The Birthday of John Barry (1933) – Mathematics of Film Scoring

John Barry composed film scores for James Bond and ‘Out of Africa’. Film scoring uses musical mathematics: harmony (frequency ratios), rhythm (time signatures), and dynamics (logarithmic decibel scale). The ‘James Bond chord’ is an Em(maj9) – a dissonant interval (minor 2nd). The mathematics of film scoring also includes timing to picture: beats per second matching editing cuts. A score can be analysed as a function of time, with Fourier components representing instruments. Music is mathematics heard.