EE217: The Science of Sound
Topics and Notes Summary (last update 4/22/2011):
| DATE | COMMENT | 
|---|---|
| Apr. 28 (Thurs) | Last class day: wrap up and course review for final exam The final exam is scheduled for Tuesday, May 3, 2011, 2:00-3:50PM, in the regular classroom. 
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| Apr. 26 (Tues) | Audio signal processing (cont.) Perceptual audio coding (MP3, etc.) 
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| Apr. 21 (Thurs) | Quiz in class on transducers and electricity. Audio signal processing and effects (examples) 
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| Apr. 19 (Tues) | Digital audio effects--basic principles and concepts 
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| Apr. 14 (Thurs) | Audio signals: connector types Intro to digital audio and digital sampling. 
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| Apr. 12 (Tues) | Electrical principles: balanced and unbalanced interconnects 
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| Apr. 7 (Thurs) | Audio signals: electrical principles (handout) 
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| Apr. 5 (Tues) | Transducers (cont.): loudspeakers 
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| Mar. 31 (Thurs) | No class this day (instructor out of town) 
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| Mar. 29 (Tues) | Transducer introduction: microphones Microphone polar patterns. 
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| Mar. 24 (Thurs) | Musical acoustics (cont.) | 
| Mar. 22 (Tues) | Discuss Reynolds Hall test results. Begin musical acoustics topics. Handout. 
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| Mar. 17 (Thurs) | Spring Break (no class this day) | 
| Mar. 15 (Tues) | Spring Break (no class this day) 
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| Mar. 10 (Thurs) | MEET in Reynolds Recital Hall Acoustical tests and measurements | 
| Mar. 8 (Tues) | Sound attenuation properties of wall and floor systems. HOMEWORKassignment due at the start of class. | 
| Mar. 3 (Thurs) | Sound propagation in small rooms and large rooms. | 
| Mar. 1 (Tues) | Sound absorption, reflection, and transmission (cont.) Midterm exams returned in class. HOMEWORKassignment: handout sheet (due at the start of class on 3/8/11) | 
| Feb. 24 (Thurs) | Midterm Exam in class (closed book, closed notes) | 
| Feb. 22 (Tues) | Sound absorption, reflection, and transmission Reading assignment: chapters 20-23 from the textbook. | 
| Feb. 17 (Thurs) | The human ear (cont.)Note: midterm exam is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, February 24, in class. | 
| Feb. 15 (Tues) | The human ear: physiology and psychology Reading assignment: chapters 13, 14, and 15 from the textbook. | 
| Feb. 10 (Thurs) | In class Quiz on remainder of Section I and lecture material. Decibels and sound level comparisons | 
| Feb. 8 (Tues) | Harmonics and spectra; sound levels and the decibel Reading assignment: complete material from Section I ). | 
| Feb. 3 (Thurs) | In class Quiz on Chapters 6, 8 and lecture material. Harmonics and spectral behavior. Standing waves and resonance. | 
| Feb. 1 (Tues) | Complete the discussion of wave phenomena. Speed of sound measurement. Reading assignment: chapters 8 and 9 from the textbook (we are skipping chapter 7). | 
| Jan. 27 (Thurs) | In class Quiz on Chapter 4 and lecture material. Vibration calculations. Start wave propagation discussion. Speed of sound measurement in class (postponed until Tuesday). | 
| Jan. 25 (Tues) | Vibration in simple mass-spring systems: sinusoidal oscillation, frequency, period, cycle, amplitude, and the effects of damping. NOTE: there may be printing errors in the text. The publisher has provided corrected pages from the book that you can print and replace (.pdf). Reading assignment: start chapter 6 from the textbook (we are skipping chapter 5 for now). | 
| Jan. 20 (Thurs) | In class Quiz on Chapter 3 and lecture material. Power and energy discussion. Vibration in simple mass-spring systems and basic mass-spring-damper systems (Chapter 4) Reading assignment: Read chapter 4 from the Strong textbook. | 
| Jan. 18 (Tues) | Basic physical quantities and laws. Measurement units for distance, time, mass, frequency, force, energy, power, etc. Vibration in simple mass-spring systems and basic mass-spring-damper systems. | 
| Jan. 13 (Thurs) | First class meeting at 1:10PM in Howard Hall Room 117. Course introduction and some listening experiments. Reading assignment: Read chapter 3 from the Strong textbook . For those of you who have not yet acquired the book, here is a temporary pdf for chapters 3 and 4. | 

