Science Nation: The Music Man
University of Rochester electrical engineer Mark Bocko has combined his passion for music with his passion for engineering, devising a way to digitally compress music files. Bocko’s team of engineers and musicians at Rochester’s Eastman School of Music are also helping uncover some extraordinarily precise details about just how music is made. With support from the National Science Foundation, they have built a computer model of the clarinet, entirely from real world acoustical measurements taken from human musicians. Measuring such things as how hard the musician is blowing into the instrument and the pressure the musician applies to the reed, they have modeled the way music is made.
Media Details
Runtime: 2 minutes 33 seconds
- Topic: Arts, Science
- Subtopic: Arts, Music, Science Experiments, Science Methods
- Grade/Interest Level: 7 - 12
- Standards:
- Release Year: 2009
- Producer/Distributor: National Science Foundation
- Series: Science Nation
- Report a Problem
Related Media

Science Nation: Doppler on Wheels--The Biggest 'Dish' on the Road

Science Nation: Testing the Waters--1,4-Dioxane in North Carolina's Cape Fear River Basin

Science Nation: Hydraulic Fracturing--Using Scientific Methods to Evaluate Trade-Offs

Science Nation: Giving Robots and Prostheses the Human Touch

Science Nation: CASA Radar Tracks Tornadoes

Science Nation: Biophotonics Poised to Make Major Breakthroughs in Medicine

Science Nation: Off the Water Grid--Energy Efficient and Sustainable

Science Nation: Could a "Thinking Cap" Help Us Learn?

Science Nation: Arctic Soils Key to Future Climate

Science Nation: Hunting for the WIMPS of the Universe