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The Geometry of Music: The Mathematical Path to Attractive Melodies

Western composers often face the challenge of combining harmony -- joining two or more tones together into a chord -- and counterpoint -- connecting notes in a chord series to create simultaneous melodies.

A fresh wy of looking at chords and melodies as points and lines in a non-Euclidean mathematical space called an orbifold offers promising insight into the organizing principles of Western music, according to Dmitri Tymoczko, a composer and music professor at Princeton University. His work could help musicians and scholars achieve greater glory -- even if they don't have a mathematics background.

Tymoczko's work demonstrates whether chords can be connected in an efficient and pleasant-sounding way by mathematically mapping out the possible connections between chords in geometrical space and showing precisely how harmony and counterpoint are related.

Composers could -- and do -- come up with new music, he says.

CONTACT:
Dmitri Tymoczko
609-468-6042 (cell)
dmitri@princeton.edu

Id: 
23
Start Date: 
Thursday, August 31, 2006