About

Acoustics is an essential field of scientific study and a multidisciplinary science. It helps us to understand how sound is generated, propagates, interacts with different structures or materials, and ultimately affects our environment. Yet acoustics is a little-known science. It is often perceived as primarily related to music or architecture (my friend plays the acoustic guitar - a concert hall has excellent acoustics). Yet noise and sound signals are omnipresent and significantly impact our daily lives. Many areas of acoustics play an essential role in our lives and society, from electroacoustics and biomedical acoustics to underwater acoustics. We wanted to introduce you to them using comics, an art form that remains underestimated despite being a formidable tool for science communication.

 ‘Fantastic Acoustics’ is the result of a collaborative effort between artists and research students from four Québec universities - Université de Sherbrooke, École de Technologie Supérieure, McGill and Université du Québec à Rimouski. This unique blend of comics and science has given birth to eight research-based comic stories. The book also features elements from a collaboration with a French university - Le Mans Université. Between each story, you’ll thus find a lesson from Kylfa, a bat specialized in acoustics, and Salomon, a funny elephant. In the middle of all these elements, a map of the acoustics world describes the entire field with pictures. 

Browsing ‘Fantastic Acoustics’ will give you a better understanding of the whys and wherefores of acoustics-related research conducted in Quebec and elsewhere, with examples and explanations designed to suit everyone. We wish you a pleasant reading and thank you for your interest in ‘Fantastic Acoustics’! 

Fantastic Acoustics results from the work of many people and organizations listed below.

Involved artists / cartoonists:

Drawn research stories:
Catherine Bard;
Simon Bergeron (ESBÉ);
Sandra Breault;
Ariane Cloutier;
Madeleine Guastavino;
Marina Leon;
Jordanne Maynard;
Juliette Pierre.

Kylfa and Salomon’s lessons:  
Pierre Frampas - With the assistance of Heimana Alberola for colors

The drawn acoustics world:
Marsi.

Involved Students:

Cécile Perrier de la Bathie, Coralie BernierBreton (ISMER-UQAR) ;
Michel Demuynck, Lucie Gallerand (ÉTS) ;
Alexis Carrion, François Proulx (UdeS) ;
Christopher Trudeau, Valérian Fraisse, Cynthia Tarlao (McGill).

Coordination:
Tamara Krpic

Editing / graphic design:
Nadia Zouaoui

Cover illustration:
Pascal Lemieux

Management / editing / script (Kylfa et Salomon):
Olivier Robin

The contributions by Pierre Frampas and Marsi were initially presented as part of the exhibition ‘À l’image du son’ (Le Mans Sonore 2022 Sound Biennial, supported by Le Mans Acoustique and the International Research Project Centre Acoustique Jacques-Cartier). 

The font used for Kylfa and Salomon's lesson is Ventura Edding (CC BY-ND 2.5 ES), by Josep Patau Bellart.

Various figures taken from Acoustics: sonic phenomena and musical instruments. John Emslie, 1850. Welcome Collection (CC-BY 4.0).

This project received funding from the Fonds de Recherche du Québec (Dialogue funding, Grant no. 337 363).