Today’s Music is Less Complex

 


A team of Italian computer scientists are studying the complexity of music. The team is from both the Sapienza university of Rome and the university of padova. They report that network science can be used to measure music’s complex complexity, allowing for a comparison between genres. Their study was reported using an arXiv preprint server.

The team found that it was relatively easy to apply the knowledge of network science to musical composition. Each note on a network is thought of as each node. (The connecting happens as if they came directly one after another). The researchers thickened the edges. This is based on the number of times a single note transitioned into another single note. This allowed the researchers to manufacture a network, based on the type of music and it’s patterns.

When a series of notes to repeated throughout a song, patterns were noted. The more complex the notes, the more complex the music. The team then automated their process. They created networks for 20,000 songs in a digital format. These songs spanned from six musical genres, and four centuries. The songs were measured against each other concerning complexity.

The team found that classical music is much more complex than modern music, with the exception of jazz. The team also discovered that all kinds of music have become simpler as centuries have passed, even classical and jazz. The research cannot point to why, but the team suggests that technical advancements, allowing more people to compose music may play a role. 

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