Sci Fri does Audio

Science Friday, that is, the weekly science news program on public radio. I listen to the podcast every week. There’s always something new to learn. Last week’s second hour dove into learning music and audio science. A few items popped out at me :

Nuisance variables

Young people’s hearing

Shortcomings of digital

Ya know what? There aren’t any surprises. Of course, irrelevant variables distract and influence our judgment. Of course, people under 30 can appreciate better quality audio when given the chance to hear what they’re missing. Of course, digital’s shortcomings are due to corner cutting and misuse of the technology, not any inherent inferiority.

Go listen : [SciFri on Learning Music and Audio Science] Sorry, but this link is no longer functioning. 

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Fun Acoustics

It’s too bad we can’t directly see what’s going on with sound waves when they interact with each other and the obstacles they encountered while traveling through a medium, but with the aid of some controlled experiments we can. I’ve found a few interesting articles and videos that show and explain wave behavior. The first link points to some reading material on the subject, but I’d suggest you watch the videos and animations before you read. Having the visual in mind helps to understand the verbal. You may be asking, why fill your brain with this stuff? Because it relates to the logic behind the Parallel Audio Project. It clarifies the how & why physics directed the system’s development instead of blindly following conventional assumptions. You see, good sound starts with good physics.

A slew of short articles about various aspects of sound, waves, and acoustics. Each neatly explains a single topic. Go through them in order or pick and choose as desired : [Sound Waves and Music]

Although this video was made decades ago, it’s still a good illustration of the way waves interact. This shows how the size, number and spacing of sound source(s) effect wave propagation : [Interference Patterns]

This series of five short videos succinctly demonstrates the properties of waves similar to the previous video, yet going into greater detail : [More Interference]

To good sound and happy ears : [ParallelAudio]

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