Melody-Making
Machines are something I had never heard of before or at least I didn’t think I
did. In the first weeks of my ‘Computer Science I’ class we learned that all
pictures, sound, and video could be expressed by a series of numbers. We were
also informed that almost 80% of pictures, videos and sound would takes years
and years to code in terms of single digit numbers.
Chapter 47
in “The Colossal Book of Mathematics” brings reason to this subject and
explores the different and nearly impossible algorithms to code music and
paintings of today. In Science and Music (Dover,
1968) Sir James Jean talks about a curve that can define all symphonies. The
sound that will come from this curve will be a very bland music but every now
and then there will be a pleasing note. Since all curves can be coded very
precisely, all sound can be coded with a very complex algorithm that may not
ever be solved.
The use of
dice to produce any symphony or a symphony that no one has ever heard has been
a problem that many composers and computer wizards have been playing with for
hundreds of years. In the book Dicing
with Mozart (Jones 26-29), Jones explains how other composers went about
creating these symphonies that don’t exist yet. To explain how this “Mozart”
system without over complicating things, you roll the 16 times. The first eight
numbers, with the help of a chart, represent the first eight bars of the waltz.
The second eight numbers, with the help of another chart, create the rest of
the 16-bar piece. This system, with the help of some math that is way over my
head, creates 11^14 waltzes. Jones, along with many other composers, believe
this number is so large that it will play a waltzes never heard before.
David Cope,
a professor of music at University of California- Santa Cruz, invented a music-imitating
machine called EMI (Experiments in Musical Intelligence). Requiem
for the Soul (Holmes 23-27), talks about the music of David Cope and how
the innovation of his work has changed the musical world forever. Cope used EMI
to imitate “Mozart’s 42nd symphony “, along with many other famous composers.
Cope claims that even the greatest composer in the world couldn’t tell if the
music was original or a computer imitation.
I think the
author throughout the book did an excellent job explaining each chapter well. I
really liked how the other uses examples that the average mathematical mind can
relate to. I know the author used a lot of sources that explained concepts using
everyday items such as dice playing cards. Some chapters were hard to follow
but that was simply the difficulty of the subject but for the most part I
enjoyed the readings assigned to me. Chapter 13, my first blog post, was the
most interesting topic to me. Hypercubes dive into the unknown dimensions of
the world. Since we talked about it in class and watched a movie about a similar
topic, I feel like I can relate to that chapter more than others. Overall, I
enjoyed the book and the array of topics covered.
R.Holmes, "Requiem for the Soul," New Scientist, August 9, 1997, pp. 23-27.On
David Cope's music.
K.Jones, "Dicing with Mozart," New Scientist, December 14, 1991, pp. 26-29.
R.Holmes, "Requiem for the Soul," New Scientist, August 9, 1997, pp. 23-27.On
David Cope's music.
K.Jones, "Dicing with Mozart," New Scientist, December 14, 1991, pp. 26-29.
I found this chapter really interesting and I thought that the use of dice example was very interesting as well.
ReplyDeleteI also found this chapter very interesting. I think that you summarized it very well and had great references!
ReplyDeleteYour summary caught my attention right away. How you referred to your Computer Science class. Really fascinating on how art, pictures and words can create sound. Got me thinking about everything we read and how we view things.
ReplyDeleteIn physics call I learned about that curve you mentioned that can define all symphonies. We never got too far into it but it is definelty a topic that is worth some more research.
ReplyDeleteI like the way you compared it to computer science that made it interesting!
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting how you can make music from math. Even though it doesn't seem as efficient or easy as creating it on your own, it's still cool to see that math can be used in this way.
ReplyDeleteI thought this chapter was pretty interesting although I didn't understand some parts. But your summary helped me understand it more and re-reading some of the parts helped me understand it.
ReplyDelete