Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 18, 2026

fMRI Mapping of Brain Activity Associated with the Vocal Production of Consonant and Dissonant Intervals
Published on: May 23, 2017
Self-similarity of the "1/f noise" called music
Abstract:
Suggestions have been made that computer musicians should attempt to compose fractal music, and questions have been raised whether there is such a thing as fractal music. Voss and Clark observed that music is scaling, or 1/f noise, as analyzed on the basis of the amplitude (loudness) of the audio signals; they failed to find a fractal distribution of acoustic frequencies (music notes) in music. Analyzing Bach's and Mozart's compositions, we have shown that the incidence of the frequency intervals, or of the changes of acoustic frequency, has a fractal geometry. Fractal phenomena are characterized by scale-independency. The purpose of this investigation is to demonstrate the self-similarity of music and to explore its implications.
Related Concept Videos
Perception of Sound Waves
The pitch of a sound depends on the frequency and the pressure amplitude of the source. Two sounds of the same frequency...
Sound Waves: Interference
Beats
Properties of Fourier series II
A function f(t) is...
Basic signals of Fourier Transform
The sinc function, defined as sinc(x) = sin(πx)/(πx), is particularly notable for its symmetry and behavior at zero. It...
Sampling Theorem

