First-Year Seminar: The Interplay of Music and Physics

How sound is produced in instruments, and how those sounds are used in music making. Wave motion, resonance, sound perception, scales, harmony, and music theory. Collaborative laboratory exercises to investigate the acoustics of string, woodwind, and brass instruments as well as study of the physics of keyboard and percussion instruments. Students will make instruments from found objects and perform compositions on them, and can pursue their areas of special interest in a research paper.