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Physics in Metal Music

100 pointsby livatlantisover 9 years ago

13 comments

livatlantisover 9 years ago
Author here. I wasn&#x27;t sure if it was bad etiquette to submit my own article to HN but decided in the end that it might actually interest the community.<p>For fans of metal and sci-fi, I should mention that Dutch musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen does much more than just write science-inspired metal operas for Ayreon. He also has another project called Star One[0], where each song is based on an iconic sci-fi movie, book or series (Blake&#x27;s 7, Doctor Who, Dune, Alien, Star Trek, A Clockwork Orange...).<p>[0]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;STAR_1" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;STAR_1</a>
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pdkl95over 9 years ago
Speaking of math and music... Phil Moriarty recently did a &quot;Sixty Symbols&quot; video[1] about a recent paper[2] that investigated the subtle timing fluctuations that distinguish well-played drums from the &quot;correct&quot; quantized-to-the-exact-beat rhythm produced by a drum machine.<p><pre><code> ... fluctuations of hi-hat amplitudes and interbeat intervals ... have clear long-range correlations and short-range anticorrelations separated by a characteristic time scale. </code></pre> As a follow-up, Prof. Moriarty is asking for recordings of drummers playing Rush&#x27;s &quot;Tom Sawyer&quot;[3], so he can continue the analysis on a much broader set of data.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=GyLeBMdI_HU" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=GyLeBMdI_HU</a><p>[2] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;journals.plos.org&#x2F;plosone&#x2F;article?id=10.1371&#x2F;journal.pone.0127902" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;journals.plos.org&#x2F;plosone&#x2F;article?id=10.1371&#x2F;journal....</a><p>[3] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;muircheart.wordpress.com&#x2F;2015&#x2F;10&#x2F;19&#x2F;the-rhythm-method-crowd-sourcing-drum-science&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;muircheart.wordpress.com&#x2F;2015&#x2F;10&#x2F;19&#x2F;the-rhythm-metho...</a> <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=vGH6-BcKCME" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=vGH6-BcKCME</a>
N0S4A2over 9 years ago
I&#x27;m not sure if you care for death metal, but Allegaeon released Elements of the Infinite last year which contains several songs about cosmology and mathematics. One, in particular, is entitled &quot;Dyson Sphere&quot;[1].<p>While we&#x27;re on the subject of Dyson Spheres, Alkaloid released a four part song earlier this year on their debut, again entitled &quot;Dyson Sphere&quot;. My interpretation is that it&#x27;s about a sphere created in order to serve as an incubator for an entire species. All of the parts are available on their Bandcamp page[2].<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=hVGcwoqgbyE" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=hVGcwoqgbyE</a> [2] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;alkaloid-band.bandcamp.com&#x2F;album&#x2F;the-malkuth-grimoire" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;alkaloid-band.bandcamp.com&#x2F;album&#x2F;the-malkuth-grimoir...</a>
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ameliusover 9 years ago
Somewhat related: The physics of mosh pits [1]<p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;kottke.org&#x2F;14&#x2F;11&#x2F;the-physics-of-mosh-pits" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;kottke.org&#x2F;14&#x2F;11&#x2F;the-physics-of-mosh-pits</a>
epsylonover 9 years ago
One of my favorite song from Swedish artist Vintersorg is <i>Algol</i>, which is about the eponymous star system.<p><pre><code> Algol, demon, capricious your brightness shifts from day to day - rises, abates, intesifies again, sometimes triumphant and sparkling, sometimes pale and faint. For a long time we&#x27;ve searched with wonder for the key to this mystery, the right element to your eager and changing, queer temperament. Now we&#x27;ve dispearsed the haze of the riddle: you&#x27;ve got a companion on your journey, like a slave, a faithful shadow he constantly follows you on the desolate path, he circles and sneaks quiet around you, closely. Never have we seen his guise, dark, parches, stiff and cold, but still we know he exists; like ashamed he hides behind you - free and merry you shine - until he once again crawls out of the darkness and covers you. And your glare becomes pallid and dull, and your mind cloudy. [Chorus] And similars there are - many Algols wanders in the space - maybe even more among us on earth. Sunlight spirits darkened by a shadow, young princes concealed by old slaves, doublesouls, divided creatures - a blissful son of the light indissolubely linked with a bitter dark demon. [Chorus] </code></pre> His lyrics talk a lot about science in general, astronomy, philosophy and nature. Also, fun trivia: Vintersorg, despite singing mostly black metal, is a primary school teacher.
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bleuarffover 9 years ago
If you&#x27;re interested in physics in metal, I suggest you listen to Negligent Collateral Collapse, and particularly their first album, Reprocess Segment Database Extender. Great fun, although not suitable for everyone&#x27;s ears.
philhover 9 years ago
&gt; In this context, you would not only reach your destination, you would be both annihilated and preserved (kinda like Schrödinger&#x27;s feline friend).<p>Is this a meaningful comparison? How I read the preceding bit, the way in which you&#x27;re both annihilated and preserved is simply that you die but the information required to reconstruct you remains.<p>That&#x27;s not at all like the way in which Shrödinger&#x27;s cat is both alive and dead, which doesn&#x27;t really have anything to do with death.
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larrikover 9 years ago
Ne Obliviscaris uses physics (or at least astronomy) in much of their music, especially on their album Citadel (which includes a pair of songs about black holes, like the article).<p>Meanwhile, independent band Mechina is in the middle of releasing an 8-album epic sci-fi story about space travel.<p>I rarely pay close attention to lyrics, though, so I may be off, and I may be ignoring lots of other bands that may have them (Soen seems to at least have math influence, judging from their track titles).
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Floegipokyover 9 years ago
Relevant: Between the Buried and Me&#x27;s Parallax I &amp; II <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=GE8zQEShT7w" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=GE8zQEShT7w</a> <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=uUsiQqcG5bI&amp;list=PLaY_oF0LS0Dyt-lji0DVRZs6mUQDo88Rm" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=uUsiQqcG5bI&amp;list=PLaY_oF0LS0...</a>
Roboprogover 9 years ago
FWIW, &quot;Rush&quot; hit the black hole theme back in &#x27;77: &quot;Cygnus X-1&quot;. Nerd rock doesn&#x27;t get much air play :-)
n4r9over 9 years ago
The &quot;neo-classical&quot; death metal band Haggard have a concept album called Eppur Si Muove which is about the life and works of Galileo. It doesn&#x27;t go into much scientific detail, and is more about the apparent conflict with Church doctrine, but seems to be along the right kind of lines.
kawika85over 9 years ago
What about Lateralus from Tool ?
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nehushtanover 9 years ago
<a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;tmbw.net&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Cut_The_Strings" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;tmbw.net&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Cut_The_Strings</a>