Home » Free Online Courses » Online Course on Fundamentals of Audio and Music Engineering

Online Course on Fundamentals of Audio and Music Engineering

Music can be defined as vocal or instrumental sounds or both joined in such a manner as to create harmony and expression of emotion. Interest in music of students is enhancing day by day. At present various degree level courses are available for the students globally. The University of Rochester is offering a free online course “Fundamentals of Audio and Music Engineering: Part 1 Musical Sound & Electronics” in collaboration with Coursera.

This course is for those candidates who are interested in acquiring knowledge about the elementary concepts of Audio and Music Engineering. Understanding the fundamental concepts and principles of musical acoustics and electronics is the objective of students. This course also helps the students in learning the designing and operation of electric guitars, amplifiers, and loudspeakers.

Sending
User Review
0 (0 votes)

Duration of Course

The session will start from February 3, 2014 for the duration of 6 weeks. The course will demand 4-5 hours/week for study. The course will be taught in English followed by its subtitles.

Eligibility

Candidates at any level are required to have elementary knowledge of high school math preparation (algebra and trigonometry).

Course Format

The classes of this course comprises of video lectures with a length of 12-15 minutes. It consists of 1-2 integrated questions per video. Students will also be given standalone assignments. They will also be encouraged to put the theory into practice via class project, by making a guitar amplifier.

Course Syllabus

Week 1 

Lesson 1: Introduction to oscillations and sound waves, simple oscillating systems, sound pressure, sound waves, the speed of sound, wavelength, frequency and pitch, sound pressure level, loudness, making sound, properties of musical sound versus “noise”.

Lesson 2: Electronics fundamentals – charge, current, voltage, power, resistance, Ohm’s law, DC circuits, finding currents and voltages in simple circuits.

Week 2 

Lesson 1: Reflection and absorption of sound, resonances in air columns, resonances in enclosures and rooms, diffraction and diffusion of sound, reverberation, principles of designing a good music studio.

Lesson 2:  AC signals, phase and complex numbers, capacitors, inductors, transformers, impedance, AC circuits and AC circuit analysis, simple filters (high-pass, low-pass, band-pass).

Week 3 

Lesson 1: Transistors, vacuum tubes, opamps, amplification, power gain, single-stage amplifiers.

Lesson 2: Converting sound to electrical signals –microphones and guitar pickups, converting electrical signals to sound – loudspeakers.

Week 4  

Lesson 1: Electric guitar electronics, pickup design, pickup placement and tone, volume control circuits, tone control circuits

Lesson 2:  Overview of a simple guitar amplifier, power supply, volume control, preamp, tone control, power amp section.

Week 5

Lesson 1: Designing speaker enclosures, basic principles, interaction of speaker driver with the cabinet, why a cabinet at all?

Lesson 2: Speaker designs for home stereo, crossover networks, guitar amplifier (open) speaker enclosures, bass amplifier (closed and vented) speaker enclosures.

Week 6

Lesson 1:  Building the guitar amplifier, how to solder, getting the amp to work – systematic testing and troubleshooting.

Lesson 2: Visualizing sound waves, frequency content and tone, signal modification in electro-acoustic systems, tube amplifiers and distortion, wah pedal, talk box.

Statement of Accomplishment

Students will receive a statement of accomplishment signed by the instructor after completing the course successfully.

About the Instructor

Robert Clark

Presently, he is a Dean of the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Interim Senior Vice President for Research at the University of Rochester. He has acquired his doctorate in mechanical engineering from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg. He has also joined Duke University’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science in 1992.

Mark Bocko

He has earned his PhD in Physics from the University of Rochester in 1984 and after a brief post-doc he has joined the ECE department in 1985. Mark Bocko has a teaching experience in the areas of sensors and transducers low-noise electronics, high speed digital superconducting electronics etc.  He is also the Director for the Center for Emerging Innovative Systems (CEIS).