ear pi [ a math 'n' music continuum ]
js 2003.03.09

kim asked for music using pi [math constant]. this is what i made.

the music has 2 main layers:

1. a computerized voice reading the digits of pi, spaced according to their value; so that a 'three' lasts for 3 seconds, a 'seven' for 7, and so on.
2. a 'sounding out' of the 22 / 7 ratio [analog pi] in rhythmic counterpoint; over the span of a minute, one voice plays seven beats and the other twenty two.

the feel of layer 2 is influenced by javanese music- well, except that the tempo is too rigid. the way i was looking at the math was counting against the seconds, so i kept the tempo steady. and 3 minutes is still ok for a steady tempo.

also, even though the requirement is to make 3 minutes 14 seconds of music, pi is better approximated with 3 minutes and 8 seconds [ 8/60 ~= 14/100] so i included both pre- and post- lude to fill the allotted time. the title should really be written with the greek letter pi instead of 'pi', that way it maps to the number better [pi == point]. but this is ascii text, without greek letters.

MD5 (js_ear_pi.mp3) = 45d4c4c79c556eb89a3e9038190705cb released under EFF open audio license (O)