Some mathematical and computational relations between timbre and color

Abstract

In physics, timbre is a complex phenomenon, like color. Musical timbres are given by the superposition of sinusoidal signals, corresponding to longitudinal acoustic waves. Colors are produced by the superposition of transverse electromagnetic waves in the domain of visible light. Regarding human perception, specific timbre variations provoke effects similar to color variations, for example, a rising tension or a relaxation effect. We aim to create a computational framework to modulate timbres and colors. To this end, we consider categorical groupoids, where colors (timbres) are objects and color variations (timbre variations) are morphisms, and functors between them, which are induced by continuous maps. We also sketch some gestural variations of this scheme. Thus, we try to soften the differences and focus on the similarity of structures.