Maybe that doesn't seem at all strange to you, but it does to me. I'm no math whiz, and I'm sure math people would be able to explain it to me if I cared to listen, but it just seems too big a coincidence to me. After all, think about what frequency is. Frequency in sound is the number of times a wave repeats itself over a certain period of time (per second).
In this diagram, we see examples of four different frequencies. The numbers below are intended to indicate seconds. At 110 HZ, there are 1.1 waves for every second. At 220 HZ, there are 2.2, and so on.
The point of this rudimentary science lesson is to draw attention to the beauty of the relationship between math, science, and music.
Why does doubling a frequency lead to a perfect octave? Why not a perfect fifth? Or a tritone? Or two octaves? Why doesn't an octave equate to an exact number, rather than a ratio between frequencies? What I mean by that is why isn't an octave, for example, 200 HZ, no matter where in the spectrum it is found? If your starting pitch is 440 HZ, an octave higher is 880 HZ, while an octave lower is only 220 HZ. An octave below that would only be 110 HZ. So octaves are a proportionate measure, rather than a fixed measure.
That having been said, it would make sense that one could calculate the frequencies of any pitch between two given octaves by knowing the starting point of one end of the spectrum, doubling or halving it to find the pitch an octave away, then dividing the difference between the two by twelve (the number of pitches from one octave to the next).
Okay, this is starting to get a little bit beyond me. I'm not nearly smart enough to figure all of this out, and since my interest is not in acoustics, but more philosophy, it really doesn't matter.
What matters is that there are so many different ways frequencies could have worked out, why this?
Forget about that, for a moment. Many people say that creativity and art is a very wild, dynamic thing. If that is the case, then why is music so precise? Frequencies share common ratios. Music is broken up into mathematically precise beats and measures. There is a certain scientific and mathematic perfection existing in every piece of music, work of art, or dance. Heck, even writing abides by certain steadfast rules and conventions.
Math and science occur in nature. The atomic weight of potasium, the circumference of a circle, the mass of an object, the measure of speed. These things are often considered far removed from the wild, emotional, passionate art of creating music. Many musicians avoid science and math like the plague, acknowledging a loose relation, but refusing to cop to anything deeper than that. Music is beauty, emotion, passion, and intensity. Math and science are cold, calculated, and methodical.
But if we say that, are we not embracing the other half of our true selves? After all, the relation between creation and science is simply too strong to ignore.
Too coincidental, as well.
How is it that music can be so strongly correlated to math by mere chance? How could this have happened by mere coincidence?
Perhaps there is some higher power acting as architect for the Universe. Call it what you will, but perhaps there is a God who has created a grand design of the world, and music was a part of it.
Who knows? Maybe the God that created our world was just a little lazy and uncreative Himself and couldn't be bothered to come up with a different system for everything He created, so he applied the same template to many things, which is why so many things overlap. Or maybe He was brilliant beyond all reckoning and these similarities are like pieces of a puzzle He left behind for us to put together to discover more about ourselves.
Maybe the true realization of ourselves will only come when we are able to fully embrace the true depth and breadth of our total humanity, which includes both art and science. Maybe the key to understanding humanity's purpose on Earth is to be found in music and the sciences. Maybe musicians and mathematicians alike are all touched by, and touching, the divine every time they practice their craft.
Regardless of how vociferously they deny it.
Or maybe it really is all just a huge coincidence.
Yeah. Right...
