WAVES, ACOUSTICS AND MUSIC
Academic year and teacher
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- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2021/2022
- Teacher
- ISABELLA MASINA
- Credits
- 6
- Didactic period
- Secondo Semestre
- SSD
- FIS/01
Training objectives
- The goal of the course it to provide the students with knowledges and competences at an advanced level on some specific issues in the area of acoustic physics.
the program is organized in six macro areas, dealing with: 1) waves theory, in particular sound waves; 2) characterization of sound waves, with laboratory experiences and software development; 3) hearing and phonation physiology; 4) psychoacoustics and the physical bases of western musical theory, also in relation to its historical development; 5) acoustics of musical instruments and sound digitalization; 6) architectural acoustics. Prerequisites
- To follow the course it is necessary to have successfully given the exams of: Analisi I and II, Istituzioni di Metodi Matematici per la Fisica, Fisica Generale I and II, Laboratorio di Elettronica Generale.
Course programme
- The program is based on six macro areas.
1) Waves theory: d’Alembert equation and indetermination principle, mechanical waves and vibrating string, classical field theory, sound waves and their energetics.
2) Laboratory of sound waves: visualization of quasi-stationary waves and their energetic properties, Fourier transform, signal theory, harmonics sounds, timbre, beating at the 1 and 2 order, consonance test.
3) Physiology of hearing and phonation.
4) Psychoacoustics and acoustic aesthetics: physical bases for consonance and dissonance, musical scales, harmony and tonality.
5) Musical instruments and voice: review of a few musical instruments (sting, wind and percussion) and of the characteristics of human voice; basics on electronic music and musical informatics.
6) Architectural acoustics: phonometry and frequency analysis, sound level and decibel, perception of sound waves in air, architectural acoustics, measure techniques and applications in anechoic chamber, ambients for music and for speech.
Laboratory activities will be organized in collaboration with prof. D. Stanzial, head of the Acoustic Laboratory of the Department. Didactic methods
- Front theory lectures, in presence and/or via streaming; laboratory experiences; informatics activities (Python, Mathematica).
Learning assessment procedures
- Production of a written text (tesina), possibly associated to an oral presentation, to test the knowledge and competences acquired by the student.
Reference texts
- A.Frova, Fisica nella musica, Zanichelli
N.H. Fletcher, T, Rossing, The Physics of Musical Instruments 1998, ISBN 978-0-387-21603-4
Original papers by G.Schiffrer, D.Stanzial et al.
Lecture notes by the teachers
