Cymatics: Exploring the shape of sound

EngageExplore

Apr 30

Illustration by Neka King

I'm going to reminisce a bit and reveal my age. When I was a child, one of my favorite kinds of entertainment was watching music. I'd play music on the (shared!) family computer and watch the media player's colorful visualizations. Finding a visualization whose vibe perfectly matched the song was the pinnacle of entertainment. Now that’s kind of like how Spotify's visualizer or TikTok light shows react to the beat today – but way more low-tech.

I don't miss the days when 360p was YouTube's high quality setting, but I do miss the wonderment of seeing sound transcribed into visuals. That feeling of, “Wait, music can look like something?” still hits. It's the same kind of surprise you get when a video game soundtrack syncs perfectly with your moves, or when your phone flashlight pulses with the bass. The good news is that there's a word for it: cymatics.

Cymatics is the study of sound visualization. At its heart, it deals with graphing sound waves onto 2D and 3D spaces – something that’s been recorded as far back as Galileo. This is traditionally seen when a speaker plays sound onto a metal plate with sand on it. Changes in the frequency cause sand grains to quickly rearrange themselves into intricate and beautiful patterns on the plate's surface. This is the Chladni plate experiment, and its principles can be adapted into mesmerizing music videos . These physical components literally move with the beat, not just vibe with it.

Why mesmerizing? Art curator Cansu Peker told me that the patterns sound can organize and "often mirror the symmetry and complexity found in nature – similar to snowflakes, flowers, and even galaxies."

I'd certainly agree. There's a majesty to the chaos and order imposed by nature that can't be found anywhere else. Artfully wielded sound can encourage meditative or trance-like states that drive a profound feeling of positive emptiness and relaxation.

She adds that, “Our brains are wired to seek out and understand patterns and regularities in the environment. Finding order in the chaos provides a sense of predictability and control, which is comforting. This cognitive satisfaction explains why we enjoy activities that involve recognizing and creating patterns, like puzzles, artwork, and cymatics."

Basically, our brains get a little spark of joy from seeing patterns make sense, like finishing a puzzle or catching the beat drop just right.

The human fascination with seeing sound easily lies with our distant ancestors. The earliest examples I can think of are someone in a far older time watching a drum vibrate or seeing a frog croak. That's a bit removed from the modern study of cymatics, which draws on our knowledge of sound as waves. No matter the form, that fascination has never left us.

For cymatics, part of its novelty also lies in the ability to tune into a sensory experience with a completely different sense. Hearing sound is cool, but seeing it is a rare and special experience.

Neuroscientist Dr. Dustin Hines sees, "a metaphor for understanding the brain’s interconnectedness" in cymatics. Namely that, "The way cymatic patterns emerge from simple inputs like sound vibrations can be likened to how complex brain functions emerge from the synchronized activity of neural networks. This suggests that seemingly simple neural processes, when properly coordinated, can give rise to highly intricate and sophisticated cognitive functions."

That is, cymatics and visualizing sound teaches us that nothing we perceive is isolated to a single sense. Our sensory experiences are all layered and connected.

In its most basic form, this phenomenon showcases how sound – normally invisible – interacts with the world. Artists have used cymatics to create still photographs of sound on water or play a cello concert that is heard, seen, and felt. You don't need a science lab, either. Plenty of YouTubers and TikTok creators have made budget cymatics setups that look amazing. People have even made DIY versions at home with simple things like aluminum foil, salt, and a Bluetooth speaker.

There are also plenty of unexpected, but beautiful applications in scientific research. Cymatics can be used to arrange and control a distribution of heart cells, furthering our knowledge of organ synthesis. Cymatic imaging is under investigation to better differentiate between healthy and cancerous cells.

And Dr. Hines sees the potential for cymatics in therapy where, "the rhythmic, symmetrical patterns of cymatics might help in entraining brain rhythms, promoting states of relaxation and focus. Such visualizations could be used to help individuals access altered states of consciousness, reduce stress, or improve emotional regulation by synchronizing their internal rhythms with the external visual stimuli.”

Cymatics began as an artful display and the arts won't lag behind scientific advancement. Cansu sees a future of, "interactive installations where viewers can influence the sound input, directly altering the patterns they see," or "cymatic patterns projected onto surfaces, buildings, or landscapes, creating immersive and dynamic art pieces.”

Imagine walking through a park where your playlist makes the sidewalk shimmer.
It's definitely a matter of when, rather than if. Even though we can't easily have art installations in our homes, it's heartening to see people take joy in sensory experiences. These experiences showcase the wonderful ways our senses are connected, and our boundless curiosity in experiencing them. Although I will keep a safe distance if I see someone set the music on fire.

Summer Tao has a Masters in Psychology and is currently pursuing a PhD focused on LGBTQ+ healthcare in South Africa. Summer’s writing often covers topics including queer relationships, sexual health, tabletop gaming, and humor.