The CubeHarmonic brings together properties of the Rubik’s Cube and mathematical music theory. A complex musical instrument that can be used in concert, it also has educational value, making abstract algebraic concepts audible.
The CubeHarmonic is an invention devised in 2013 using the Rubik’s Cube: by assigning a musical note to each small square, with a chord on each row, we obtain a sequence of chords on each face. Scrambling the cube therefore scrambles the chords. It was invented by Italian researcher Maria Mannone, a theoretical physicist with a doctorate in musical composition, in collaboration with Tōhoku University in Japan.
Tangente: What was the initial insight that allowed you to discern a harmonic structure within the rotations of the Rubik’s Cube?
Maria Mannone: The idea came from permutations of musical chords. From the outset, musicians become accustomed to rearranging the notes of a chord: C, E, G, then E, G, C, and then G, C, E. We then interchange the chords themselves and mix harmonic sequences; mathematics is used to characterize these exchanges.
