Music Maths IA

[JMo]

Hey all! I was hoping that some of you could help me with my HL Math IA, or 'exploration,' as it is now called. I wanted to do my IA over the maths of music, but I've had a really hard time a) finding a topic that might be considered 'sophisticated' enough for HL b) coming up with a rationale/ aim of the investigation. I'm really kind of confused as to how I am supposed to frame my work.

Anyway, I think I may have finally found a topic that is interesting, and technically in the HL math syllabus. I was thinking that I could look at the geometry involved in music composition. Take, for instance, the fugue. It has a musical subject that recurs throughout the piece, but the subject may undergo different transformations (it may be repeated (a horizontal translation) or raised in pitch (vertical translation), it may be inverted (reflection), and there is even the option of introducing retrograde motion). I thought it would be interesting to play around with different transformations of a musical subject and see what type of music turns out.

My questions for you would be: Is this 'sophisticated' enough for me to, at the very least, not fail Criterion E of the evaluation? And what could I put as my 'rationale' or aim for doing this? Learning about composition techniques? Creating my own unique and mathematical score?

I would really, really appreciate any answers, and I hope that someone will get back to me ASAP. My topic is due tomorrow. (Yes, I am a procrastinator. But I actually have been working on this, I just haven't had much luck  )

[Fox smith]

Well, I know that someone at my school did their HL IA on something musical, albeit not related to the things that you mention and got a perfect score. He worked with alternative octave systems (like 24 tone equal temperament, and some weird octaves that were devised by Wendy Carlos. However, I am not sure what mathematics were involved, I just know the subject, and tat it got him a good score, so you may look at something similar of you're interested.

[flinquinnster]

I didn't do this new style of Maths IA, and I am so glad because the exploration is so much more difficult! Music and maths definitely seems like a fruitful area of investigation. As to whether your topic is sophisticated enough, I think it could be if you use appropriate examples - and maybe you could also bring in set theory and stuff like that (which I think it's relevant but I'm not really sure how) or maybe more about combinations/permutations based on pitch and rhythm. A lot of what you mentioned reminded me of some of the stuff that Vi Hart does, so maybe you could google/YouTube her if you want some ideas on maths and music. Otherwise, hopefully once you put in your topic your maths teacher can help you determine if your topic is sufficiently sophisticated!