UVM Physics Physics 044

The Physics of Music and Musical Instruments Spring, 2013

The UVM Physics department is pleased to offer "The Physics of Music and Musical Instruments" in Spring, 2011., This course is open to all students at UVM. There are no formal prerequisites for the course, but there will be some use of high school algebra and graph reading skills.

Music is a special and wonderful manifestation of sound. In this course we will investigate the nature of musical sound from a physicist's perspective. We will start by learning the language and concepts that physicists use to describe vibrations, waves and sound. This language describes how sound is created, how it travels and how it is perceived by the human ear. We can use this language as a basis for discussion about music and musical instruments and to answer questions such as: How do we hear sound? What is the difference between music (pleasant sounds) and noise (unpleasant sounds)? What makes the sound of different musical instruments distinct from each other? Why does music sound good in some rooms, but terrible in others?

Once we have mastered the basic concepts, we will look at the acoustic charactistics of wide variety of musical instruments, including bells, viols, reeds, drums, human voices, and organ pipes, to see how these instruments work and to see what makes each of their musical tones distinctive and unique. We will also touch on the acoustic properties of concert halls and auditoriums, to identify the characteristics of a good room as opposed to a bad one.

Virtual Laboratory

The Physics of Music and Musical Instruments is not a formal lab course, but there will be a virtual laboratory component, in which students will be asked to measure or record acoustic environments around campus and report on their findings (Equipment will be provided.) There will also be a series of guided acoustic exercises, delivered over the world wide web, designed to enhance the understanding of the core concepts of the course, through hands-on manipulation of sounds and waves.

Topics:

• Vibrations and Waves (Amplitude, frequency, phase, wavelength and all that)
• Description of Sound (What the heck are Hertz, decibels, sones and phons?)
• Response of the Human Ear
• Basic Elements of Music
• The Sounds of Music (What is an acoustic spectrum? What is timbre? What are those funny lit up bars on your stereo amplifier?)
• String Theory (plucked, bowed and struck)
• Organ Pipes and Didgeridoos
• Reeds
• Brasses
• The Human Voice
• Acoustics of concert halls

Instructor:

The instructor for this course is Dr. Malcolm Sanders (malcolm.sanders@uvm.edu) a faculty member of the UVM Physics Department, a lover of music of many kinds, and fiddler of long standing.

More Information: http://www.uvm.edu/~mmsander/music