The Sounds of Geometry

                                     

                                     The Sounds of Geometry  

If any polygon were a musical instrument, what notes would it play?

It was with this question that I came up with the idea of creating software to explore and interact with these sounds.

A discovery attributed to Pythagoras is that when you divide a string of a musical instrument in half, what you will hear when you play it is a tone an octave higher (from the note you hear when playing the entire string). By subdividing this string into other lengths we discover other frequencies.

Now imagine that each edge and diagonals of any polygon is a string.

This is the central idea of our project. Transform a variety of polygons (and other interesting geometric shapes) into virtual musical instruments, whose sounds can be explored and even new compositions can be created using their characteristic scales and harmonies.

A little more about the project:

We were careful to make the software exceptionally faithful to the laws of physics. Precise calculations were made using real string data to achieve exact frequencies for each segment.

For now (as a test and proof of concept) we have only developed one polygon. Starting with one of the simplest: the Square. And what was our surprise when we found a range of harmonious sounds between the diagonals of this polygon! 

Within this concept, it is easy to reach the conclusion that each polygon has a particular sound range (or scale). It can thus be considered a new musical instrument (with its own scale and harmony)!

There are still many geometric shapes to be explored:

The goal is to form a library of playable shapes!

Soon I will provide more technical details (frequencies, tension, mass and length of simulated strings) about the project.

Instructions: 

  The interaction with the polygon (square) takes place through the keyboard.

  It has 16 musical notes that can be played using the following keys:

  Q  W  E  R  T  Y  U  I 

  A  S  D  F  G  H  J  K  

Tip:   It is almost mandatory to use good headphones to be able to hear the lower frequency sounds.

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If you liked the project and want to contribute to its continuity (expansion), consider making a donation  :)