Date Thesis Awarded

5-2017

Access Type

Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only

Degree Name

Bachelors of Science (BS)

Department

Music

Advisor

Sophia Serghi

Committee Members

Brian Hulse

Gene Tracy

Abstract

I have a desire to capture the natural and physical world around me and create specific aural experiences. Subatomic vibrations was created from this motivation, but had a specific purpose - to hear what nothing can. In this piece, I gathered together a soundworld made up of the frequencies of subatomic particles (fermions and bosons). These frequencies were calculated using the Compton-Wavelength Equation (λ = h/mc) where λ is the wavelength, h is the Planck constant, m is the rest mass of the particle, and c is the speed of light. Using the equation c = vλ, where v is the frequency, an equation could be derived that calculates the frequency of a particle using its rest mass ( v = mc²/h). The frequencies were then scaled down many, many octaves to place the pitches in our human aural range. String theory also played its role in this piece. I treated particles as bound strings, allowing each pitch associated with each particle to be thought of as a fundamental pitch, capable of vibrating at all possible harmonics. Physics lets me explore how objects in our natural and physical world create and permeate sound, and from this information, art is made.

Recommended Citation

Kay, Kevin M., "A Spectralist Approach to the Vibrations of the Universe" (2017). Undergraduate Honors Theses. William & Mary. Paper 1074.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/1074