Periodic and aperiodic tessellations as compositional frameworks

The recent discovery of a family of aperiodic monotiles, which includes David Smith's famous Hat, has shaken the field of plane tessellations. Music composers have already utilised the visual representation of plane tilings in their artwork (Tom Johnson through his use of Vuza's canons, talea and color in isorhythmic motets...). Constructions of the Hat from elementary geometric polygons provide a different perspective, for example through the sound transformation of microtonal intervals, as seen in Marisa Acuña's piece Le Chapeau à douze cornes.

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Publication Details

Journal
Journal of Mathematics and Music
Published
2026-11-09
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/17459737.2026.2737640
Primary Topic
Music Technology and Sound Studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Periodic and aperiodic tessellations as compositional frameworks

Édouard Thomas, Maria Luisa Acuña Fuentes
2 links
Journal of Mathematics and Music
Music Technology and Sound Studies
article

Periodic and aperiodic tessellations as compositional frameworks

Édouard Thomas, Maria Luisa Acuña Fuentes
article en

Abstract

The recent discovery of a family of aperiodic monotiles, which includes David Smith's famous Hat, has shaken the field of plane tessellations. Music composers have already utilised the visual representation of plane tilings in their artwork (Tom Johnson through his use of Vuza's canons, talea and color in isorhythmic motets...). Constructions of the Hat from elementary geometric polygons provide a different perspective, for example through the sound transformation of microtonal intervals, as seen in Marisa Acuña's piece Le Chapeau à douze cornes.

Journal of Mathematics and Music
Université Paris 8 (FR), Université de Lorraine (FR)
Music Technology and Sound Studies
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