# Thermodynamics of harmony: Extending the analogy across musical systems

## TL;DR

This paper explores how thermodynamics can explain the emergence of musical order from disorder, extending the idea beyond Western music.

## Contribution

The paper generalizes Berezovsky's thermodynamic analogy to include non-Western musical systems like Gamelan.

## Key findings

- Berezovsky's method explains how ordered musical pitches emerge from disordered sound.
- The analogy is extended to include Gamelan instruments, broadening its applicability.
- The paper clarifies and strengthens the thermodynamic model for musical harmony.

## Abstract

It is common for most people to think of science and art as disparate, or at most only vaguely related fields. In physics, one of the biggest successes of thermodynamics is its explanation of order arising from disordered phases of matter through the minimization of free energy; In 2019, Berezovsky showed [1] that the mechanism describing emergent order from disorder in matter can be used to explain how ordered sets of pitches can arise out of disordered sound, thus bridging the gap between science and the arts in a powerful way. In this paper we analyze his method in detail, generalizing it beyond the 12 tone system of intonation of Western music by explicitly considering Gamelan instruments and clarifying some details in the hope of strengthening it and making it better known and recognized.