Mathematical-Music by Kaitlynn

Mathematical-Music by Kaitlynn - January 2018 Scholarship Essay

On the rare occasions that my mom was not home to cook dinner, my dad and I would turn the kitchen into a warzone. Dinner transformed from Mom’s standard mix of proteins and vegetables into unorthodox mixtures of everything we found in the fridge. During these kitchen rampages as a child, I imagined myself as an inventor, exploring different tastes and mixing ingredients that seem mismatched; chips in bone soup and apple tikka masala were just springboards for the anomalous dinner.

“Mathematical-Music,” I have realized, is my own rendition of apple tikka masala outside of the kitchen. Resembling the inventive dinners, my interest in integrating the arts with science has encountered an impressive amount of critics and supporters — especially after creating my research project, Decoding Winning Oscar Songs Using Logistic Regression Model.

Flashy signs that read “CAN PREDICT THE OSCARS” covered the poster board, but the true meat of my research was decoding and identifying key components that distinguished the “Best Original Song” Oscar-winning compositions from other song nominations.

As a musician, I started my project with preconceived ideas of what musical elements would correlate with winning. However, my teachers, Mr. Sato and Ms. Shea, convinced me to check my biases at the door. They taught me to take a more objective approach and examine a wide array of variables. This way, I could leverage my knowledge as a musician to come up with new variables in addition to those I found in prior research on the subject. For example, on top of counting the recurrence of the chorus, I figured out that I could quantify the structure of lyrics by breaking them down into patterns of introduction, bridge, refrain, and conclusion. Ultimately, I examined over 150 variables, and it was actually the variables I least expected that had the greatest impact on the probability of winning.

The winning elements were small and barely detectable to the ear; elements such as a longer song time or half-note drum beats separated winning songs from the other song nominations. These hidden, quantifiable elements that put one Oscar masterpiece over the others could potentially be altered in any song without changing much of the original sound. I focused on identifying the important components for Oscar-winning songs, but by using the same methodology, popular music songwriters could potentially find subtle elements to change in their music to positively impact listeners’ emotions. Implementing decoded music into our lives could help us explore the relationship between the listener and creator, liberating possibilities of artistic innovation.

Inspired by my research experience, I have developed an ardent interest in current research being done with the transformative benefits of music therapy. Aided by modern technology, music therapy is used to help people overcome mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety, boost motivation and concentration, and support medicinal practices. I hope to take my own research further to support this exciting work. Decoding popular songs could help researchers identify the progressions that relax the mind, trigger adrenaline, or increase focus on a mass scale. Comparable to the inspiration I felt in the kitchen, this project opened my eyes to the collaboration between two seemingly divergent ideas — the emotions attached with music and the logic of statistics with the scientific method. I am eager to explore these ideas in college through an interdisciplinary study of music with statistics and technology.

Akin to the role apple tikka masala played in my favorite childhood memories, “Mathematical-Music” has become my springboard for many innovative adventures. Although my research project gave me the opportunity to attend nationals for the MIT Inspire competition, the biggest reward was the inspiration and courage it gave me to take on journeys with unknown destinations. This project allowed me to bring together disparate ideas from the world around me without knowing the outcomes, just like the experimental kitchen adventures with my dad.