Golden Section Proportionality in the Music of dZihan and Kamien

Abstract

Academic studies of the golden section are evidenced across a range of disciplines. In music the discourse has been dominated by analytical studies from the realm of classical music but much less with relation to popular music. In order to explore this absence an in-depth case study was undertaken into the golden section within EDM through an analysis of the musical output of the European duo, dZihan & Kamien. The authors employed time-based rather than conventional score-based analytical procedures, that is, through counting elapsed recorded musical time. Key musical event points relating to compositional structure provided criteria against which calculations were made, while the deviation of musical event points from the mathematically calculated golden section points was also evaluated. From some 66 tracks by dZihan & Kamien analysed, 45 demonstrated less than just 3.5 percent deviation from calculated golden section points.