Monday, August 27, 2007

Welcome to Math and Music 199!

Professor Ando and I are both excited about this course; although we've taught many courses on math or music, we've never taught a course on both, so we will be relying on your input to shape and refine it. As part of Music 199 we will be hosting this blog; part of your homework will consist of posting comments and other material.

For the course syllabus, click here. Before Wednesday, please post a comment introducing yourself to the rest of the class: your major; any background you have in math and/or music; and what you hope to gain from this course.

12 comments:

Scott Moran said...

Hello,
My name is Scott Moran and I am a freshman attending the University. I am currently an undecided major in the college of business. My background with math and music are as follows. I took math all 4 years in highschool. My last math class was ap calculus bc, which I took senior year. I thought I would be taking more math here at the university, but I no longer have to because previous test scores have fufilled my math credits. I have always enjoyed math and recently i have been getting involved into music. Music was something I always was curious about, but i never had time to involve myself because I was always busy playing sports. What I would like to get out of this class is a better understanding and appreciation for music, as well as be able to relate my mathmatical background with it. the course seems like it will be a lot of fun and I look forward to it.

Mike Garcia said...

Hey everyone!
My name is Michael Garcia. I am a freshman. My major is currently undecided but I think the official title of my current academic situation is "student in the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences with a concentration in Mathematics." I enjoy doing math and playing the alto saxophone. My current academic plan is not to let all the math/science go to waste by being a music major, so I plan on majoring in Engineering, Math, or something of that sort so I can have a decent job coming out of college. From there, I want to continue to go to school and study music composition with hopes of becoming a composer.
I wrestled for 4 years in high school. I threw shotput for 4 years in high school. I played in concert, marching, and jazz bands for 4 years in high school and am currently a member of the Marching Illini.

Hawk said...

Hey everyone,
My name is Kyle Mulgrew and I'm impressed with how much Scott and Mike wrote :P. I'm a freshman majoring in Computer Engineering. I'm mostly interested in music's effects on people and how they perceive sounds differently. If I can understand more easily through math then so be it. Something about me personally; I love fencing, I like the discipline.

Hawk said...

Oh right, I forgot to talk about I-doser. It is intended to simulate the effects of different drugs (medical or otherwise, it depends on what you choose) through the use of Binaural sounds by "synchronizing your brainwaves". A full explanation of the science and effects can be found at http://www.i-doser.com/Brochure.pdf . Speaking from personal experience, it works. Other people who have tried it says its bogus, it may depend on the person.

Hawk said...

Another really cool math based music thingy is called Reactable. You can search for it on Youtube. A person puts different disks onto the table which produce different sine waves which can be adjusted to have a higher frequency or amplitude. When put near other disks, the effect is really cool. Check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0h-RhyopUmc

ZRanney2 said...

Hey,
My name is Zane Ranney, I'm a Freshman and Math and Music are my two passions, so this class is perfect. I've already learned so much just from the two classes weve had and I'm excited for whats to come. I also record music in my spare time and I think it would help me understand electroacoustics and such alot better.
Thank you for creating this course.
Really.
Thanks.
yay.

Nate said...

My name is Nathan Kelsey and I am a Junior in Mathematics and have always had a strong passion for music. I have been playing the piano since I was 7 and have been looking to broaden my horizons and deepen my understanding of both the piano and music itself. I also hope to gain a new way to look at music and the general idea of sound. Finally I hope this course will provide practical applications of some of the material in my rigorous math courses. I plan to teach Mathematics in the future and I believe this will be a handy tool for me to have and show to my students to prove to them that math is an interesting and relevant topic in the world. I look forward to meeting everyone and I will see all of you tomorrow.

Nate

jared kimball said...

Hello all, my name is Jared Kimball. I am an undecided freshman in the College of Business and I grew up here in Urbana. I've taken through AP Calculus AB and am currently continuing my calculus education. My main reason for taking this course is my background in music. I played the trumpet from 5th grade untill 8th grade. I've also been playing my main instrument, the guitar, since 8th grade. I have recently developed an interest in the science of sound; reasons shaping the behaviour of sound, acoustics, recording. I've started writing my own music and through the process of teaching my self the art of recording I have realized that it goes much deeper into a mathematical and scientific basis than I ever could have imagined. Upon completing this course I hope to be able to manage my own recording and producing and have the tools to sufficiently create my own CD's.

Stephen Taylor said...

Thanks Kyle for the link to i-doser, very interesting! But to me it sounds sort of like generic electronica music, with a ton of bass. And what exactly is a "simulated state"? Is it really supposed to "simulate" or enhance the effect of recreational drugs? Sorry, but to me that sounds like a bogus, New Age scam. I suspect if someone is stoned they'd be just as happy listening to their favorite music as this stuff....

Web Master said...

Hi,
I'm Joe Gonzalez and I'm a Freshman majoring in Computer Science. I forgot to do this before class so I thought I would do it now. I've always been interested in music. I took a bunch of piano lessons when I was young, and have played cello for the past 8 years. (I'm playing in the orchestra here too). I learned some music theory when I was young and actually took a AP Music Theory class my senior year of high school (mostly just for fun). I've also been on pretty good terms with math, and I'm in Calculus II. I also enjoy combining computers with music and have done some messing around with a synth and MIDI and software like Reason. I've also worked with professional audio equipment a lot. Basically, Music and Computers are my main interests -- and math is cool too. So, I thought this class would really interest me, and I think it will.

Anonymous said...

Er.. Hi (Kind of late)
My name is Mike Liu and I'm a freshmen from the college of engineering. I'm majoring in Computer Science which probably came from my so-called "strong" background of math. I've studied up to AP Calculus AB (school did not offer BC) and AP Statistics and pretty much know everything before that except Trig because it's boring. I guess this is a good place to learn it again. My music background came relatively late, in 8th grade, I started playing the violin. Loved it. It's at the point that I would much prefer playing the violin than do anything else in my life but it came too late so I have to do CS instead. Hopefully, I can find a connection between Math and Music (in this class) so that I can get better in both. Basically, this class combines the two things I enjoy doing. Hopefully, it won't be too much of a struggle.

Web Master said...
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