Feature: The Overlap Between Music and Roulette
4 min read
Thought there was no connection between music and roulette? Think again. For one thing, they both share a link to mathematics. Music, according to one Reddit commentator, is “about projecting mathematical structure into sound.” And roulette? Well, that game wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for Blaise Pascal, one of France’s most esteemed mathematicians. He (accidentally) invented the roulette wheel back in the 17th century.
And the connections between music and roulette go on, too, as you’ll see below. We’ve collated all the links between these two seemingly dissimilar aspects of life.
Songs About Roulette
For one thing, there are plenty of songs that mention roulette. Bon Jovi, Katy Perry, and System of a Down all have songs with titles that feature the word ‘roulette,’ and the game features in many song lyrics, too.
And that should come as no surprise. If you know how to play roulette, you’ll be aware of the somewhat chaotic and unpredictable movement of the ball. You never know where it’s going to land. It works well as a metaphor for life (and other unpredictable things, such as love), so it’s no wonder that so many artists use the game in their lyrics.
The Internet’s Impact
Most aspects of life have been impacted in some way or another by the internet. But not many can match the transformation that both music and roulette went through once the internet was in full swing. Roulette went from being a relatively difficult game to play — since you’d need a place to have a roulette wheel — to being one that was widely accessible. The rise of online roulette didn’t just bring the game to a much wider audience, but it also allowed people to play different variations of the game. Historically, only people in the U.S. could play American roulette, while people in Europe played European roulette. The internet allowed people from both countries to play their preferred variant.
The internet’s impact on music, meanwhile, has been significant. It radically altered the music industry, which meant that artists didn’t earn as much money as they used to. But on the other hand, it made music cheaper — and thus more accessible. In the olden days, a person would have to spend thousands to build a collection of the world’s greatest albums; today, they can access every piece of recorded music in history all for one affordable monthly subscription.
Embracing Randomness
There’s a random element to both roulette and music. In roulette, the outcome of the game is entirely random, beyond the control of the operator. The ball spins around before jumping at random and landing on a number. Music’s relationship with randomness is more give and take; in some cases, such as highly structured music, randomness is excluded; if anything, it’s about avoiding randomness as much as possible.
In other genres, such as free-form and experimental jazz, randomness isn’t only permitted, but actively encouraged and sought after.
Music in Casinos
If you’ve ever been to a Las Vegas casino and played roulette, then you probably did so with music playing in the background. Music has been integral to casinos, especially in Vegas, as a way to create an immersive experience.
Roulette and Shuffle
Finally, there’s the matter of the ‘shuffle’ feature, which virtually all music streaming platforms provide as a feature. While it probably wasn’t directly influenced by the roulette wheel, there are plenty of similarities that suggest that it might have been. With a shuffle feature, a song is randomly selected from a catalogue of available options. In roulette, the ball has to land in one of the pockets. The only difference is that shuffle features will never play the same song two times in a row, whereas the same number can come up twice in a row in roulette (and in fact, many more times than that). In that sense, roulette can be deemed truly random, whereas shuffle is kind of random.
::: RenownedForSound.com’s Editor and Founder –
Interviewing and reviewing the best in new music and globally recognized artists is his passion.
Over the years he has been lucky enough to review thousands of music releases and concerts and interview artists ranging from top selling superstars like 27-time Grammy Award winner Alison Krauss, Boyz II Men, Roxette, Cyndi Lauper, Lisa Loeb and iconic Eagles front man/songwriter, Glenn Frey through to more recent successes including Newton Faulkner, Janelle Monae and Caro Emerald.
Brendon manages and coordinates the amazing team of writers on RenownedForSound.com who are based in the UK, the U.S and Australia.
