Physics of Music

Catalog description

An exploration of sound and music from the perspective of classical physics. Topics include basic physical principles of vibrating systems, wave propagation, and resonance; the ear and the perception of sound, pitch, tone quality, and harmony; scales and temperament; musical instruments and the human voice; the electronic recording and reproduction of sound; room acoustics; musical synthesis, and digital music. Instruction for mathematics used in this course will be covered. This course includes a laboratory component in which students further explore course concepts and topics through experimentation with scientific instrumentation and computational analysis. This course with its co-requisite laboratory fulfills the general education lab science requirement (PHY-147 and PHY147L taken concurrently). Co-requisite: PHY-147L.