Introduction

Introduction¶

This textbook is written for the course MUS2640 Sensing Sound and Music at the University of Oslo, a foundation course for later studies in music psychology and music technology. You will be introduced to fundamental principles of acoustics, psychoacoustics, and perception. This includes knowledge about how sound is produced in instruments, reflected in space, and perceived by humans. This is the basis for how we experience pitch, timbre, harmony, and rhythm in music. You will also learn about computer-based representations of sound and music, and get an overview of digital audio, sound synthesis, and analysis. The course provides theoretical knowledge and practical skills for further studies of music psychology and technology.

Pedagogical Strategy¶

Students in the course typically have mixed backgrounds. Everyone usually has some kind of musical background, ranging from classical performance on acoustic instruments to electronic studio production. Some come from musicology, others from psychology, informatics, media studies, philosophy, linguistics, medicine, and more. Everyone is welcome! In-class activities will be adjusted to cater to the collective knowledge and experience of the student group.

Active learning and “flipped classroom”¶

This course builds on the idea of active learning, an approach that emphasizes student engagement and participation in the learning process. Rather than passively receiving information through lectures, students are encouraged to interact with the material, ask questions, solve problems, and collaborate with peers. Activities may include group discussions, hands-on experiments, peer reviewing, and real-world projects. This method helps deepen understanding, improve retention, and develop critical thinking skills.

We also rely on a flipped classroom* approach, which is a teaching model where traditional lecture content is delivered outside of class, typically through readings, videos, or interactive resources. This frees up classroom time to apply concepts through discussion, exercises, and collaborative work. This structure allows students to learn foundational material at their own pace and use class sessions for deeper exploration, clarification, and practical application. The flipped classroom model fosters a more personalized and interactive learning environment, supporting diverse learning styles.

A research-based and research-led course¶

This is a research-based course, which means that the content builds on new research results. All the teachers are active researchers and will bring in perspectives from ongoing projects. Much of this is based on scientific methods, but given the nature of the subject, we also include research that is design-centered or based in artistic practice. We will dwell on these differences at times, since understanding the different epistemological foundations for our knowledge production is important.

The course is also research-led, meaning that students will take part in ongoing research. This makes it possible for students to see how “real” research is conducted in practice. It is also valuable for the ongoing projects in the department. Although it is not required, you are encouraged to participate in research activities, contributing to ongoing projects or initiating new ones. This hands-on involvement helps bridge the gap between learning and research, fostering a culture of inquiry and innovation.

Open Education¶

The course material is developed from the perspective of Open Education, meaning that all material is freely and openly available. This approach ensures that students have unrestricted access to resources, enabling them to revisit and explore the material beyond the course duration. Open Education also promotes collaboration and sharing of knowledge within and outside the academic community. This is important for societal innovation and the legitimization of ongoing research.

Open Education aligns closely with the principles of Open Research, which emphasize transparency, accessibility, and reproducibility. In this course, we aim to integrate these principles by providing access to:

• Open Publications: Most of the required reading materials will be openly available, either entirely free (“free as in speech”) or through institutional agreements (“free as in beer”). This means that there should be no economic barrier to attaining relevant knowledge.

• Open Data: Wherever possible, datasets used in the course will be openly shared. This allows students to analyze, visualize, and interpret data independently, fostering a deeper understanding of the material and encouraging reproducibility in their work.

• Open Source Code: Tools, scripts, and examples provided during the course will be shared as open-source code. This enables students to study, modify, and build upon the code, promoting a hands-on approach to learning and encouraging contributions to the broader community.

By adopting these practices, the course not only supports students in their academic journey but also contributes to the global movement toward open and equitable access to knowledge. This approach empowers students to become active participants in the creation and dissemination of knowledge, preparing them for future roles as researchers, educators, and innovators.

Embracing AI¶

In this course, we will actively explore the use of artificial intelligence both for exploring the content of the course but also as a pedagogical tool. There are currently many available AI tools, yet they are underexploited. We will try different tools and evaluate their effectiveness.

This textbook is an example of AI-based co-creation. Sections of the text are partly written by large language models. However, the text has been going through a human “peer review” to ensure that everything makes sense. Throughout the course, we will explore when AI can safely be used for text generation and when it fails.

In this class, you are encouraged to use AI actively. AI-powered platforms can adapt content and feedback to individual learning styles and paces, helping you master concepts more effectively. However, AI-based tools should be used wisely; they are there to help learning, not to replace it. After all, the exam will be performed without any tools. Then you will need to think and write on your own!

Tools¶

We will explore various tools throughout the semester. You will not learn any of these in detail, but you will see how they work and understand their applications. These tools are designed to provide a broad overview of the possibilities in music technology and sound analysis.

Curriculum¶

The current textbook comprises the core curriculum for this course. Interested readers can find a lot of more information in the texts listed below as well as in the references section for each chapter.

Overview¶

This textbook is divided into chapters corresponding to the lectures in the course.

• Sensing Sound and Music
• Week 1: Tuning in
• Week 2: Listening
• Week 3: Acoustics
• Week 4: Psychoacoustics
• Week 5: Time and Rhythm
• Week 6: Frequency and Timbre
• Week 7: Body Motion
• Week 8: The Brain
• Week 9: Vision
• Week 11: Machine Listening

Learn more¶