The sound of music: Order from complexity

Abstract

Musical and biological sounds have the property of being well organised and usually strictly harmonic in spectrum, though there are a few notable exceptions such as the shimmering crash of a cymbal or the cry of the sulphur-crested cockatoo. It turns out, however, that this apparent simplicity is constructed by the interaction of highly nonlinear feedback generators linked to resonators whose vibrational modes are not in simple harmonic frequency ratios. This paper explores the way in which this apparent simplicity emerges from complex interactions in the generation of instrumental sound and in the songs of humans and other animals. Show more