Course page for Physics 224

Physics and Psychophysics of Music

This is the course page for Physics 224, The Physics and Psychophysics of Music. This page is for the course taught in fall 2006; the course is over and the page is not being updated.

About this course

Contact information:

Assistant Professor Guy D. Moore
Rutherford Physics Building (3600 University), Room 313
Phone: (514-398-)4345
e-mail: guymoore at physics.dot.mcgill.dot.ca
Syllabus: postscript, or pdf.

Course information (from the syllabus)


Location: MWF 9:35-10:25 in Rutherford Physics room 114
Course book: The Science of Sound , by Rossing: optional
Lecture style: chalkboard, demonstrations, projector, and overheads
Grading: Homework (30%), midterm (25%), and final (45%)
Office hours: MF 2:00-3:00 and Tues 3:00-4:00

Homeworks

Homeworks will be assigned Wednesdays in class and will be due 1 week later. You can turn them in in class, or in my mailbox up to 17:00 on the due date. Late assignments are accepted until 17:00 Friday but are graded down 25%. Beyond that time, the solution is posted so I cannot give points.

Since the course is over, homeworks are no longer posted here.

Homework solutions

(removed)

Lecture subjects, readings, lecture notes and other materials

The complete lecture notes are available here as a postscript file or as a PDF file. I also have the individual chapters available below in the course outline. Some readings have sound files accompanying them; you will find them in the outline below, which also has readings in Rossing (optional). Do the reading before, rather than after, the course meeting.

-Lectures Listed in Green- (and surrounded with dashes) are especially important because especially key concepts are discussed in them. Of course you should try to attend all lectures, but if you have to miss some, try not to miss these ones.


Date Lecture topic Lecture notes Reading (in Rossing) Other materials
6 September Introduction to the Course chapter 1 None None
8 September Air, density, pressure chapter 2 1.1 -- 1.7 None
11 September Air Pressure and Sound chapter 3 Finish 1.1 -- 1.7 None
13 September The Ear: anatomy, outer and middle ear chapter 4 5.1 -- 5.2 Nice webpage on the ear
15 September The Ear: inner ear, cochlea chapter 5, also as html Start 5.3 -- 5.9 None
18 September -Sound frequency and the inner ear- chapter 6, also as html Finish 5.3 -- 5.9 Ranges of instruments; sounds 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
20 September Frequency, Cochlea, Just Noticable Difference chapter 7, also as html 7.1 -- 7.3 Sound 1.
22 September -Overtones, Fourier Theorem- chapter 8, also as html 7.9 -- 7.10 Sounds 1, 2.
25 September Wave Length and Diffraction chapter 9 3.8 -- 3.11 None
27 September Doppler Effect chapter 18. 3.7 None
29 September Power, Intensity, and Loudness chapter 11 Start Chapter 6 None
2 October Perception of Loudness chapter 12 6.1 -- 6.4 mp3 sound file
4 October Loudness, Decibels, and Logarithms chapter 13 Re-read 6.1 None
6 October Loudness and Frequency, Phons start chapter 14 6.5 -- 6.8 sounds 1, 2, and Neat Webpage
9 October (NOTE) [Holiday, Thanksgiving] None None None
10 October (NOTE!) Loudness and Masking finish chapter 14 6.9 -- 6.12 None
11 October (NOTE!) -Beats, Dissonance, Consonance- chapter 15 8.1 -- 8.4 None
13 October -Aural Harmonics, Musical Intervals- chapter 16. 8.8 -- 8.10 None
16 October Musical Scales and Tunings chapter 17. 9.1 -- 9.2, 9.4 -- 9.6 Music in each key; Ranges of instruments
18 October Sound Localization chapter 10 5.5, 7.5 -- 7.6 Sounds 1, 2, 3, 4
20 October Midterm Exam None None None
23 October Reflection and Impedance chapter 19. 3.3, 3.6, 3.8 -- 3.11 None
25 October Instrument Day I: Winds and Brass Bring in wind instruments None None
27 October Instrument Day II: Strings, Percussion, Voice Bring string, percussion None None
30 October -Resonances in Pipes and Cavities- chapter 20. 4.5 -- 4.7 None
1 November Resonance, Standing Waves start chapter 21. 12.3 Nice Webpage
3 November Resonances Continued finish chapter 21. None Nice Webpage
6 November Resonant Q factors, Driving Resonances chapter 22. 4.2, 11.2 None
8 November Reed Instruments chapter 23. 12.1 -- 12.8 None
10 November Reeds, Flutes, Whistles chapter 24. Finish Ch. 12 How to Hand Whistle
13 November Brass Instruments chapter 25. Skim Ch. 11 None
15 November Strings I start chapter 26. 4.3 and 10.1 -- 10.3 None
17 November Strings II finish chapter 26. 10.4 -- 10.11 None
20 November Percussion chapter 27. Read 13.1, skim 13-2 -- 13.19 None
22 November Piano chapter 28. 14.1 -- 14.6 None
24 November Voice I: Anatomy start chapter 29. 15.1 -- 15.4 None
27 November Voice II: Formants and Vowels continue chapter 29. 15.5 -- 15.7, 17.1 -- 17.6 None
29 November Voice III: Consonants finish chapter 29. 16.1 -- 16.5 None
1 December Voice IV: Tuvan Throat Singers Khoomei.com, Wikipedia article None None
4 December Review and Questions None None None
TBA Final None None None

TENTATIVE date for the final: 18 December at 14:00. Location: not announced, probably the gymnasium but who knows?
As an extra teaser, listen to Funny sounds, which appear to rise or fall forever in frequency without ever getting anywhere. I encourage those of you with MP3 capabilities, especially the musicians, to listen to the funny sounds, and to try to understand what is going on with them.