Seminar brings music and computing together at IMPA Tech

23/1/2025

Pixinguinha’s “Carinhoso”, some Beethoven arrangements and even the classic soundtrack to the movie “Psycho” packed the seminar “Computational Problems of Musical Arrangement”, this Wednesday (22), at IMPA Tech. The lecture was given by Natan Figueiredo, a musician with a master’s degree in computer science and now a doctoral student in the field at the Fluminense Federal University (UFF).

With practical demonstrations and lots of good music, the speaker dealt with musical arrangements from a combinatorial point of view. The focus of the seminar was the analysis of three decision problems associated with musical arrangements studied by researchers Demaine and Moses: general consonant arrangement, general simultaneous j-notes and general limited transition speed. Figueiredo spoke especially about the computational behavior of these problems.

“Talking to students is very interesting because we can be interdisciplinary. I think music is always very welcome, it’s not a saturated area, it’s an area that generally generates interest. We have very intuitive examples to present,” said Figueiredo.

Organized by Professor Uéverton Souza, the event is part of a series of seminars that will accompany IMPA Tech undergraduates over the coming weeks. The idea is to bring different content from that seen in the classroom in a multidisciplinary and dynamic perspective.

“It’s great to have this interdisciplinary approach. The students see a bit of this mixture of areas, because until then I think they’ve had a lot of contact with mathematics or computing or physics. With the seminars, they can see these things shuffling around a bit,” explained the professor.

He also pointed out that the themes worked on during the seminars can help students to become more deeply immersed in the culture of scientific research. “We have what is taught in undergraduate courses. Another thing is the research on these subjects. This initiative can bring students closer to the area of research. What kind of research, study, does a researcher interested in cinema do, for example? The topics that people approach, their interests, their research style – let’s work on that.”

Leonardo Giboski, a student at IMPA Tech, attended the lecture and drew attention to the innovation that a study of music and computing can generate. “I found it very interesting, I’m a flautist myself, and this combination is very interesting, being able to bring together two areas that at first seem very different and form something that is new. New for research and for the field of computing too.”

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