Soundcloud introduces Dropometer

April Fools, I think

although there is some serious math behind the idea of predicting the climactic point (the "drop") in a piece of music whether it is a symphony or a pop song:

it is called the Fibonacci sequence/series.

1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89 144 233 377 610 987 etc

the ratio of any two terms quickly settles down to 0.618..... the inverse of this ratio is also interesting in that it is 1.618....., i.e. 1/0.618.... = 1.618.....

this ratio is also known as the golden mean or the golden proportion: it has been used to create frameworks for canvas ratios (length x width) that were considered to be harmonious by the Greeks and other mathematically based societies. Some modern art schools teach the golden ratio as a means for dividing the canvas into meaningful points of interest, creating a frame within the frame with in the frame, a fractal application of the concept to creating meaningful and emotive art work.

We could do a similar thing with music, taking the whole work and dividing it into Fibonacci ratio segments that are then divided into Fibonacci segments ad infinitum. i.e. divide the verse, of say 8 bars into its Fibonacci elements and you have 5 and 3: the 5th bar would be the climactic point in the verse. Within the first 5 bars the 3rd bar would be sub climax, as would the 7th bar in the overall phrase: 3-2-2-1

You could do this to the whole piece if you wanted to.

Of course most modern music works on the basis of delaying the climactic point, creating tension.

In case any one thinks that is a yet a further elaborate April Fools joke, do some googling on Fibonacci sequence in musical design

One of my composition lecturers (later a full, tenured professor), Clive Pascoe, did his doctoral thesis on this and made a lot of noise about during my time at university
 
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