Jesse Wolfson, UC Irvine

Title: Fractals in Africanist Music

Abstract: Symmetry has been a structuring device and motif for music in many cultures, and probably everyone who has taken music lessons as a child can call to mind the time translation symmetry encoded by the regular beats of a metronome.  Nonetheless, the idea of fractal symmetry in music seems much less common.  In this talk, I'll describe recent research investigating the presence of fractal structures in Africanist music, in response to a hypothesis of choreographer Reggie Wilson. I'll describe both the project and "scientific" findings, as well as the broader context of my unexpected and ongoing engagement with Reggie Wilson and his Fist and Heel Performance Group at the interplay of math and dance.  This is joint work with Claudio Gómez-Gonzáles, Sidhanth Raman and Siddharth Viswanath.