Laurie McNeil, Bernard Gray Distinguished Professor and Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer, will present “Good Vibrations: The Interplay of Music and Physics” on Thursday, February 9 from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. in Leonard Hall room 225.
Dr. McNeil will answer the question, "Why do two different instruments playing the same note sound different?" The answer arises from the profound connections between music and physics. She will elucidate some principles of musical acoustics and explore how they affect how instruments work and how we experience musical sound. In doing so, she will draw on her background as a physicist and a musician, and on her experience co-teaching a course on the subject with a professional musician.