THE NATURE OF SOUND AND MUSIC

Catalog description

This is a freshman seminar. This class will explore three aspects of sound and how we interact with it. First, it will address the physical nature of sound and how we can quantify and describe sounds and waves. Second, it will deal with the ways in which we as humans process and perceive sound. Third, it will outline the development of Western music through listening to some of its most influential practitioners from the middle ages all the way up to modern pop music. Attention will be paid to applications in musical instrument design and stereo systems.