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What does sound look like?


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Harmonograph's are a device used to draw harmonic ratios. Things people did for entertainment before TV.

There are two types a radial one and cartesian one. The cartestian one is essentially two pendulums in which the weight on the pendulum can be raised and lowered to the appropriate frequency. The pendulum have linkages that are connect together at a point which holds a pencil. The pendulums swing perpendicular to one another. The radial harmonograph is similar but the drawing tool is constrained by cyclinder which forces it to rotate rather than move laterally.

How cool. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lissajous_curve These are some pictures of what the musical ratio's look like on a cartesian harmonograph.

from left to right and then down you have an octave, a fifth, a fourth, a major third, a minor third, and lastly a whole tone.

My Avatar is a cheasily built harmonograph. Here are some better pictures of a rotary harmonograph.

http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/~pbourke/curves/harmonograph/

 

The rotary one makes really intriguing pics.

Here is an octave.

http://www.airbrushmagic.com/Mvc-416f.jpg

 

Here is a cool little $10 coffee table book, that I found the other day which introduced me to this very cool device.

http://coolstufftoown.com/view/0802714099/Books/13837

 

It contains interesting info on the origins of the musical ratio's from pythagorean temperment to the current equal temperment that is used today.

Together all sing their different songs in union - the Uni-verse.

My Current Project

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