SUMS: Worthington -- The Mathematics of Sound Design

Speaker: Joachim Worthington (University of Sydney postgraduate) 

Why are sine waves like prime numbers for sound? How can Chebyshev Polynomials make
instruments "sweeter"? If you’re going to play a song by smacking a rock with hammers,
which hammers should you use? And why do Bessel Functions sound like a bell? This talk
will hopefully answer these questions, while introducing some of the basic principles of
synthesis and sound design.  Some surprising links between simple sounds and complex
mathematics will be demonstrated, and some surprising and perhaps defeaning noises will
be made.  One mathematics talk you definitely won’t be able to sleep through!