Core Coursework Descriptions
Musical Acoustics - 3 credits (Fall)
Prerequisites for recording arts majors: (Basic Recording I and II or the equivalent) Prerequisites for non-recording majors: (Basic Recording Techniques or the equivalent)
A course concerned with th ephysics of sound as applied to properties of musical instruments, perception of musical sound, electronic music reproduction, and the spaces in which they perform.
Psychoacoustics - 3 credits (Fall)
Prerequisite: (none)
Basics of the physiological and psychological aspects of hearing with applications to audio and sound systems, architectural acoustics, and musical acoustics. Topics include auditory physiology of the outer and inner ear, masking, critical bands, loudness, duration, binaural hearing, localization, and pitch.
Electroacoustics - 3 credits (Spring)
Prerequisite: (Musical Acoustics, Audio Design, and Psychoacoustics)
Basics of electroacoustical principles relating to microphones and loudspeakers. Topics include general transducer theory, microphone fundamentals, dynamic and condenser microphones, proximity effect, dynamic cone loudspeakers, closed and vented enclosures, Thiele Small parameters, compression drivers and coaxial loudspeakers, horn loudspeaker theory, and crossover networks.
Physical Acoustics - 3 credits (Fall)
Prerequisite: (Musical Acoustics and Psychoacoustics)
Basic fundamentals of physical acoustics involving the generation and propagation of sound. Topics include free and forced vibrations, one dimensional systems (strings and bars), two dimensional systems (membranes and plates), coupled vibrating systems, general wave phenomena, types of sound waves (plane, spherical, and cylindrical), and types of radiating sources (point, monpole, dipole, and line).
