What pi sounds like

[XMonument]

Whats the name of the instrument he uses at 2:37 ?

[KoochyWoochy]

lovely

[Brycey97]

the first 35 seconds bored me because i already knew about it... not to be cocky or anything

[mynameisjongreen]

it would make a lot more sense if you assigned the numbers of pi to corresponding frequencies, and forgot about letter notes altogether, since they don't really mean anything.

[Aresman70]

@mynameisjongreen well when you get down to it, whatever number frequency you'd be assigning it would mean just as little as well. If you measured the frequency in Hertz, you'd still be using a man-made, arbitrary system that has little to do with any objective laws of the universe. And using the musical scale makes it sound a lot better because these notes sound good together, while random frequencies, apart from not being playable on instruments, probably sound awful.

[MrHobo1231]

dude pi sounds awsome

[edsiroma]

My math teacher showed us this a couple of days ago and now I can't stop listing g to the song. It's freaking awesome!!!

[feelee15]

this only really works and sounds this coherent because you are assigning the numbers to one single major scale. so all the notes that are played sound somewhat coherent. It becomes more interesting when you pick a different representation of the digits musically and assign the chromatic scale numbers. A=1, A#=2, B=3, C=4, C#=5, D=6, D#=7, E=8, F=9 F#=0. So Pi would sound: B. A C A C# F...etc.

[paigelfinch]

I watched this video for the first time yesterday, but now I'm seriously just listening to the song! It's so good! :)

[flowiepanda]

how many instruments can you play?

[T3H4W3S0M31]

@flowiepanda All of them

[cherryblossoms127]

today my teacher put this song to show our class. it is a really amazing song

[xophe1984]

Math rock

[danhaw18]

sounds like elgar - nimrod variation

[tiigerr1]

W.P.S.L.

[ivikkivi]

You made pi sound great! :D I heard something else just before and it sounded like when you played the intro :)

[Richarddwc]

.... snore

[YamaKorg]

I wonder what Pi sounds like in cakewalk?

[iObsidian]

You could have made the video 3:14 if you cut back a bit...

[talanhawke]

Awesome! I thought this video was pulled. Thank you for saving it :)

[WhenimBoredPro]

just goes to show, everything revolves around music :)

[secretbonus]

It needs something else. Like the Phi ratio along with it or something

[avavav1232]

you meant to say how pi sounds like in a DECIMAL representation.

[sobeita]

It's a round of pi! XD

[wheetcracker]

This video was posted 9 days too late.

[afrojoe5585]

is this on iTunes?

[assig93]

DO CARALHO!!!

[turkmko]

Weird side of youtube.

[RainysAnime]

@turkmko

No, smart side of youtube.

[iObsidian]

@RainysAnime There is no smart side. We're all fucking idiots.

[joehosie]

thats alays how i edmagined pie to sound like

[TheCruzmeister]

time for phi now. 1.18 ftw

[reversedmusiciscool]

next the omega constant



[meli0508]

have you ever considered playing the number e?

[TheMalaneer]

how do you play 9? i thought there were 8 notes.

[JackHomewrecker]

@TheMalaneer 9 would be played the same note as 1 but an octave up. a higher C in this case.

[joshua1803369]

*Tear* It's is amazing how something so simple and overlooked can be so Beautiful... Good job

[UcchanGirl]

Yay for pi!

[zdcc1]

this is honestly retarded. . . .if they just played only ONE instrument instead of mixing in all the other ones, it would sound stupid. . . nothing about this video is interesting. just some idiot playing the numbers to pi. . which btw, doesnt make a song, nor does it carry any rythem.

[machopsmojo]

@zdcc1

Sir, I regret to inform you, but these extensive tests all confirm a diagnosis of idiocy.

I'm afraid sir, that you are, for all intents and purposes, a dumbass.

[reversedmusiciscool]

@zdcc1 Try to be nice, just once.

[ntomata0002]

Try to play the golden ratio too

[JUMPER1818k]

I'm sorry, but did I hear right that you actually copyrighted pi? Get a life.

[SuperCesar67]

@JUMPER1818k it was some other guy not michael his original video was taken down but was posted by these guys who won the copyright battle but for some reason the original video is still down.

[gladion00]

so if we play this at 2x speed, we'll have 314 bpm!

[Only1HighlighterLeft]

Crap. he's already married XD

[FromOuttaNowhere]

Sir, I have copyrighted the first 32 digits of Pi, please cease your playing immediately.

[dontwatchpornatwork]

I'm trying to listen, but all I hear is circumference divided by diameter.

[TheZombieJC]

Dr. Feynman is mad that you never played D D D D D D.

[musicResistances]

It actualy sounds good :)

[VinnyVanYiffy]

NERDGASM

[acain1122]

okay... this almost sounds like strobe by deadmau5...

[Damanganerd]

thumbs up if u came here from vihart

[TheNitramneb]

@Damanganerd Has she started making vids again?

[georgepowell]

I wanna be here when it gets 314,159 views

[SwiftBladeHD]

i came here from louis saying pi-pi-pi-peelz

[ruben301088]

I like how the pi symbol appears at 3:14 :D

[woodstock767]

Vi Hart <3

[amandagrrl]

Go Michael Blake!!! Awesomesauce.

[auggystyle]

Wow, impressive video....eternity sounds amazing!!!



[daniel0802jung]

He played the claves wrong.

[dginzbourg]

Math never seemed to be a happier subject lol

[zippythewildone]

Right around the end it starts to sound A LOT like the ambient music in the Sims

[maestrodimusic09]

@zippythewildone I was thinking something like the happy ending to a depression medication commercial...

[criskity]

The fact that the last digit in this 32-digit sequence happens to be a 5 adds to its euphony.

[Dahxelb]

@criskity OH MY GOD! IT'S EVERYWHERE!!! :O 32 backwards is 23.. and 5 just happens to be 2+3 ! 23!!! THE NUMBER IS STALKING MEEEE!!!!

[johnie102]

Wouldn't this work better if you represent pi in base 8, because then the entire melody would fit in 1 octave.

Just a random thought...

[Lifeblood086]

This is creepy for me, because I did the exact same thing when I was in high school. And it's like hearing someone else write my song note for note!

[Kouu17]

@Lifeblood086 lots of people have made music using Pi

[PetrSilie]

somebody needs to get laid...

no but cool vid bro, got by Pi down to the 53 decimal tattooed on my arm! :D

[MrJcgpi]

I liked it very much, but just one question ¿what about cero? ¿which note you choose?

[christheninjapirate2]

@MrJcgpi Zero does not appear in pi up to 31 decimal places, so he didn't need to assign a note to zero.

[turkcealtyazici]

nah nah nah nah you should be doing it in 3.14/4 time

[mogoliapowah]

its not PIE its PI lol.... (pee but shorter)

[EmilyRock8409]

@mogoliapowah lol

[Mjolkmaestro]

This is surprisingly awesome!

[PassionForHisWord]

What does e sounds like??

[AshleytheAmazing110]

silly man..you cant copyright a number. thats bologna.. no one should restrict artistic interpretation of anything. i think someone should take this down becuase you are using the nunber pi and someone else came up with that concept...

[0Rosina0]

@SaffronSkunk Nope. Neither the artist nor this youtuber copyrighted pi.

[0Rosina0]

@0Rosina0 In response to this, the guy who originally posted this video was the one who sent me to this mirror. So I know that these guys weren't the ones who copyrighted pi. :)

[azkeyz]

Excellent , now I need you to look at the tora , and play each letter.

[MrPattern]

Refer to my video "35 Seconds of PI" if you want a 100% raw and accurate translation of PI decimal places into a waveform. It is recommended you play with the sub-woofer turned on to hear the lower frequencies it produces.

[eVITORIOe]

WHEN THE ALIE COMES PLAY THIS SONG !!!

[DeMusicManiac]

Sounds liek summat off of The Sims :|

[KTWON2]

FAKE AND GAY

[deezynar]

This is based on musics ratios and not on pure frequency. How is this relevent?

[guyboy625]

@deezynar How is the decimal representation of pi even relevant?

[deezynar]

@guyboy625

Are you saying that there isn't ANY way of representing pi w/ pitches?  Or are you saying my particular question is stupid?

[guyboy625]

@deezynar No, this IS one of the extreme number of ways of representing pi in with pitches. I'm assuming your question is "why choose this particular mapping of pitches? It's unlikely to be a melody that will magically be recognized by the universe as the magic key."

Well, this mapping is based on:

- The decimal expansion of pi.

- Well-tempered tuning.

- A4 being 440Hz (also a Hz being what it is)

- Tones being what they are. The human hearing.

- Setting the digits to the notes C,D,E,F,....

[guyboy625]

@deezynar Basically, it's the most straightforward way to convert pi to music for puny humans. I'm sure other mappings would have worked out great too.

[LoserUser72]

@deezynar Because some people have a magic little thing called "creativity".

[deezynar]

@LoserUser72

I don't understand what creativity has to w/ this mathematical problem.

[LoserUser72]

@deezynar To begin with, pi technically doesn't sound like anything. It is a number, which is an abstract concept and therefore doesn't have a sound. I don't understand what you expected this video to be, but the point is that he has found a systematic way to "translate" pi into a melody, then put his creative spin on it (rhythms, etc). It's not an exact science; it's artistic. There is no actual way to convert pi into sound, unless you played a note at 3.14 hz. Pi inspired his art. :D

[deezynar]

@LoserUser72

Yes, you've hit the nail on the head. Anything you do to turn a particular number into sound will be based on arbitrary choices. I just think his method is more arbitrary than I prefer. It's nothing more than a matter of opinion. His "sound of pi" does sound pretty good tho. Cheers.

[MediumNothinFull]

really? was it incidentally?

[jackofblades6262]

I purpose a very tedious and intricate task of you using this idea backwards on other songs. In other words use existing pieces of music and calculate them to numbers and discover if any make sense to form an equation of any kind.

[Dragforce69]

i like it, but the chords used are the 3rd 4th 5th and second, they dont follow pi, so all youre doing is setting up the harmony and using pi as a melody. definatly a cool idea but it isnt all what pi sounds like, its a song with the sound of pi in it.

[crazypresentationgal]

That's cool 3

[ErroneousDylan]

Technically (as far as we know)... this song would go on forever.

[xCSSARTx]

But...will it blend?

[oceannavagator]

Dear Sir,

This is to notify you that I have copyrighted the note middle C and hereby enjoin you forthwith from playing any song using said note.

[loverich]

@oceannavagator are you from SOPA, PIPA or ACTA?

[xpondo81x]

/watch?v=v2ZLV-aYvB8 check out this interpretation by a metal band...read the description

[jobeansname]

Wonderful and Creative! I am glad people like you exist in this world and care about such things! Thank you. You have enriched my life and the life of so many others through this endeavor.

[katamiaennoia]

cool, but why don't you divide the octave by 10 instead of 12 (or even 8)? That way you get 10 digits (why to be well-tempered?). You can apply this to the rest of the parameters. Unfortunately you can play it only with midi or very good non-keyboard musicians ;)

[PoppyCake1]

I don't know what you guys including janjechna are thinking!!! This was AMAZING!!!!!! It was SO beautiful! Let me see YOU come up with something like this! You probably couldn't in a million years. It takes an uncommon mind to think of something so interesting and unique as this.

[hpark327]

wtf with number 9?

[MattNatural]

@hpark327 The 9th is the same as a 2nd an octave higher.

[Scwirul]

better than most of the mainstream rubbish nowadays... :3

[janjechna]

sounds a bit lame

[adtnutiwari]

about 3.14 thousand ppl like it

[fenrirfurrien]

lol this was pretty cool lol

[MONKEYGUY8504]

I used this video to memorize pi to 31 decimal places. You should make another video so I can memorize the next 32 decimal places!

[gotohell714]

wax fruit waxed pi

waning interest

[gotohell714]

pi smells wierd

[Paranoide2000SE]

Pi...will it blend?

[kender1412]

Anyone who copyrights a common mathematical constant in any form is an asshole and deserves to contract some incurable disease that causes him/her to waste away in agony over the course of Tau years...

[rainbowmusicomaha]

@kender1412 tau is for idiots that can multiply by two....all copyrights of music are called melodies..in the case of ABC and DO RI ME copyrighted and performed by michael jackson..that is of course the alphabet and the major scale...a melody is just that...a melody..i'm sure if you ever came up with anything intelligent..you would copyright it too..pi is a wonderful magical number..tau is for for those that can't appreciate it..by the way...this is a battle over $.07 SEVEN CENTS

[mastercrowly]

Why the fuck was this in the related videos to Insect Warfare..?

[mrapplemurderer]

imagine peoples surprise when i tell them one of my favorite songs is pi

[Kikilicious1221]

That was amazing loved it!

It did not sound creepy like others.

[Spaatchy]

what instrument is that at 2:44 :o ? someone please tell me

[Weekapaugful]

@Spaatchy Autoharp 

[Wesleyintheory]

Lucy Kaplansky has a song that her dad a mathimation wrote to these very notes.

[walkingprof]

I'm so glad you are back on line with this.

[KindomOfHappiness]

You didn't talk about perfect chords...

but whatever. :P

[coothii]

amazing

[BlacksmithRS]

That's not how you play the claves.

[rainbowmusicomaha]

all copyrights cover the melody...rodgers and hammerstein wrote a melody based on THE MAJOR SCALE...michael jackson had a hit you might remember using THE ALPHABET and the first three numbers...1-2-3....LARS copyrighted this melody 23 years ago...it was recognized and published by random house and available world-wide...of course it sounds exactly the same...it is...

[oc00011]

this isn't "what pi sounds like". u could use any musical scale or mode & assign its numerical values to pi. u could make countless versions of this.

what would be more accurate is to take a sine wave at a frequency which is a multiple of pi (in the auditory range) in hertz value, & that pitch / tone could be described as "what pi sounds like".

[Divingraven]

Is it even possible to get a copyright for 'creating' this tune? I'd be so sweet... just think about it, you could technically own an infinite, irrational, TRASCENDENTAL song! (With a whole lot of other characteristics most people wouldn't even know about.)

[EclecticSceptic]

@Divingraven You couldn't copyright an infinite song though unfortunately. So it seems we are doomed to only copyright rational songs haha.

[Shadowbolt416]

who knew math could be so beautiful? :D

[Slapperbob]

I want this on my iPod so bad!

[EurekaRecycler]

Awsome!

[rainbowmusicomaha]

this was quite the original idea 23 years ago when lars first thought of it...check out the original at pisymph..

[NateET]

@rainbowmusicomaha Don't get me started on that shit. Lars was far from the first one to do it, I can almost guarantee, but he was the first to make it really public when he did it. And this song and that one sound nothing alike in overall construction--the only similarity is that they both decided to take the numbers in pi and make music based on that progression.

[rainbowmusicomaha]

@NateET wouldn't want to get you started on these two identical melodies...one being written 23 years ago and one posted a few months after lars posted his on youtube...it is the sincerest form of flattery

[palmeiras321]

NEEERRDD

[techbeast34]

Now, what would be 0 in this song/

[Antoniodoval94]

@techbeast34 the tenth note

[LecrazyMaffe]

2:37 what is that instrument called?

[joshboitnott]

@LecrazyMaffe That, is an auto-harp.

[RougeAngelic]

music and math comibined beautifully with instruments. i have been playing music for the past 12 years and i will always be a,azed at the math in a single scale

[kirarixhirotoxkiss]

If I memorize this... maybe I won't fail at math. (:

[annoying4asians]

but what does pi taste like?

[darkwolfe921]

@annoying4asians It's pi flavor. O=

[Montejeo]

@annoying4asians

I would guess peach. Or maybe cherry. Or perhaps blueberry... hmmmm...

[WinAllLols]

@annoying4asians pills here

[SimpsonFan82]

@annoying4asians i see what you did there

[tHickman95]

You're ho.ding the claves wrong.

[SmokeyAmp]

@tHickman95 Lmao. As long as the end-result is the same, what difference does it make? Always choose a posture or grip that suits you when playing an instrument. There is no correct way.

[tHickman95]

@SmokeyAmp I know what you mean, but for claves it's different, cos they are literally just sticks, so there's only one way to get the right sound out of them.

[Powereese]

There should be 12 notes in that!!! Idiots.. doesn't sound that good anymore!

[traindude95]

4 is a perfect not a major. 

[jokinggerman]

This sounds better than the version in which Pi is converted to the 12 note system.

[MAGNUM18K]

well, pi sounds like a good song

[Goldenpearlvoice1]

Cool. now I can say I learned how to play pi :p

[headbangingonfolk]

awesome, lathough i do think that you should learn how to play the Clave properly. but that's just some percussionist purism.

[StrainChain]

It almost reminds me of The Sims with it upbeat and happy tempo. :D

[ReneIsSoCool101Yes]

Wow I was NOT expecting that! That thought he was just going to sharpen the pitch of the 3rd note of the scale, not actually use the numbers of pi as the note numbers of the scale! My one question about this though is when it hit a number of 9 in pi, in the numbers of the music notes, was it just an octave of the 2nd note of the scale?? Cus I know there isn't 9 notes in a scale, but neither is there 8 but that's just an octave of the 1st scale degree...

[MrRubberduck12]

My geometry teacher showed me this lol.

[randychickentlkp]

it sounds like it could go on forever...

[destroytheNWO2d]

amazing,great job!

[inkboy12345]

OMG WTFFUU

[Saigont]

This research can save lives!

no but seriously that is freaking cool

[therockana]

im also interested in knowing how the other constants also sound... anyone interested in developing a computer code for a simple musical program..? Good job, btw.... :)

[L01FaC3]

Thumbs up if you know at least 50 digits of pi

[berthegoat]

2:25 sounds like the Sims!