Geeky bit on a snartsy experience, science nerdy and artsy.

Sitting behind the soundboard at a Dark Star Orchestra show at the Grand Opera House in Wilmington, Del (3/5/2026 playing a 1984 Dead show from Alpine Valley, WI. A classic analog soundboard with 100s of little dials in mint condition lovingly draped in tiedye at halftime. Excellent sound, each instrument clear in the mix.

 photo representing a Jerry guitar run

The board had a tiedye video display that was a fun fusion of science and art. On top, a plot of frequency color-mapped by amplitude in a rainbow spectrum, rolling vertically through time. Underneath a red line graph of amplitude vs frequency. The lower plot first caught my eye as tan abstract view of he cover of my first and favorite Zappa record, One Size Fits All. A red sofa floating in space (Du bist mein sofa!) The top graph was an improvised temporal expression of tie dye color. The bass showed horizontal lines in a rhythm of yellow accented in orange and blue. Small spattering of drum color in the background. Multicolored vertical patterns of melody dominated the mids and highs. The extreme high only responding in isolated peaks of vocal timbres. The far low-end empty until Drums when it filled with a solid stripe of red-hot color from a large hanging drum. Jerry runs were beautiful cascading blue tendrils in the mid to highs. Slide guitar veered across the vertical pattern. Sometimes large gaps in frequency space. Surprised and baffled by distinct gridwork in the bass.

No doubt why I enjoyed this so much. The experience coupled many of my favorite things: live music, abstract art, physics, crystal clear sound, improvisation, The Dead, and a Zappa album and meshed with some experiences: the rainbow color map I use in thermal imaging, frequency analyses from my MS thesis, and recent reading of Fourier's original work on the Fourier Transform.

An aside and all hail to Jerry.
Looking at the frequency patterns of Jerry-style guitar and stealing some terms I don't pretend to understand, Jerry's Cosmic Chromatics included arpeggios, half-step approach tones, chromatic passing tones, ghost notes, and chord-tone encirclement. "Like many beboppers...and  "Like Django Reinhardt, ...embellishing arpeggios."