Cymatics - Wow!

[Babz]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GtiSCBXbHAg

[Babz]

Next time you need to EQ something, don't forget the salt shaker

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1yaqUI4b97 ... vJAgrUBF4w

[Dan Worley]

Love it! I had no idea sound could create these patterns.

[cuttime]

Don't forget non-newtonian fluids!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UU7iuJ98fRQ

[BKK-OZ]

I have long been fascinated by cymatics.
Here is some work interesting cymatic work: http://roberthodgin.com/cymatic-ferrofluid/

[BKK-OZ]

Not cymatic, but similar: https://vimeo.com/88076963

[BKK-OZ]

Again, not cymatics, but a very interesting visualization of sound created by linking the growth of crystals to audio data: https://vimeo.com/63232385

[mikehalloran]

I remember a Scientific American article from the early 1980s showing the vibrating nodes of Strad fiddles. I don't remember the word, Cymatics, being used but that is what they were doing.

[Tritonemusic]

I remember a Scientific American article from the early 1980s showing the vibrating nodes of Strad fiddles. I don't remember the word, Cymatics, being used but that is what they were doing.

Something like this, maybe?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13573631

[Shooshie]

I remember a Scientific American article from the early 1980s showing the vibrating nodes of Strad fiddles. I don't remember the word, Cymatics, being used but that is what they were doing.

Something like this, maybe?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13573631

Now that's interesting. One would expect to see something like that, but what's fascinating is to see the nodes breaking up and bifurcating when moving to higher pitches. Between bifurcations, as the pitch goes up, are periods of pure chaos (not shown in the pictures, btw). It would be interesting to find which notes lie closest to those pitches where the chaos occurs and see if those notes have less power, more "wolf" in the sound.

This reminds me of something I've always wondered about. Guitars and violins are sturdy wooden boxes, due to the internal bracing. But if you eliminated the bracing on the soundboard itself, what kinds of sound would open up to such an instrument? This would be easy to construct. The grand piano would be the model for such a thing. On a grand piano, a cast-iron frame supports the strings and carries their enormous tension. The bridge is all that touches the soundboard (other than the soundboard supports, of course), so it vibrates freely as the bridge transmits the sound. A guitar could be made with the actual bracing a quarter inch or so beneath the soundboard, with the bridge only attached to the soundboard, and with strings attached to a tailpiece, as on a violin. The tailpiece would connect to the frame, and the bridge would carry minimal pressure, the strings providing the sound pressure itself.

Without the bracing, just how much sound would you get from that soundboard? (much, much more, I'm guessing) And what would it sound like? I'd expect it to sound very rich. Who knows? Maybe it would sound like a piano!

Alternatively, you could mount the soundboard INSIDE the guitar, with the bridge floating through a hole in the top piece of the box, but that would create whole new set of problems with interference and internal reflections. Still, it would be interesting, and who's to say it wouldn't be the better way?

Just sharing some musings I've been toying with for decades.

Shooshie

[MIDI Life Crisis]

In theory that sounds great, but in practice it has me wondering about how the mass of the resonator (soundboard) contributes to the depth if the tone, as well as the amount of stress contributes. In Mason Hamlin pianos a tension resonator which increases tension and holds the crown. This contributes to the tone greatly and keeps the crown on the board. I think you could add to Shooshie's idea by including a sort of tension resonator. I think dobros have a construction along those lines but not exactly what Shoosh is proposing. Interest topic guys.

[cuttime]

This whole discussion is what I was always hoping a physical modeling synth would always achieve. This discussion is also what physical modeling fails to do.

[BKK-OZ]

There are far worse ways to lose 5 mins: https://vimeo.com/43698974

[James Steele]

This seems related... it's posted to Facebook but don't think you need to be logged in to watch:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=805329629490060

[Tritonemusic]

Wow, that is too cool, James! I want one of those. I don't know why, but I want one.