Physics and Perception of Music
Music 120/Physics
120
Spring Semester 2006 T/H 10:10-11:40 Griffiths 43 and Bewkes 232
Instructors:
Catherine Jahncke – Office:
Bewkes 225 Phone: x5496 Email:cjah@stlawu.edu
Office Hours: M, F 9:40-11:40 and by appointment
Christopher Watts – Office: Griffiths 30
Phone: x5138 Email: cwatts@stlawu.edu
Office Hours: MW 10-11 and by appointment
Course Overview: Music
is an interaction between the production of sound and the listeners' perceptive
abilities. In this course, the physical details of the production and perception
of “musical” sound and their interaction will be explored. In a
hands-on, experiment-based course, the physics of sound vibrations and waves,
the overtone series, the workings of the human ear, the construction of various
types of musical instruments, methods of sound recording (both analog and digital),
and other topics will be explored.
Text: Hall, Donald E. Musical Acoustics, 3d ed.
Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole, 2002.
Course Requirements:The
work for this course will include a midterm exam, a final exam, a research paper
and homework assignments. Your assignments will be due at the beginning of class
on the day they are due.
Exams:There will
be two exams, a midterm and a final. Each exam will cover all of the course
material prior to that exam. In other words, the final exam is cumulative.
Oral Presentation: You will give an oral presentation on a topic of your choice
in the general area of physics or perception of music. This presentation will
include library research, a bibliography, a first draft and finally a presentation.
Late work will be lowered one quarter letter grade for each day that it is late.
There is a separate handout covering this aspect of the course.
Homework: Homework will be assigned in class frequently to help you learn the
material covered in class that day. No late homework will be accepted because
we will go over it in class the day it is due. We will drop your two lowest
homework grades.
Quizzes: The quizzes may be unannounced, and will
cover basic concepts presented in the previous class period. No make up quizzes
will be given, but we will drop your lowest quiz score.
Grading Policy: Grades will be calculated as follows:
| Homework and Quizzes | 25% |
| Oral Presentation | 20% |
| Midterm Exam | 25% |
| Final Exam | 30% |
The cutoff grades for our grading scale are shown in the table below:
| 4.0 | 3.75 | 3.5 | 3.25 | 3.0 | 2.75 | 2.5 | 2.25 | 2.0 | 1.75 | 1.5 | 1.25 | 1.0 |
| 94 | 90 | 87 | 84 | 81 | 78 | 75 | 73 | 70 | 67 | 65 | 63 | 60 |
Attendance Policy: Each student may miss class
three times during the semester without harming their grade. Each subsequent
absence will cause the student’s final grade to be lowered by one-quarter
letter grade. No distinction will be made between excused and unexcused absences,
so you should use your absences wisely.
Schedule (subject to change): All classes meet
in Griffiths 43 unless otherwise noted.
| Tuesday | Thursday | |
| Week 1(1/24 & 26) | Intro Musical Concepts Griffiths 43 |
Griffiths 43 |
| Week 2(1/31 & 2/2) | Intro Physics CH 1 & 2 Bewkes 232 |
Bewkes 232 |
| Week 3(2/7 & 9) | Bewkes 232 | Physical vs. Psychological sound CH 6 Deadline for presentation topic |
| Week 4(2/14 & 16) | Physical vs. Psychological | Physical vs. Psychological |
| Week 5 (2/21 & 23) | Acoustical Properties of Instruments CH 3, 9 13 Bewkes 232 |
Acoustical Properties of Instruments CH 3, 9 13 |
| Week 6(2/28 & 3/2) | [Lab Day] Bewkes 232 |
|
| Week 7 (3/7 & 9) | Music Cognition | CH 15.6 & 17 |
| Week 8(3/14 & 16) | Review annotated bibiliography due |
Midterm Exam Bewkes 232 |
| SPRING BREAK | SPRING BREAK | SPRING BREAK |
| Week 9(3/28 & 30) | Loudness CH 5 | Loudness CH 5 |
| Week 10(4/4 & 6) | Spectra | CH 8 [Lab Day] First draft of Presentation |
| Week 11(4/11 & 13) | Audio Recording and | Computer Music CH 16 |
| Week 12 (4/18 & 20) | [Lab Day] Bewkes 232 |
The Human Voice CH 14 |
| Week 13 (4/25 & 27) | Oral Presentations Bewkes 232 |
Oral Presentations Bewkes 232 |
| Week 14 (5/2 & 4) | Catch Up/ Oral Presentations | Review |
| Finals Week (Friday 5/12) | Exam 1:30 4:30 |