In this course, students will explore and develop a thorough understanding of musical sound production and how humans perceive music, along with various technologies used and their historical evolution. Topics will include physics of musical sound; acoustics; cognition and perception; instrument design and development; aesthetics; cultural expectations; sophistication; complexity and interactivity; and quality. Student work will include listening, readings, writing, problem sets, and the construction of a musical device of their own design. Developing an intuitive understanding of musical sound serves as a model for better understanding the aspects of natural systems in general, and provides profound insights for designers and artists solving pressing problems in 21st century society.Science and Math (SCIMA) courses develop students' capacity for evidence-based reasoning through the study of life, earth, and physical sciences and of computational and theoretical mathematics. In these courses, students learn to recognize and interpret meaningful patterns of information; to assess the validity of empirical claims, distinguishing between opinion and fact; and to understand the sociocultural relevance of scientific and mathematical thinking.

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