Science News: Music Has Its Own Geometry

From Science News: three music professors have come up with a way to categorize and analyze music from a mathematical point of view.

Writing in the April 18 issue of Science, the trio has outlined a method called "geometrical music theory" that translates the language of musical theory into that of contemporary geometry. They take sequences of notes, like chords, rhythms and scales, and categorize them so they can be grouped into "families." They have found a way to assign mathematical structure to these families, so they can then be represented by points in complex geometrical spaces, much the way "x" and "y" coordinates, in the simpler system of high school algebra, correspond to points on a two-dimensional plane.

Article: Math explains the "beer goggles" effect

Mental_floss has an article about the mathematical equation some UK researchers created to explain "beer goggles.":

The formula can work out a final score, ranging from less than one - where there is no beer goggle effect - to more than 100. A rating between 1 and 50 would mean you’re likely to find someone you’re not attracted to less, shall we say, visually offensive than in other situations. If you’re scoring between 51 and 100, it might be time to call it a night; unappealing people are looking very good to you.

Probably not appropriate for middle or high school students, but still interesting to know nonetheless.

Website: pi10k

pi10k is an amazing website that combines music and math:

This experiment attempts to convert the first 10,000 digits of pi into a musical sequence.

Select ten notes, and your corresponding selection translates into an integer. The first not you select will equal "1", the second will equal "2", and so on. As your computer cycles through the digits of pi, the corresponding note will "play."

A great multidisciplinary tool, or a fun way to get students interested in pi.

Article: Math on Display

Science News' article Math on Display: Visualizations of mathematics create remarkable artwork is an interesting look at how some mathematicians use geometry (I think? I'm not that great at math) to make beautiful works of art. Probably a bit advanced for basic math, but students would probably enjoy using patterns, fractals, and tessellations to make art.