ISSN 2158-5296
 
 
AAWM JOURNAL VOL. 2 NO. 2 (2013)
 
Preliminary Remarks on a Helical Representation of Time

Andrew McGraw


In this article I describe a system for representing musical timing as a helix, enabling the three-dimensional visualization and printing of both micro- and piece-length temporality. Examples from the Balinese gamelan repertoire serve as the principal examples. I describe the functionality of Mathematica code developed to produce the visualizations, providing publically accessible links to the code, data, and output files. Rather than a study presenting extensive findings, this article outlines a method and describes preliminary examples. The model represented here aspires neither to a mathematical formulism—a computational approach to model composers' processes—nor to a cognitive psychology, which would attempt to reveal ostensibly universal mental representations of musical time. This study combines ethnography with music theory to suggest one possible musical imagination—the helix as a spatial heuristic for listening.


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