Physics 1240 : Sound and Music

Spring 2007
Professor Steven Pollock
Classroom:   Duane G1B30
12:30-1:45 PM Tuesdays/Thursdays


Announcements

Week 1 (Jan 16 and 18):
Welcome to Physics 1240! Please buy an iClicker   (*Not* H-ITT, those won't work in this class!) and a textbook before the first class. Read the course syllabus and then explore the other links to the left to find out what we will be doing and how the course is organized. Our first class is on Tuesday, Jan 16, in Duane G1B30.

During the first week or so you should download and install Raven Lite, a computer program for visualizing sounds. See the "software link" to the left for more info.

Reading: See the readings link (always available on the left of the main course webpage)

A request: the Physics Education Research group would like you to fill out an online survey. I'll give you extra credit (like clicker points) for doing this - just be sure to get your name and ID right at the top. (I won't get to see the results of that survey till after the semester, but they'll send me a list of who did it.) Thanks!

People who enrolled AFTER Monday 1-15: you need to register for our CAPA homework system. Please go to the "Fri (CAPA) homework" link, and then click on "CAPA late enrollment". With 24 hours you'll be on the system. You won't get a printout (this week), but you can still go to the CAPA logon page and use "pin-getter" to get your weekly pin, sign on, and see your set online (You could then print the screen if you want a hard copy) In future weeks you'll get a printout like everyone else.

 

jimi Vibrating strings have been used by humans to make music for at least 5000 years. In ordinary string instruments, such as the acoustic guitar, the vibration of the string is transfered to a soundboard which then creates sound waves in the surrounding air. The electric guitar works on a completely different principle: the string causes changes in a magnetic field, and the varying magnetic field induces an electrical signal in a wire coil. The signal is then sent over a wire cable to an amplifier and loudspeakers. In the 1960s, the great Jimi Hendrix expanded the sound palette of vibrating strings by his agressive use of feedback and amplifier distortion. Check it out. The vibration of strings is one of the first things we will explore in Physics 1240: Sound and Music. Click here to play with a virtual string.

Please email me any comments and suggestions for this class information page, as well as interesting links for the course website. steven.pollock@colorado.edu