15130 - Musical Acoustics

Learning outcomes

The course will provide the fundamentals of applied acoustics, starting from a phenomenological point of view, and particularly will analyze the acoustics of room, theatres, musical instruments

Course contents

1 fundamentals
Physical acoustics. harmonic oscillator. Fourier analysis.D'Alembert and Helmholtz equations (qualitatively). acoustic quantities. sound speed in various media. standing waves, interference, beats. The basics of classical harmony. Sound rays. Absorption, reflection,
transmission and diffusion at an interface. Sound levels, decibel and spectra. sounds signals. decibel. frequency analysis. Spectra.
(1/n) octave band filters. frequency and time weightings. Sound level metrics. Basics of linear systems theory. The linear system.
impulse response, frequency analysis. Shannon theorem. White, pink noise. Psycho-physic acoustics. Human hearing system. Psycho-physic aspects and their evaluation. annoyance and hearing damage. Acoustics in enclosures. normal modes and coupled cavities. Reverberation rooms and anechoic rooms. Reverberant and
direct field. Acoustic properties of materials sound insulation. Mass law. Mechanical vibrations. Basic physics. Resonance. Acoustic absorption coefficient.

2. instrumentation
Microphones. Accelerometers. Filters. Sound level meters. Real time and fft analyzers. Digital recording and reproduction. AD/DA
conversion. Wave editor software.
 
3. musical instruments
Percussion instruments (drums, plates). String instruments, (piano, violin, guitar, cello). Wind instruments (brass instruments, reed instruments, clarinet, organ), electronic
instruments (synthesizers; midi standard). The human voice. The sound production

4. psycologic aspect of music
History of music notation: pythagorean notation, zerlino's notation, the well-tempered (equabile) notation. pitch, loudness,
timbre, rythm.

5. applications
Acoustics of musical instruments. Acoustical and non-acoustical criteria: vibrations, normal modes, cut-off frequencies in sound
tubes. Dendrocronology. Holographic techniques. Room acoustics. speech intelligibility. Concert hall acoustics. Beranek's work.
Early reverberation times. The schroeder's integral. energetic and spaciousness parameters. Ando's theory. The contemporary research.
Physical and numerical models. Auralization. Psycoacoustics.

6. laboratory measurement procedures
Acquiring and processing IRs in theatres. Reverberation time measurements. Binaural recording techniques. Modal analysis techniques. Examples of
measures on ancient musical instruments.

7. research
A musical instrument acoustic aspect.

Readings/Bibliography

• Material given by the teacher
• Acustica Musicale ed Architettonica, a cura di S.Cingolani e R. Spagnolo, Città Studi, 2007 (only for further comprehension)
• L. Tronchin, Elementi di Fisica Tecnica e Controllo Ambientale, Seconda Edizione, Ed. Esculapio, 2010 (from chapt. 19 to chapt. 24)

Teaching methods

All the course will be hold considering a phenomenological point of view. Some aspect could be studied in more details depending on the interest of the students.

Assessment methods

The exam consists on a written questionnaire.  The student could ask for a oral exam 

Teaching tools

For further information go to the following webpage: http://acustica.iacma.it/Courses/course-006.htm

Links to further information

http://acustica.iacma.it/Courses/course-006.htm

Office hours

See the website of Lamberto Tronchin