Sunday, February 28, 2010

.cymatics.


We all know that sound is traveling wave, which is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid or gas, composed of frequencies which are audible. We don't speak of them like we see of them. Coz we don't, right? Apparently not.

Cymatics is a study of visible sound through vibration, typically on a surface on water, plate or a membrane. One of the earliest to notice that an oscillating body displayed regular patterns was Galileo Galilei, whom discovered visible sounds when he was scraping a brass plate with a sharp iron chisel in order to remove some spots from it. Not going too far into the history of cymatics, our urbanite Evan Grant has managed to introduced the idea, more of the existence of visualizing sound in this 5 mins TED presentation.




From snowflakes to amoeba, everything takes a form, shape, or even as data. These aren't new discoveries, just that we spend less time being aware of minute little things that could be discreetly important. Visualizing sound with cymatics, is a primitive art form, yet a beautiful fundamental. You can even DIY cymatics if you are keen to see how Daft Punk's Aerodynamics soundwave would look as opposed to Massive Attack's Teardrop.





Maybe sometimes, we ought to spend some time putting a microscopic mind to the things we often not think much about. Imagine working with them now knowing that you can see them.





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