Chladni & Cymatics
Sand, sound, and pattern: mapping truth-patterns to plates, Rosslyn motifs, and your birth-frequency boards.
What is Cymatics?
FoundationsCymatics visualizes standing waves on plates and membranes. Vibrated surfaces form nodes (quiet lines) and antinodes (active areas). Particles like sand migrate to nodes, tracing the pattern. By sweeping frequency and adjusting drive, you can map a material’s modal landscape and “paint” with resonance.
- Sweep: slowly scan frequency to catch stable modes.
- Control: keep amplitude just high enough for clean migration.
- Record: log freq, Vpp, plate size/thickness, driver position.
Plate Setups
BuildsDriver Placement Diagrams
GeometryPlacement steers which modes are easily excited. Center-drive excites symmetric modes; off-center drive reveals asymmetric and higher-order patterns. Below are schematic placements:
Great for symmetric rosettes; may miss anti-symmetric modes.
Good for gridlines; excites modes with edge displacement.
Hitting non-integer symmetry points teases complex modes.
Materials vs Q-Sharpness & Cost
Reference| Material (thickness) | Approx. Cost | Q-Sharpness | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aluminum (1–2 mm) | £ | High | Bright modes, stable, easy to drill/finish. |
| Acrylic / PMMA (2–4 mm) | ££ | Medium | Good visuals, safer edges, damped highs. |
| Steel (1 mm cold-rolled) | ££ | High | Very sharp modes, heavier, rust-prone. |
| Brass (1 mm) | £££ | High | Musical overtones, expensive, weighty. |
| Plywood (3–6 mm, birch) | £ | Low–Med | Organic damping, warm but smeared nodes. |
| Glass (2–3 mm, tempered) | ££ | Medium | Pretty but fragile; edge-safety required. |
| Carbon fiber sheet (1–2 mm) | £££ | High | Rigid & lively; pricey; conductive. |
Tip: higher Q → sharper, more stable patterns but also more sensitive to tiny changes in placement and media weight.
Rosslyn Motifs Tie-In
MappingUse Rosslyn-inspired lattices (flower-of-life, Reshel 5-1-5-1 spacing, cube arrays) as overlays for plate geometry, driver placement, or bead positioning. Treat them as layout guides for likely nodal lines.
- Overlay: lightly engrave/print a motif on acrylic; align the driver to a motif focus.
- 5151 Grid: place exciters or coil pairs at 5:1:5:1 ratios along axes.
Birth-Frequency Board — Step-by-Step
Make- Choose plate: 2 mm aluminum or 3 mm acrylic, 250–300 mm size.
- Mount driver: stick an exciter to a wooden puck; epoxy puck underside at 1/3 radius.
- Prep media: sprinkle table salt evenly; keep layer thin for quick migration.
- Dial frequency: sweep around your target (e.g., 180.3 Hz ±10%) until the pattern locks.
- Fix pattern: lightly mist spray adhesive from ~40 cm; let salt tack into place.
- Add crystals: place birth-aligned stones along nodal lines; use tiny dots of clear adhesive.
- Seal: optional clear resin pour (thin) for a durable art-board; avoid flooding patterns.
- Label & log: engrave/print frequency, date, Vpp, plate specs; photograph with scale reference.
Safety: hearing protection for long sessions; avoid loose clothing near drivers; keep resin work ventilated.
Experiments
Lab Notes- Set sine source 20–1200 Hz via signal generator → audio amp → exciter.
- Sweep slowly; mark (freq, Vpp, driver position) when stable patterns appear.
- Repeat with new driver placements (center, edge, 1/3) to build a mode atlas.
Notes: Keep amplitude minimal for clarity. Photograph each mode with a ruler for scale.
- Cut equal-size plates (e.g., 250 mm square) in aluminum, acrylic, and plywood.
- Use same exciter and placement; sweep identical ranges.
- Score each plate for pattern sharpness, stability time, and sensitivity to touch.
Notes: Use identical media mass each run. Rate 1–5; build your own Q-score.
- Apply a flower-of-life or 5151 overlay to acrylic.
- Drive at several known modal peaks; note alignment of nodes with overlay points.
- Iterate driver positions guided by overlay foci; track any convergence.
Notes: This tests whether the overlay aids repeatability or just aesthetics.