In the previous post featuring cymatics, I mentioned building a Chladni plate. Although I haven’t got around to doing this yet, I have spent some time experimenting with other ways of visualising sound. I am yet to find a name for this process, but the set up is easy and the results are great in the dark. You will need: a laser, a small reflective surface (e.g a broken mirror), a speaker and a ballon to stretch over speaker. The clips below from the experiment are using some songs I have been working on for my album being projected onto a wall. The physicality of turning audio into visual in real time is a fun experience, I am currently composing a piece which is based around this visual feedback.
I also did some experiments reflecting the created shapes off a second mirror to see what kind of effect I could create. This got me thinking about creating a piece that spins different mirrors or lenses in front of the created shape to fill a space with colourful shapes, this would be a great way to elevate the experience at a live show which Is why I am trying to implement cymatics into the set design at a future Nasterisk event. I will post updates as the cymatics project continues.