting and started to make a lot more sense. I thought it was really interesting how Gardner made a reference to Hermes, which was a Greek legend who invented the lyre, just by finding a turtle shell who’s tendons would make noise when they were plucked. I thought it was amazing how much math had to do with the creation of noise and melodies, and also how brilliant these people must have been to discover it. It is easy for us to notice how painting and sculpture imitate nature, but music is way different.
I found this chapter very interesting. I liked this chapter because it wasn't as hard as the other chapters. I thought it was easier to understand as well after I read the part about Gardner speaking about noises of different color. You also had a good summary.
ReplyDeleteVery good summary! I really liked this chapter because of how different it was than the other chapters. Good job explaining your examples as well.
ReplyDeleteThis chapter is very interesting and was different from the others, making it easier to understand. good job!
ReplyDeleteAfter i read this post i looked up some videos of fractal music and i thought it was very interesting how such simplistic sounds good be so interesting. Now the part about the "1/f" still seems a little funny but overall good read.
ReplyDeleteI found this chapter very interesting since it was much different then the other chapter that we have read. This chapter seemed much easier to take in then others. This chapter has also reminded me a little bit about my old physics class in sense but overall great job on the post.
ReplyDeleteThe chapter interested me, more because I like music and melodious sounds. I listened to some fractal music, though it sounded like I was listening to ringtones, I liked it. Good job on the summary too, well simplified!!
ReplyDeleteI agree with a couple of other commenter that this chapter was a lot easier to understand than most chapters. You did a great job of summarizing it.
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