Arts at Argonne logo
presents

Professor Thomas D. Rossing, Northern Illinois University

in a lecture

“Physics of Musical Instruments”

Auditorium, APS Conference Center, Argonne National Laboratory

Wednesday, February 2, 2000 at 4:00 p.m.

Co-sponsored by Arts at Argonne and the APS Colloquium Series

Acoustical Instruments

  • Abstract

    • Understanding the physics of musical instruments is important to instrument makers, performers, and to serious listeners. Thus we study the way in which instruments vibrate and radiate sound. We will discuss several methods for modal analysis of vibrations, including holographic interferometry, and applications to several string and percussion instruments.

  • About the Speaker

    • Thomas D. Rossing has been Professor of Physics at Northern Illinois University in De Kalb, Illinois, since 1971. He was affiliated with Argonne as Scientist-in-Residence from 1974 till 1976 and again from 1990 till 1998. Professor Rossing is the author of about 350 publications (including 13 books, 9 US and 11 foreign patents), mainly in acoustics, magnetism, and physics education. His “The Physics of Musical Instruments,” (Second Edition, Springer Verlag, 1998, ISBN 0-387-98374-0; co-authored with N. H. Fletcher of the Australian National University) is a standard reference text on the physics of musical instruments. Professor Rossing is a Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America and AAAS.

  • Location

    • The lecture will be presented in the Auditorium of the APS Conference Center (Bldg. 402) at Argonne. It is open to the public; no special permit is required to enter the laboratory site. Admission is free.

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