Intentional | Audio Identity Blog

Since my head’s still stuck in sound-as-therapy mode, I thought I’d pass along what may be the most inspiring thing I’ve seen in the past few months: a link to Cymatics — the study of wave phenomena.

For 14 years (Hans Jenny) conducted experiments animating inert powders, pastes, and liquids into life-like, flowing forms, which mirrored patterns found throughout nature, art and architecture. What’s more, all of these patterns were created using simple sine wave vibrations (pure tones) within the audible range. So what you see is a physical representation of vibration, or how sound manifests into form through the medium of various materials…

These cymatic images are truly awe-inspiring, not only for their visual beauty in portraying the inherent responsiveness of matter to sound, but also because they inspire a deep recognition that we, too, are part and parcel of this same complex and intricate vibrational matrix.

And that’s what grabs me — that we’re physically wired to respond to sound in deep and meaningful ways we’re barely aware of. Here it is, made visual. (In an ironic twist, we need to see the sound to believe its effect on us.)

I was fortunate enough to catch some of Jenny’s amazing videos when Michael Conforti presented at the GAIN conference in November. (Imagine the sound of 700 jaws dropping on the floor…great job, Michael.) They’re for sale at the Cymatics site.

In any case, we’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s possible, folks. The what-ifs should be driving you mad at this point. If you’d like to explore the ways this can relate to your product, service, strategy or offerings, let’s talk. It’s what we do. — NF