Scholars and musicians, from the ancient Greeks to those in modern times, have asked questions about music: Why do we find the combination of certain pitches pleasing? Why do two different instruments playing the same note sound different? The answers to these questions arise from the profound connections between music and physics.
In this month’s Science Café Cleveland talk, Laurie E. McNeil of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UNC–Chapel Hill and the Sigma Xi Distinguished Speaker for the year, will elucidate some principles of musical acoustics, explore how they affect the way instruments work, and discuss how we experience musical sound. In doing so, she will draw on her background as a physicist and a musician, and on her experience co-teaching a course on the subject with a professional musician.
This Science Café Cleveland event, titled “Good Vibrations: The Interplay of Music and Physics,” will be held today (June 8) from 7 to 8 p.m. via Zoom.
Find out how to tune in on the Facebook event page.
Those with questions can email sciencecafecleveland@case.edu.