3
$\begingroup$

This is a soft question. I play classical guitar and I find stringed instrument industry a very fascinating art. I know that, at least for classical guitar, this industry is still developing and exploring new techniques, so it is a very alive research field.

I know that it must involve at least some basic mathematics, but I was wondering if anyone has tried to apply deep mathematical tools and concepts in this field, for example from geometric analysis.

On the other hand I guess that these techniques could inspire very interesting mathematical questions.

What is the state of art of the interaction between maths and stringed instrument industry?

  • 0
    Here's a book which discusses the interplay between category theory and music: https://www.amazon.ca/Topos-Music-Geometric-Concepts-Performance/dp/3764357312 – 2017-01-11
  • 0
    @MathematicsStudent1122 Not convinced those kind of esoteric things are the most interesting :) I would recommend instead to think to this as an applied maths subject, with some practical goals. – 2017-01-11
  • 1
    @Onil90 What exactly is your goal? – 2017-01-11
  • 0
    @MathematicsStudent1122 Thanks for the reference. :) – 2017-01-11
  • 0
    @Narasimham I play classical guitar and I study math, so I am curious to know the links. Moreover I'm sure that there are deep math questions arising from trying to model the physical behaviour of a stringed instrument vibrating. I was wondering if there is a fruitful interaction between math and the stringed instrument industry. – 2017-01-11

1 Answers 1

2

Not sure of what your question is. There are the 3 major applied.maths/music topics :

  • Musical signal processing (automatic transcription, recognition).

  • A.I. and machine learning (automatic improvisation, computer assisted composition)

  • Physics & acoustic of musical instruments and sound synthesis.

The last one is special because the human voice is a musical instrument, and voice synthesis and analysis is a very active research field since more than 40 years.

All those subjects involve many mathematical tools : harmonic analysis (Fourier transform), differential equations & operator theory, convex optimization, probability and statistics, graph or group theory..

See this for a good start on the physics of stringed instruments.

  • 0
    I am interested in the physics of musical instruments. Is there any reference book which deal rigorously with this topic from a mathematical viewpoint? – 2017-01-11
  • 0
    @Onil90 I wouldn't recommend a book, but there are a lot of resource on the internet. – 2017-01-11
  • 0
    Thank you very much! I'll take a look to that .pdf! – 2017-01-11
  • 1
    Nodes/antinodes of string vibration,, frequecy of notes, Chaldini figures , Stradivarius etc. Google it.. [StingedInstrum][1] [1]: https://www.google.co.in/search?q=physics%20of%20string%20instruments&espv=2&biw=1167&bih=577&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjH1Y6Ox7rRAhUGTY8KHV_ECGgQ_AUIBigB#imgrc=EI_uId2op5aFkM%3A – 2017-01-11