The Golden ratio unlocks a nature’s harmony, we see in the world around us. Beautiful never lacks proportion, and mathematics is the language of proportion.

The Golden ratio occurs in nature all the time. From a shell spiral, architecture, growth patterns of plants, the human form, and more. Using this ratio in our music it injects a kind of natural beauty, similar to Da Vinci’s portraits.

The golden ratio, also known as the divine proportion, golden mean, or golden section, is a number often encountered when taking the ratios of distances in simple geometric figures such as the pentagon, pentagram, and dodecahedron. It is denoted , or sometimes .

The formula for the Golden Ratio is:

a/b = (a+b)/a = 1.6180…

Here is an example of using the Golden Ratio. If we have a square (a) with a side = 1 we then divide it by 1.618 to get the size of b. This gives us a shape that uses this natural ratio.

If we keep expanding on this we get the natural spiral in Shells and other natural forms.

If you would like to read more on the Golden Ratio, then check out this article at Mathworld. Now lets look at using this ratio in out music.

Using the Golden Ration in Ableton Live