Acoustics and Psychoacoustics

Definition of sound as a wave. Acoustic wave propagation in free space. Periodical oscillations, the concepts of frequency and wavelength. Basic acoustic parameters. The concept of sound pressure level. The use of A, B and C filtering curves. Wave / additive synthesis and harmonics, phase and octave definition. Sound sources and their characteristics: power and directivity. Representation of sound in frequency. The Fourier series, definition of the acoustic spectrum. Acoustic signals and frequency analysis. Psychoacoustic definition of frequency bands and methods of sound signals spectral analysis. Anatomy of the human hearing system. Perceptual sound recognition: tone, pitch and timbre. The precedence effect. Mechanisms of determining the direction/position of sound sources in three dimensional space. Human hearing time resolution. Introduction to binaural processing and hearing. Mechanisms of determining the direction/position of sound sources in three dimensional space. Noise and acoustic isolation. Room acoustics fundamentals.

Objectives

Acoustics and Psychoacoustics

Prerequisites

physics

Syllabus

Definition of sound as a wave. Acoustic wave propagation in free space. Periodical oscillations, the concepts of frequency and wavelength. Basic acoustic parameters. The concept of sound pressure level. The use of A, B and C filtering curves. Wave / additive synthesis and harmonics, phase and octave definition. Sound sources and their characteristics: power and directivity. Representation of sound in frequency. The Fourier series, definition of the acoustic spectrum. Acoustic signals and frequency analysis. Psychoacoustic definition of frequency bands and methods of sound signals spectral analysis. Anatomy of the human hearing system. Perceptual sound recognition: tone, pitch and timbre. The precedence effect. Mechanisms of determining the direction/position of sound sources in three dimensional space. Human hearing time resolution. Introduction to binaural processing and hearing. Mechanisms of determining the direction/position of sound sources in three dimensional space. Noise and acoustic isolation. Room acoustics fundamentals.