Music Generation Wicklow: Rhythm + Algorithm premiere

On Friday 15 November, Students from Scoil Chonglais, Baltinglass, will premiere Rhythm + Algorithm, at NUI Maynooth as part of a Maths conference which also marks the launch of Project Maths - the introduction of revised syllabuses for both Junior and Leaving Certificate Mathematics at second level.

Following the huge success of the Young Ambassadors Performance Programme - a collaboration between Music Generation and the Department of Education and Skills during the EU Presidency earlier this year, Music Generation and the DES were keen to explore other performance opportunities which would provide exciting musical outlets for young people. The launch of Project Maths seemed like the ideal opportunity, especially given the established correlation between Maths and Music. From metre, rhythm, random selection, harmonics, repetition and built patterns - the possibilities seemed endless!

Music Generation Wicklow took up the challenge as part of its Commisions series 2013 and composer Andrew Synnott and a team of five Music Generation Wicklow musicians worked collaboratively with over 40 young people over 9 weeks in Scoil Chonglais in composing a piece of music based on the link between Music and Maths. Andrew harnessed the ideas of the young people from a music and / or maths interest into the formation of the work, catering for all abilities and experience. The young people will perform alongside the musician team - Delia Lynch (cello), Jennifer McMahon (voice and violin), Niall Cloak (guitar), Sinead Finegan (violin) and Rama Block (guitar and percussion).

Speaking about the process Andrew Synnott says: "Music is made up of patterns and sequences driven by internal structures of harmony, melody, rhythm and repetition. All of these building blocks can be felt and understood instinctively without recourse to analysis. That is what is so powerful about music. It bypasses the brain and goes straight to the heart. In writing this piece with the students of Scoil Chonglais I chose to make maths the centre of the compositional process in two ways. The first was generating musical material (ideas for the piece) and the second was making maths the subject matter of the piece (see lyrics below)."

Rhythm + Algorithm
Octants, law of sines, disjunction
Logarithmic rules and function
Angles, theorems, factor tree
Integers, corollary
All which is pythagorean
Prism, geometric mean
Limit from the left or right
Null set, vertex, infinite
De Moivre’s theorem, paying fines
And then there’s Decarte’s rule of signs
Face of a pol-y-he-dron
The list goes on and on and on
IF WE DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO
MATHS, WE’VE COME TO COUNT ON YOU
The list goes on an on and on

Empty sets and graph dilation
Minor axis, mensuration
Measure objects that are flat
A beta this, a beta that
Initiate a counting session
Proper rational expression
Numbers that are big or small
Volume of a rugby ball
Rules for measuring inflation
Echoing throughout the nation
From Ardee to Baltinglass
We all think that maths is class
IF WE DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO
MATHS, WE’VE COME TO COUNT ON YOU
We all think that maths is class

Accountants, engineers, technicians
Children, shoppers and musicians
In computers, on our tellys
In factories for making jellies
Tax consultants, statisticians
All green grocers and physicians
People saying the rosary
Every 10 a decade be
Add multiply divide subtract
It’s how we work, and that’s a fact
Pretty much for everything
We need maths so MATHS IS KING
IF WE DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO
MATHS, WE’VE COME TO COUNT ON YOU
We need maths so MATHS IS KING

The project is being managed by Wicklow County Arts Office as part of the Commissions series 2013.

Further information on Music Generation Wicklow is available here.