Physics of Sound & Music

Catalog description

Physics of Sound and Music is an online introductory course, including lecture and lab, in acoustics and explores the physical principles of sound and music for nonscientists. No particular background in physics or mathematics above high school algebra is required. The course is designed to be appealing to and useful for both music majors and non-musicians. The course covers the basic theory of oscillations, sounds waves, sound production, human auditory system. It then studies the mathematical and physical foundation of theory of music and finally applies the knowledge to various musical instruments. The experiments fall into two categories: 1. Some of them are done in the physics lab by the instructor and recorded a videoes shared with the students for further observation and data analysis. 2 Others are web-based and done on computers or mobile devices using apps and simulations that are free of charge and easily accessible to the students.