Monday, January 27, 2014
Professor Theo Geisel presents "Rhythms & Algorithms ~ Physics and Music"
Even the best musicians do not play rhythms with perfect precision. Slight deviations from an ideal beat pattern are a fundamental characteristic of music played by humans. In this public lecture, using techniques from statistical physics and chaos theory, Prof. Geisel will discuss the laws underlying rhythmic fluctuations and their role in musical perception. With acoustic demonstrations and musical examples ranging from J. S. Bach's The Art of Fugue to stochastic music, he will highlight the role of long-range correlations in music and its connection to information processing in the brain. One application of these findings is a "humanizing algorithm" which allows computer-performed music to sound more human. .