Cymatics 1

Cymatics

Resonance made visible with black seeds on aharpsichord soundboard

Amplified sine wave's effects on cornstarch & water solution

Cymatics (from Greek: κῦμα "wave") is the study ofvisible sound and vibration, a subset of modalphenomena. Typically the surface of a plate,diaphragm, or membrane is vibrated, and regions ofmaximum and minimum displacement are made visiblein a thin coating of particles, paste, or liquid.[1]

Different patterns emerge in the exitatory mediumdepending on the geometry of the plate and the drivingfrequency.

The apparatus employed can be simple, such as aChladni Plate[2] or advanced such as the CymaScope, alaboratory instrument that makes visible the inherentgeometries within sound and music.

Etymology

The generic term for this field of science is the study ofmodal phenomena, retitled Cymatics by Hans Jenny, aSwiss medical doctor and a pioneer in this field. Theword Cymatics derives from the Greek 'kuma' meaning'billow' or 'wave,' to describe the periodic effects thatsound and vibration has on matter.

History

The study of the patterns produced by vibrating bodieshas a venerable history. One of the earliest to record that an oscillating body displayed regular patterns was GalileoGalilei. In Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (1632), he wrote:

As I was scraping a brass plate with a sharp iron chisel in order to remove some spots from it and was runningthe chisel rather rapidly over it, I once or twice, during many strokes, heard the plate emit a rather strong andclear whistling sound: on looking at the plate more carefully, I noticed a long row of fine streaks parallel andequidistant from one another. Scraping with the chisel over and over again, I noticed that it was only when theplate emitted this hissing noise that any marks were left upon it; when the scraping was not accompanied bythis sibilant note there was not the least trace of such marks.[3]

On July 8, 1680, Robert Hooke was able to see the nodal patterns associated with the modes of vibration of glassplates. Hooke ran a bow along the edge of a glass plate covered with flour, and saw the nodal patterns emerge.[4] [5]

In 1787, Ernst Chladni repeated the work of Robert Hooke and published "Entdeckungen über die Theorie desKlanges" ("Discoveries in the Theory of Sound"). In this book, Chladni describes the patterns seen by placing sandon metal plates which are made to vibrate by stroking the edge of the plate with a bow.Cymatics was explored by Hans Jenny in his 1967 book, Kymatik (translated Cymatics).[6] Inspired by systemstheory and the work of Ernst Chladni, Jenny began an investigation of periodic phenomena but especially the visualdisplay of sound. He used standing waves, piezoelectric amplifiers, and other methods and materials.

Cymatics 2

Influences in artHans Jenny's book influenced Alvin Lucier and, along with Chladni, helped lead to Lucier's composition Queen ofthe South. Jenny's work was also followed up by Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS) founder GyorgyKepes at MIT.[7] His work in this area included an acoustically vibrated piece of sheet metal in which small holeshad been drilled in a grid. Small flames of gas burned through these holes and thermodynamic patterns were madevisible by this setup.Based on work done in this field, photographer Alexander Lauterwasser captures imagery of water surfaces set intomotion by sound sources ranging from pure sine waves, to music by Ludwig van Beethoven, Karlheinz Stockhausen,electroacoustic group Kymatik(who often record in surround sound ambisonics), and overtone singing.Rosslyn Chapel's carvings are thought to contain references to Cymatics patterns and in 2005 composer StuartMitchell and his father T.J.Mitchell created a work realised by the use of matching Cymatics/Chladni patterns to the13 geometric symbols carved onto the faces of 213 cubes emanating from 14 arches. They have named thecompleted work The Rosslyn Motet and has received a great deal of media publicity and acclaim from scientific andmusicological sources.

References[1] Jenny, Hans (July 2001). Cymatics: A Study of Wave Phenomena & Vibration (3rd ed.). Macromedia Press. ISBN 1-8881-3807-6.[2] "Instructional Research Lab: Chladni Plate" (http:/ / www. physics. ucla. edu/ demoweb/ demomanual/ acoustics/ effects_of_sound/

chladni_plate. html). University of California, Los Angeles. . Retrieved 3 September 2009.[3] Good Vibrations (http:/ / www. americanscientist. org/ template/ AssetDetail/ assetid/ 15670;jsessionid=baa9. . . ?fulltext=true), Joyce

McLaughlin, American Scientist, July–August 1998, Volume: 86 Number: 4 Page: 342, DOI: 10.1511/1998.4.342[4] Ernst Florens Friedrich Chladni (http:/ / www. ilt. columbia. edu/ projects/ bluetelephone/ html/ chladni. html), Institute for Learning

Technologies (http:/ / www. ilt. columbia. edu/ about/ index. html), Columbia University[5] Pg 101 Oxford Dictionary of Scientists- Oxford University Press- 1999[6] Jenny, Hans (1967). Kymatik. ISBN 1-888138-07-6[7] Gyorgy Kepes profile at MIT (http:/ / web. archive. org/ web/ 20021104072629/ http:/ / web. mit. edu/ cavs/ people/ kepes/ kepes. html)

External links• Cymatics and Rosslyn Music 'Cubes' (http:/ / www. tjmitchell. com)• Global Cymatics Community (http:/ / www. cymatics. co. uk)• Cymatics, A Study of Wave Phenomena (http:/ / www. cymaticsource. com)• Cymatics Conference (http:/ / www. cymaticsconference. com)• Cymatica.net : Architectural thesis investigation into the synthesis of space and form generated from sound (http:/

/ Cymatica. net)• Cymatics.org: Cymatics images & video capturing the interaction of sounds with liquids (http:/ / www. cymatics.

org)• Video of Cymatics of salt grains on vibrating square metal plate (http:/ / www. youtube. com/

watch?v=s9GBf8y0lY0)• DIY Cymatics (http:/ / www. rmcybernetics. com/ projects/ DIY_Devices/ homemade_cymatics_display. htm)• TED Talks: Evan Grant: Making sound visible through cymatics (http:/ / www. ted. com/ talks/

evan_grant_cymatics. html)

Article Sources and Contributors 3

Article Sources and ContributorsCymatics  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=410124180  Contributors: 2over0, BD2412, Binksternet, Bissinger, Braindeadstudent, CALR, Chatcolet11, CollinMel, Cosmikos,Danny, Dmh, Doctormatt, Editsalot, Eep², Filll, Gaelanb, Gezi, Hughcharlesparker, Hyacinth, Incrediblub, Jack Kassewitz, Jasonjayr, Jayson97, Jogloran, Jokestress, JoyGardner, Karen elliott,Katefan0, KimJongIL, Michael Hardy, Mindspillage, Mrzaius, OlEnglish, Omegatron, Omnipaedista, Paleorthid, RoyBoy, Shaggorama, SierraEchoBravo, Silverfern nc, Slightsmile, Snooter,Speakdolphin, Stuart7m, Susten.biz, The Anome, Viriditas, Whitepaw, WikiRigaou, Woohookitty, 49 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsImage:Resonance Chladni Soundboard Harpsichord Clavecin.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Resonance_Chladni_Soundboard_Harpsichord_Clavecin.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0  Contributors: User:WikiRigaouImage:CornstarchCymatics cc.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:CornstarchCymatics_cc.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0  Contributors:User:CollinMel

LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unportedhttp:/ / creativecommons. org/ licenses/ by-sa/ 3. 0/