https://doi.org/10.1007/s100510070170
Different amplitude and time distribution of the sound of light and classical music
1
Dipartimento di Fisica dell'Universitá degli Studi di Perugia, Via Pascoli, 06123 Perugia, Italy
2
Istituto Nazionale per la Fisica della Materia, Sezione di Perugia, Via Pascoli, 06123 Perugia, Italy
Received:
10
March
2000
Published online: 15 September 2000
Several pieces of different musical kinds were studied measuring A(t), the output amplitude of a peak detector driven
by the electric signal arriving to the loudspeaker. Fixed a suitable threshold 
, we considered N(A), the
number of times that 
, each of them we named event and N(t), the distribution of times t between two
consecutive events. Some N(A) and N(t) distributions are displayed in the reported logarithmic plots, showing that
jazz, pop, rock and other popular rhythms have noise-distribution, while classical pieces of music are characterized by
more complex statistics. We pointed out the extraordinary case of the aria "La calunnia è un venticello",
where the words describe an avalanche or seismic process, calumny, and the rossinian music shows N(A) and N(t)
distribution typical of earthquakes.
PACS: 05.45.Tp – Time series analysis / 43.75.Cd – Music perception and cognition / 43.75.St – Musical performance analysis and training
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag, 2000
