SoundScience
Explore the science that makes music...musical.
What’s In It
Experience sound as you’ve never seen, felt, or heard it before. Use your voice to create a giant laser show. Run a resonance relay race. Rock out to odd instruments and sounds from students. Explore what makes music…musical!
Don’t just take our word for it: hear (and see) it for yourself!
What You Learn
- Vibrations – What is sound? How does sound travel?
- Amplitude – What is volume?
- Frequency – Why do notes sound high or low?
- Interference – How do waves combine to make new sounds?
- Resonance – How do musical instruments make different notes?
The Details
SoundScience is great for audiences of 30-300, and can be presented in most spaces which can comfortably accommodate your group size. We only require electricity, a table, and lots of student curiosity!
Next Generation Science Standards
All of our school assemblies align to the Next Generation Science Standards. SoundScience mostly addresses Sound, Waves, Forces, and Energy, with a bit of matter concepts as well.
View the complete list of standards addressed by SoundScience
Explore more!
There are some great online apps for playing with your waves and making sounds and music!
- Waves on a string simulator
- Play a keyboard into an oscilloscope
- Adding waves to make different sounds (fourier series) (downloads a Java applet)
- Take your waves apart, in real-time (uses your microphone, live)
- Real-time audio effects, and a live oscilloscope (uses your microphone, live – turn your speakers down first!)
- Simple Drum Machine, Tonecraft (Drum machine that looks like Minecraft)
Here’s a cartoon showing how lines on an oscilloscope relate to the frequency (how often) of waves. Frequent bounces make waves packed tightly together.
If you want to get your own drum machine then check out http://www.kickstartyourdrumming.com/best-drum-machine/.