Japanese researchers discover that folk music notes behave similarly to DNA strands. (Image Credit: Alexander Shatov)
Got music in your blood?
Researchers at Keio University in Fujisawa, Japan, discovered a direct link between folk music and human DNA, suggesting that song evolution is equivalent to gene mutations. The team used DNA sequence alignment software for this project, allowing them to catalog genetic mutations while folk songs evolved.
First, the team set out to reproduce a folk music family tree. However, they realized that building the phylogenies would become very challenging due to process performance assumptions. For example, geneticists understand the different DNA mutation types along with their frequencies. They then use this data to build gene-based phylogenetic trees. The Japanese researchers didn’t have the same knowledge for their music.
Instead, the team looked for related pairs of melodies in huge catalogs of English and Japanese folk songs. In the end, they worked with approximately 10,000 songs and looked at each notation, converting them into text sequences such as C, D, and G. Afterward, algorithms determined that functional notes provided more stability. Then, they discovered small variations as a note mutates to another note. For instance, some songs have one or two semitones above or below the original count, resulting in a small substitution distance.
Even then, these substitutions slightly change the overall sound. So it’s similar to a gene’s neutral mutation, which doesn’t change an organism’s fitness. There are two different mutation types involved in genetics or music. The first one deals with one-note changes to another note. On the other hand, you can also insert or delete notes from the sequence, similar to deleting or inserting a nucleotide from the sequence. These rarely occur in genetics.
Genes with instructions are read in sets of three nucleotides. Inserting or removing one causes the entire register to be thrown off, resulting in an incomplete message. For music, the team discovered that insertions or deletions are very common compared to substitutions. In fact, they can hold other notes longer or sing quicker, maintaining the melody. The team says that most of these mutations are likely accidental.
The researchers also say that analyzing melodies with a genetic approach could provide useful applications. For example, they can apply these techniques to quantify the similarity of two songs and the likelihood of changes. At the same time, they can use the data as evidence in high-profile multimillion-dollar copyright cases.
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