Cymatics Research - Musicology
Music, in the absolute sense, is the invisible geometry of the cosmos, a delicate tracery of frequencies that harmonise with each other and from which all matter manifests.
The conductor of this sublime symphony is the Creative Force of the cosmos: God.
Music, as sensed by humans, is a delicate tracery of audible frequencies that harmonise with each other and please our emotions.
musicmadevisible is a new form of musical art, cymascopic video imagery representing an analog of music in visual form. If our eyes could see music we would not see waves, as is commonly believed, but beautiful holographic bubbles, with shimmering kaleidoscopic patterns on their surface. The CymaScope allows us to see this previously hidden realm of beauty by imprinting music onto pure water. And since our bodies are comprised mainly of water, the beautiful imagery you see in the musicmadevisible videos organises the visceral waters that surround our organs, and imprint cymatic patterns on the cellular membranes, gently massaging their integral membrane proteins.
For more information on the therapeutic aspects of music, please visit our Sound Therapy Section.
musicmadevisible
For more information on the physics of sound, please visit our
musicmadevisible images can be thought of as analogs (models) of music because the geometry they contain is a mathematical correlate of the musical pitches that cause the pattern to form on the CymaScope Pro instrument’s water membrane.
Here are four state-of-the-art examples of the musicmadevisible art form, each representing an exciting blend of science and art.
Beethoven’s Piano Sonata Number 8
The music of Anders Holte & Cacina Meadu
Clair de Lune, by Debussy
Trinity Cathedral
12 Piano notes made visible for the first time
Shannon Novak, a New Zealand-born fine artist, commissioned us to image 12 piano notes as inspiration for a series of 12 musical canvases. We decided to image the notes in video mode because when we observed the ‘A1’ note we discovered, surprisingly, that the energy envelope changes over time as the string’s harmonics mix in the piano’s hardwood bridge. Instead of the envelope being fairly stable, as we had imagined, the harmonics actually cause the CymaGlyphs to be wonderfully dynamic. Our ears can easily detect the changes in the harmonics and the CymaScope now reveals them⎯a first in acoustic physics. Capturing the dynamics of the piano’s first strike, followed by the short plateau and long decay phase, was tricky but we achieved the result with the help of an audio compressor operating in real time.
Shannon was delighted with the results. He commented:
“I have always been fascinated with the translation of that which is invisible, into something visible that individuals can relate to, in particular, the representation of sound through colour and geometric form. I saw the use of cymatic technology as one method of such representation and a unique and compelling way of educating individuals about the link between sound, colour, and geometric form“.
We created a poster of the first 12 notes, which is available for sale through our online shop, and all sales help support our ongoing research. The video footage of the same 12 notes were also incorporated into the CymaScope app for Apple and Android platforms. (See the CymaScope app section of this web site for information on our app.) The piano notes poster makes a great gift for musicians:
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More information on making music (or any sound) visible can be found in our shop: