Over the last two decades, the work of psychologist Carol Krumhansl has illuminated the way we hear musical harmony. Using the technique of Krumhansl and Petri Toiviainen, I've made this video. All twenty four major and minor tonal centers are represented regions in this plane. Starting with a midi file of the Bach G major prelude from the cello suites, I generated the images---one per measure. The red regions correspond to the perceived tonal center, based on the Krumhansl's data. I then matched the images to a performance of the prelude by Mstislav Rostropovich.
This is fascinating. I wonder what sort of extensions there could be to this sort of programming? Here at PCMI, we had a speaker (Ingrid Daubechies) who discussed her research in mathematically studying artwork. In particular, she would analyze Van Gogh paintings and was capable of discerning originals from fakes mathematically.
I wonder if one could feed dozens of pieces by, say, Mozart, Debussy, Beethoven, etc, then see if a program could OBJECTIVELY discern between each composer mathematically by seeing their favorite rhythms or chord structures/patterns.
I once listened to a podcast (RadioLab on NPR) interview a man who had devised a computer program that studied the works of classical composers, learned their patterns, and was able to eventually compose a "new" Mozart piece that used all his idiosyncrasies, favorite chords, and rhythms. It was fascinating. Hope your summer goes well, and I'll see you next spring quarter!
This is fascinating. I wonder what sort of extensions there could be to this sort of programming? Here at PCMI, we had a speaker (Ingrid Daubechies) who discussed her research in mathematically studying artwork. In particular, she would analyze Van Gogh paintings and was capable of discerning originals from fakes mathematically.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if one could feed dozens of pieces by, say, Mozart, Debussy, Beethoven, etc, then see if a program could OBJECTIVELY discern between each composer mathematically by seeing their favorite rhythms or chord structures/patterns.
I once listened to a podcast (RadioLab on NPR) interview a man who had devised a computer program that studied the works of classical composers, learned their patterns, and was able to eventually compose a "new" Mozart piece that used all his idiosyncrasies, favorite chords, and rhythms. It was fascinating. Hope your summer goes well, and I'll see you next spring quarter!
-Jake Price