Faraday wave Good standing Cymatics Commentary

Michael Faraday acoustics

Faraday wave

• Michael Faraday wasn’t the first to study vibrations on surfaces.
• Robert Hooke studied “nodal patterns” on glass plates
• and Ernst Chladni studied eponymous “figures.”
• Accoustic waves on the bodies of musical instruments.
• Fountains of agitated water in a vibrating singing bowl.
• Faraday demonstrated that powders on a plate are affected
• by currents of air as well as directly by vibrations of the plate
• showing equal divisions of the surface drawn by curved lines
• and heaps of powder at the points of greatest vibration.
• Faraday also experimented with various liquids,
• observing that vibrations overcame the force of gravity
• and presented regular and permanent “crispations”
• whose sizes corresponded
• to the frequency of vibration
• and to the depth of fluid.
• Patterns of powder on a vibrating plate or membrane.
• Standing waves on a liquid surface in a vibrating container.

Good standing

• People still make guitars and violins by ear,
• adjusting the narrowness of the waist,
• sanding thickness from the belly
• to improve symmetry and resonance.
• The materials, the shape of surfaces,
• the size and shape of the enclosed cavity
• and many things known by experienced craftsmen,
• handed down from teachers and masters,
• have been proven to work.

Cymatics

• I hope I can get on the record
• saying this stuff is hokum, except to the extent
• that it makes some people feel good,
• and as long as it causes no harm,
• directly or indirectly.
• People think they can believe
• anything they want.
• They think facts and truth don’t matter
• with respect to faith.
• Well, I hope I can get on the record,
• saying this stuff sounds nice
• and it sounds beneficial,
• but in fact it’s delusional.
• It’s a lot like a sugar pill.