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Digital Life

Physics of the Piano Public Lecture: Nick Giordano

Date/Time: Oct 1, 2012 | 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Location: Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons - Rm 144
Phone: (404) 894-8886
Fee: Free
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Why does a piano sound like a piano? A similar question can be asked of virtually all musical instruments. A particular note, such as middle C, can be produced by a piano, a violin and a clarinet. Yet, it is easy for even a musically untrained listener to distinguish between these instruments. One would like to understand why the sound of the “same” note depends greatly on the instrument. In particular, we would like to understand what aspects of the piano are most critical in producing its musical tones. The questions we will address in the talk include:

Who invented the piano and why?
Why does the piano have 88 keys and not more or fewer?
How and why is the tone color of a loud note different from that of a soft note, and why is this important?
Why are the bass strings on a piano made by wrapping a coil of wire around a central wire core?
A piano tone is the sum of components that can be described by sine waves. The frequencies of these sine waves deviate a small amount from a simple harmonic series. What is the source of these deviations and why are they important?

After we have addressed all of these questions, we’ll be able to understand why a piano sounds like a piano.

For more information contact:

Host: Ed Greco - edwin.greco@physics.gatech.edu

Coordinator: Alison Morain - alison.morain@physics.gatech.edu

Faculty

Amy Bruckman

Associate Professor
School of Interactive Computing, College of Computing
Areas of Expertise:
Educational Technology, Social Networking/Online Communities, Wikipedia, Twitter, Facebook, Internet Research Ethics, Human Computer Interaction, Human Computer Interaction for Kids
Carl DiSalvo

Assistant Professor
School of Literature, Communication and Culture, Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts
Areas of Expertise:
Participatory Design, Critical Design, Design Studies, Robotics and Sensing in Art and Community Settings
Keith Edwards

Associate Professor
School of Interactive Computing, College of Computing
Areas of Expertise:
Social Impacts of Technology, Home Network Security, Home Networking, Human-Computer Interaction
Irfan Essa

Professor
School of Interactive Computing, College of Computing
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering
Areas of Expertise:
Computational Video, Computational Photography, Computational Journalism, Computational Media, Computational Perception
Beki Grinter

Associate Professor
School of Interactive Computing, College of Computing
Areas of Expertise:
Societal Impacts of Technology, Human-Computer Interaction, Computer Supported Cooperative Work
Renu Kulkarni

Executive Director, FutureMedia
Areas of Expertise:
Convergence of digital, social, mobile and multimedia industries, Strategic Alliances, Industry Partnerships, Open Innovation Practices
Blair MacIntyre

Associate Professor
School of Interactive Computing, College of Computing
School of Literature Communication and Culture, Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts
Areas of Expertise:
Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Mobile Games, Social Games, Augmented Reality Games, Video Game Design, Video Game Architecture
Ali Mazalek

Assistant Professor
School of Literature, Communication and Culture, Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts
Areas of Expertise:
Tangible Interfaces, Experimental Media, Media Arts, Interaction Design, Emerging Technologies
Janet H. Murray

Ivan Allen College Dean's Professor
School of Literature, Communication and Culture, Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts
Areas of Expertise:
Game Design, Interactive Narrative, Interactive Television, Media Convergence, Information Design, Digital Media and Education
Elizabeth Mynatt

Director, GVU Center
Professor, School of Interactive Computing
Associate Dean for Strategic Planning and Initiatives
College of Computing
Areas of Expertise:
Human-Computer Interaction, Human-Centered Computing, Health Informatics, Ubiquitous Computing, Assistive Technologies
Ashwin Ram

Associate Professor
School of Interactive Computing, College of Computing
Areas of Expertise:
Artificial Intelligence (AI) (Case-Based Reasoning, Natural Language, & Game/Entertainment AI), Human-Centered Computing - Cognitive Science, Healthcare Informatics
Bruce Walker

Associate Professor
School of Psychology, College of Sciences School of Interactive Computing, College of Computing

Areas of Expertise:
Interactive Music, Mobile Music, Human-Computer Interaction, Auditory Perception, Psychology