Musical Fractals
In the spirit of discovering the wondrous connection between math and music today, we will look into fractal music. A fractal is a pattern, most easily understood as a geometric figure, in which one is able to smize the image in its entirety merely by seeing a piece of it, no matter how large or small. Simply put a fractal is a never-ending pattern that repeats continually. Fractals, as they relate to music, behave in a slightly dissimilar fashion.
Firstly, we need to have an understanding of different noise types. Many of us are familiar with the sort of grainy static sound that is white noise. What is not as well-known is brown and pink noise. Brown noise is somewhat similar to white noise as far as how it sounds, though it is a little deeper and may resemble the sound associated with a strong current or wind. Pink noise is white noise, but it is softer and often described as more soothing, like rainfall, though some do find it unpleasant.
How does this all relate to fractal music? Firstly, the vast majority of music we listen to is a combination of pink noise and patterns. This combination of noises and patterns is surprisingly pleasing to the human ear. If one were to visually manifest this music into a geometric shape it would be a curved shape that is described by pink noise then it would take on a fractal-like shape.
The process of creating and fractals as they relate to music is immensely complex without at least some understanding of music theory. Still, it can be a very pleasing and fun experience. Even just knowing that your music has such unique proprieties can be rewarding in both experiencing and creating the piece. Music is a universal language and specular marvel that has elements that go far beyond rudimentary understanding.