CYMATICS
What is Cymatics?
Cymatics is the science of visualizing audio frequencies. Sound travels in waves, but what most people do not know is that frequencies also make shapes. Each frequency has its own unique shape. There have been many studies made in the eld of Cymatics. The rst who started conducting such studies was Ernst Chladni, who used a metal plate, salt or sand and a bow. He started moving the bow along the metal plate and the sand started making shapes accordingly.
With the advanced technology nowadays, the Chladni Plate is placed on a mechanical vibrator, connected to a frequency generator and salt/sand are poured on top of the plate. One can enter a frequency number and see the change in placement on sand/salt on the plate according to that frequency. The higher the frequency, the higher the pitch and the more complex the shapes.
Why Cymatics?
Sound is all around us and by knowing more about sound we get to know more about the universe. Cymatics shows a clear link between sound, forms in nature as well as the golden mean. The shapes formed on the Chladni plate as well as other instruments used in exploring and visualizing sound are similar to forms of creatures existing in nature.
My main inspiration for this project was a video i saw a few years back Cymatics-Nigel Stanford. In this video, different cymatics experiments were carried out. The effect of sound on different matters: salt, water, fire and electricity was clear. I wanted to know more about what cymatics was and what it can be used for in graphic design.
I Could not afford buying the Chladni plate to try the experiments myself and take my own photography, so i found a video, cropped the images and placed them all in one poster with the different frequency numbers.
Different frequencies, lowest to highest, with every frequency number.
To have a better understanding of this phenomena, the first 10 frequencies were chosen and, based on a grid, I pinned out the points of vibration on the plate, which cause a certain shape to form.
Outcome:
Patterns
Cymatics is an interesting field that can be used and applied yielding to different outcomes. The shapes formed on the plate were amazing and inspired me to create something a little different with them. I decided to create patterns as we see patterns on clothes, curtains, wallpaper, couches, notebooks...etc.
Every frequency has its own shape, and since I pinned out the points of vibration on the plate for every frequency, it would be interesting to see mixing both, the shape created on the plate and the points of vibration, to create unique and interesting patterns. As the frequency gets higher, the colors used to create the pattern out of every frequency changes, as the lower frequencies have cooler colors while the higher frequencies have warmer colors.
The patterns created can be added on so many things. One way of applying the patterns is around the house to add some life and color to the house as well as if someone is specifically interested in the topic and the idea of sound can start collecting some pieces and placing them around his/her home.
