Bwahahaha! When I control the music, I will control the world! (long)

[Standup_Karmic]

Now that your attention is firmly within my thread, I am hoping that the combined efforts of our quattuorvigintillions of neurons can solve a problem that vexes me.

I want to corner the music market. I want to write all of the songs currently unwritten, copyright them all, and then sell them for a small profit to any artists who wish to professionally record music. But, there is a problem…

How many songs are there? Of course, there is by necessity a limited number of songs. As there are a limited number of musical notes, and a limited number of permutations, we will someday run out of new music (this may already be happening, given the rampant sampling utilized in the creation of hip hop).

I asked this question of one Mr. David Clampitt, an assistant professor of music at Yale whose specialty is the application of mathematics in music. Sayeth he:

Well, this is a perennial question for speculation. Since, as you note, the basic constraining elements are matters of definition and subjectivity, any answers would remain speculative. In the 18th century, the idea of permutation of musical elements, Ars combinatoria, was seriously entertained. C.P.E. Bach in 1757, for example, presented a method to generate 429,536,481 examples of invertible counterpoint (different registral arrangements of simultaneous melodies). Joseph Riepel, in his 1755 Grundregeln zur Tonordnung, calculated permutations of musical elements in the order of 10 to the 66th power. He also considered all the varieties of harmony that he thought musically possible (eliminating clusters of tones, but allowing many that are nonstandard). We can consider the number of harmonies possible with the 12 tones of the Western system by noting that the number of subsets of the 12 tones is 2 to the 12th power, or 4096. This includes everything, but remember that these are just the abstract notes (C, C#, D, etc.).

When you factor in register, doubling, order, etc., this number blows up enormously. Your question has perhaps more to do with melody: obviously not all possibiliies are interesting, there are constraints on length, repetition, register, and all sorts of other things, but when you add in the aspect of rhythm, which is as important as pitch in the construction of a pleasing melodic profile, the possibilities are astronomical.

Finally, music is a cultural practice, that changes over time. Gregorian chant was limited to single melody lines, to a restricted vocal range, and to 8 or 9 pitch classes (note names) within a given piece. Still, this is a vast repertory. Of course, originality is not prized in this repertory, so the church doesn’t worry about “running out of new chants.” In the future, it may be that musical culture will involve microtones (as some traditions already do). The possibilities will then explode again. It will still probably remain true, as Schoenberg said, that there remain good pieces to be written in C major.

Most of what he said is quite beyond me, though I do understand that the total is perhaps as large as the number used to describe our total number of neurons. With that said, if I owned a monstrous computer such as a Cray X1, and I knew enough about music theory (current level of knowledge: squat) such that I could devise a mathematical formula to have the computer write (assuming I knew anything about programming - current level of knowledge: squat) all songs consisting of melodic combinations of notes and rhythm (all other songs would remain in the realm of modern jazz), could I copyright them all and then sell them back to the likes of Britney and Justin for some major buckaroos?

I asked this question of Cecil about a year back, but have not yet seen an answer, and really can’t wait a moment longer to realize my destiny as the Master of Melody. Please help…rent is due in 4 days.

[II_Gyan_II]

*Originally posted by Morkfromork *
**Please help…rent is due in 4 days. **

Will your landlord take a rain check ?

Would you consider

1/2 A - 1/4 rest - 1/4 B - 1/4 B - 1/4 A on a piano the same as

2/5 A - 1/4 rest - 1/4 B - 1/4 B - 2/5 A on some other instrument. ?

They would kinda “sound the same” but they are different melodies.

Your question is number of different perceptible melodies. But then what is the line at which you fail to distinguish between two variants like above ?

Answer that and you would be one step closer.

[Shalmanese]

I would guess it is the “if you had every atom in the universe churning out music for the lifetime of the universe, it still wouldn’t be enough” kind of number.

Plus, doesn’t it cost money to copywrite/patent something? I would say that it would also be economically infeasible on an even grosser scale.

[RealityChuck]

Yes. Whatever your number, multiply it by $30. If you had that sort of money, you wouldn’t be worrying about the rent.