Posted
10/31/2008 06:59:00 PM
by Douglas
Alternate headline for
this one: Dork Uses Math To En-lamen Great Song, Hasn't Been Laid In YearsThe opening chord to A Hard Day’s Night is also famous because for 40 years, no one quite knew exactly what chord Harrison was playing. Musicians, scholars and amateur guitar players alike had all come up with their own theories, but it took a Dalhousie mathematician to figure out the exact formula.
Four years ago, inspired by reading news coverage about the song’s 40th anniversary, Dr. Brown decided to try and see if he could apply a mathematical calculation known as Fourier transform to solve the Beatles’ riddle. The process allowed him to decompose the sound into its original frequencies using computer software and parse out which notes were on the record.
Maybe there's more to this that makes it, uh, interesting?