Monday, March 23, 2015

Mathematics, Music and the Guitar

Assalamualaikum,


Hai semua! Pagi tadi I kena jadi panel untuk pre-viva presentation for masters student dekat school of maths ni. So konon keluar awal la nak make sure sampai before the presentation starts. I keluar rumah around pukul 8am, tapi pukul 9.30am baru sampai school sebab jem menggila dari Seberang Jaya sampai Penang Bridge. Nasib baik sempat sampai on time, Phew!! 


So untuk pre-viva ni I kena observe tiga pembentangan student yang buat area linear and nonlinear waves. Dalam tiga orang tu, I tertarik dengan pembentangan sorang student yang buat dissertation bertajuk Mathematics Behind A Traditional Acoustic Guitar (or something like that). Interesting, right?


Mathematics plays a reaaaaallyyy big role in producing a nice set of sound from a guitar.
Cuma mungkin pemain tu tak sedar je that he is actually using a sophisticated maths technique. :)
"Music is the pleasure the human mind experiences from counting without being aware that it is counting" - Gottfried Leibniz


I think I am not going to elaborate more on the mathematical theory behind this because that my dear, will make you hate me forever. hahaha. But we all know that the guitar is one of the most incredible instruments constructed by mankind. It can produce some of the most complex, intricate music imaginable, and yet it is also accessible to even the youngest of learners.


So student ni buat kajian the relationship between plucking one string and the resonance effect on the sound. Maksudnya, by playing around with some variables in the equation, a more harmonic sound will be produced. From this basic, we could now, using some deceptively simple mathematics, know how and where to place frets on a bare guitar, as well as how to tune this guitar given any set of strings. Ok this sounds too technical I think. I better stop.


It was very interesting because this student keluar dari kelompok yang buat kajian benda-benda yang serious. Well who doesn't like music right? Bila dia buat research macam ni kitorang jadi bersemangat nak dengar, and we even requested him to play the guitar using his own chord developed from the equation later in the final viva. I can't wait! :)


Bila tengok student dok nervous nak present tadi, teringat masa zaman buat presentation untuk Final Year Project dengan Master's Dissertation dekat UTM dulu. Entah hapa-hapa je yang aku bentangkan time tu. Tapi dapat jugak Best Presenter Awards. hahaha. Ishh, bila compare dengan pengetahuan sekarang, rasa macam sampah gila apa yang aku buat dulu, Malu aihhh kalau orang baca. huhu. Tapi takpa, that's what we call learning process kan? Mana ada orang yang lahir je kat dunia terus pandai kan? :p


1 comment:

Sarathi Banking said...

Thanks for shared about guitar study very helpful kindly visit us @ Bank Exam coaching centre in Chennai