Cymatics

Resonance made visible with black seeds on a harpsichord soundboard Cornstarch and water solution under the influence of sine wave vibration Cymatics (from Greek: κῦμα "wave") is the study of visible sound co vibration, a subset of modal phenomena. The apparatus employed can be simple, such as the old Chinese spouting bowl, or Chinese singing fountain, in which copper handles are rubbed and cause the copper bottom elements to vibrate. Etymology[edit] History[edit] On July 8, 1680, Robert Hooke was able to see the nodal patterns associated with the modes of vibration of glass plates. In 1787, Ernst Chladni repeated the work of Robert Hooke and published "Entdeckungen über die Theorie des Klanges" ("Discoveries in the Theory of Sound"). Throughout the 1960s, up until his death in 1972, Swiss medical doctor and Anthroposophist, Hans Jenny took a methodological and exhaustive approach to documenting Cymatic phenomena. Influences in art[edit] Composer Stuart Mitchell and his father T.J.

Harmonograph A harmonograph output A harmonograph is a mechanical apparatus that employs pendulums to create a geometric image. The drawings created typically are Lissajous curves, or related drawings of greater complexity. The devices, which began to appear in the mid-19th century and peaked in popularity in the 1890s, cannot be conclusively attributed to a single person, although Hugh Blackburn, a professor of mathematics at the University of Glasgow, is commonly believed to be the official inventor.[1] A simple, so-called "lateral" harmonograph uses two pendulums to control the movement of a pen relative to a drawing surface. More complex harmonographs incorporate three or more pendulums or linked pendulums together (for example hanging one pendulum off another), or involve rotary motion in which one or more pendulums is mounted on gimbals to allow movement in any direction. Computer-generated harmonograph figure[edit] A harmonograph creates its figures using the movements of damped pendulums.

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