5.16.2010

Meara O'Reilly's Chladni Singing

Via BoingBoing, and absolutely mesmerizing--

Sound designer, instrument builder, and singer O'Reilly writes, "Chladni patterns were discovered by Robert Hook and Ernst Chladni in the 18th and 19th centuries. They found that when they bowed a piece of glass covered in flour, (using an ordinary violin bow), the powder arranged itself in resonant patterns according to places of stillness and vibration. Today, Chladni plates are often electronically driven by tone generators and used in scientific demonstrations, but with carefully sung notes (and a transducer driving the plate), I'm able to explore the same resonances. I'm currently writing songs based on sequences of patterns."


Chladni Singing from meara o'reilly on Vimeo.


I can't wait to explore O'Reilly's site (list of projects includes "Sung Language Studies," "Glass and Water Tone Generator," "Maritime Listening Device" and more) further.

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