Harmonic analysis is a branch of maths that uses the Fourier transform to compare waves.

This is like the sound waves created by different instruments; when a violin and trumpet play the same note, on one hand the note they are playing is the same but they still sound different. This is because the trumpet and violins sound waves are not exactly the same even if they have some similarities!

The Fourier transform lets us see in what ways they are the same and different.

Harmonic analysts think about lots of things like waves, not just sound and water.

We can even think of shapes as waves; weird, isn’t it?

We can even analyse unintuitive, bizarre shapes called 'fractals'. Fractals are shapes that have rough edges, no matter how much you zoom in. In this installation, we are investigating the wave properties of a particular fractal called the Koch snowflake; we see if we can hear the roughness of this shapes edges, and then we compare them to the wave properties of other shapes, like circles and triangles; unlike the Koch snowflake these regular shapes have smooth edges; the circle is completely smooth, and the triangle is flat besides 3 sharp points.

The piece of music, and images and animation that come with it will take you along the journey of analysing these shapes and the waves that precipitate. For now, we leave you with the wave representations of the Koch Snowflake at stages of its construction. Notice the new details after each iteration.