Media Releases and Opportunities
» Go to news mainMedia opportunity: What do you need to make a hit song? Math, according to a ±«Óãtv University mathematician who created a pop song using fractals, the cantor set and all things mathy
Most people are comfortable with the idea that music -- from classical to jazz to rock to pop and everything in between -- is a form of art. And yet the question persists -- what tools can accentuate the aesthetics, the emotion or the connection between the lyrics and the music?
A ±«Óãtv University mathematician says the answer may be found in the elegance of math.
Dr. Jason Brown, a professor and chair of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, set out to compose a pop song inspired by and based on mathematics. He and co-writer Lawrence Lesser of the University of Texas,were intent on creating a piece of music that could stand alone as a pop song and be appreciated without people being conscious of any of the underlying mathematics that went into the process.
The result is a folk-rock song about losing one's identity in a relationship, runs 4:53 and is based on mathematical patterns -- both musically and lyrically. The pair started by discussing what mathematical concepts might form a basis for the lyrical content of the song. They settled on fractals, which are mathematical shapes that are infinitely complex and can repeat forever. They also used the Cantor set, which is a set of points on a line segment that repeatedly removes the middle third of each section ad infinitum.
Dr. Brown, a Beatles devotee and songwriter in his own right, will present the song and a paper on how it was composed at the international Bridges conference in Virginia, USA next month. He is available to discuss the music and how some of the most successful music producers and singers incorporate math in their creative process.
ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý-30-
Media contact:
Alison Auld
Senior Research Reporter
Communications, Marketing and Creative Services
±«Óãtv University
Cell: 1-902-220-0491
·¡³¾²¹¾±±ô: alison.auld@dal.ca
Recent News
- Media opportunity: Researchers at ±«Óãtv University to explore whether cannabis alters the brains of teenagers and is linked to psychotic‑like experiences
- Media release: Porn’s new program ‑ Dal legal scholar’s new book focuses on the shift to algorithms and legal frameworks to tame them
- Media release: Seniors in New Brunswick improved their sleep, reduced dependence on sleeping pills with the help of educational packages mailed directly to their homes: ±«Óãtv University research
- Media opportunity: Digging deep: ±«Óãtv University researchers will use historic funding to develop national soil data inventory and online soil portal for farmers, foresters and policy makers
- Media opportunity: Land surface temperatures substantially warmer for 50 years following wildfires, despite cooler winter temperatures: ±«Óãtv University research
- Media release: New collaborative project aims to restore Nova Scotian seagrass meadows with the help of local communities
- Media Release ‑ Six ±«Óãtv University students receive Canada’s largest science, technology, engineering and math scholarship
- Media opportunity: ±«Óãtv University researchers develop environmentally friendly, lower‑cost process to make materials for EV batteries