How Sound Affects You: Cymatics, An Emerging Science

 It's amazing how much we know about sound and waves and yet how we're only on the cusp of understanding how sound vibrations affect us. In this article, Lynda Arnold explores the science of Cymatics.  

Cymatics is the study of visible sound vibration and shows the transformational nature of sound and matter. Sound guides us and shapes us, yet is an intangible force. We can capture sound in the digital realm where we can see waveforms. But, that only gives us a 2D view. The world of Cymatics, however, gives us a different view and provides a major evolution in our understanding of how sound affects all of us. Cymatics gives validity to the fact that everything that we perceive as hard objects, including our bodies, are actually continuously vibrating at their own rates. This study clearly merges the fields of sound, geometry, light and mathematics into one through the presentation of stunning images created by frequencies of all kinds found in our bodies, in nature and beyond.

Chladni Plates and Dr. Hans Jenny

Ernst Chladni, an 18th century German physicist, is famous for studying the physics of sound by bowing a metal plate with sand on it to create simple geometric shapes. His work was foundational in the future development of Cymatics. More than a century later, Dr Hans Jenny started to experiment with different liquids and solids and continuous vibrating frequencies to test the physics of sound further. It was Jenny was coined the term '˜Cymatics' containing the Greek word, '˜Kyma' which means '˜wave.' His seminal research was compiled in a book of the same name and contains hundreds of photos showing his results.

Video'"Chladni Plate Experiment with Bowing Technique