NASA Acoustics Research

Even though it is being used in music education, Audi-Graph was created to help explore the complexities of sound for NASA spacecraft development. It is being used to help deepen our understanding in the physics of sound, the psychology of sound, and resonance manipulation. How can a musician help NASA?

Audio and acoustics play a significant role in conveying information. For example, the sounds generated from button presses to emergencies are intentionally designed to provide important feedback in pleasing or attention-grabbing sounds. If audio-feedback systems in future spacecraft are to use instrumental sounds, which instrumental sounds should be used? What is the ideal sound for each situation?

In music, there are constant debates over which combinations of instrument brands/manufacturers and mouthpieces should be used to produce the best sound. What happens when ten musicians play the same exact instrument? What happens when the same musician plays ten different instruments? Do you really need the most expensive horn to make a beautiful sound, or can you achieve it with technique? With your help we hope to answer some of these questions.

With Audi-Graph, you can contribute to the research by recording and submitting your instrumental sound. The recording will help us study resonance patterns from musicians around the world.