Cymatics

As mentioned before, one beautiful example of sound vibration and its effects on the physical is the use of cymatics. Old Wikipedia defines cymatics as:

"Cymatics (from Greek: κῦμα "wave") is the study of visible sound and vibration, a subset of modal phenomena. Typically the surface of a plate, diaphragm, or membrane is vibrated, and regions of maximum and minimum displacement are made visible in a thin coating of particles, paste, or liquid.^[1] Different patterns emerge in the exitatory medium depending on the geometry of the plate and the driving frequency."



You may have seen the videos of sand or salt morphing into different shapes under vibrations of different sound frequencies. A Swiss medical doctor named Hans Jenny pioneered this field of study and others have followed in his footsteps. This site has a good overview of some of the folks involved with Cymatics, and their achievements. I kind of just went nuts looking at some of the videos. I feel like Cymatics can really connect the effects of sound on the physical plane, and also as that site explores, the relationships between sound, its visual effects and human health (as in their experiments with cymatics and autism).

"Dr. Peter Guy Manners, a British osteopath who had invented a machine called the Cymatic Instrument which utilized the direct application of sound into the body for healing and used harmonically related tones that resonated imbalanced parts of the body, restoring their natural frequency." (From Goldman's Healing Sounds) Goldman also suggests that the same can be done with the human voice. Here is what Manners himself had to say about cymatics research and the cymatic instrument:

"By intercepting the electrical messages transmitted via the central nervous system to individual cells, this research has allowed the coding of cymatic signals that cells understand. Each tissue has been given an H-factor (harmonic factor) according to the signal emitted. The cymatic instrument adjusts acoustic audible sound frequencies in order to induce beneficial stimulation, activation, and circulation when applied to the body via direct contact with affected areas or by way of acupuncture meridians." – Dr. Peter Guy Manners (from Mitchell L. Gaynor's Sounds of Healing p. 139)

This great Ted Talk really sums up the concepts (and its a pretty short one):


How about those examples this guy gives about how cymatics are being used, from the dolphins to the schoolchildren...?