INTERACTIVE SONIC SPACES
Robert Pravda & Edwin van der Heide
25.10.04 Ð 19.11.04
Mindy McGovern
Time report
Class meetings Ð discussing principles of acoustics, space as instrument, the body as instrument, interactivity and participation, musique concrete, field trip to Amsterdam to see Edwin's Radioscape piece, discussing the relationship between architecture and sound, experiencing and/or discussing works by such artists/composers as Bernard Leitner, Iannis Xenakis, Andres Bosshard, Marianne Amachet, Michael Chion, the SETI project, Pierre Schaeffer, and Edwin van der Heide (to name a few).
Personal time Ð initially, time spent researching on the internet, the public and my personal library - finding out who has studied Chladni figures, structure as function/symbol, correlation between sound and shape in various metaphysical disciplines, sacred geometry, and the practice of sound as healing.
Lastly, I conducted experiments with a tone generator, speaker and liquid - finding which frequencies produced certain shapes (4,6,8,10, and 12 pointed figures). Documented with video and photography.
Subject
My subject went through various stages of metamorphosis depending upon the information gleaned through research and the experiment I conducted with my 'milk speaker'. The stages are as follows.
Initial idea: relationship of shape to frequency/vibration Ð how shape and corresponding frequency can influence interactivity. Do certain shapes have a specific function within world cultures? (Arrien's book) How does sound play a role? How are we influenced by static frequency in a sonic environment and the shapes of the structures within which we find ourselves? (Chladni figures)
Transforming idea: relationship of vibration to shape and spoken language, such as vowels and their meaning/symbolism (Joseph Rael, Hindu and Sanskrit sources, Jenny's tonoscope experiment with Sanskrit vowels). How does vibration in the form of language affect space? Can language create a transformational experience for us?
Final idea: researching the effects of the combination of shape and sound on the human system. My ultimate goal is to create fully resonant shaped spaces, interacting internally on a cellular level (microcosmic) and externally on a metaphysical level (macrocosmic). My interest is in the healing/transformative effects of sound and shape (Emoto, Fuller, Hero, mandalas/yantras).
Presentation
Research presented in a written format and milk speaker experiment documented with video.
Useful URL's
www.cymaticsource.com Hans Jenny and cymatics
www.ph.unimelb.edu.au/staffresources/lecdem/wb5.htm Chladni figures
shown on various shaped plates
www.healingsounds.com/research/water.asp Emoto's research
www.neuroacoustic.com good resource of articles and references
www.rwgrayprojects.com/synergetics/toc/status.html Fuller's book
http://members.aol.com/AJRoberts/math/shapes2.htm Fuller and shapes
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/PlatonicSolid.html 5 platonic forms
http://victorian.fortunecity.com/whistler/207/jenny.htm good info on
Jenny; main page also has sprawling info on ancient use of images/form
and sound Ð yantras, mandalas, Kabala, etc.
http://staff.bcc.edu/philosophy/cosCamm.htm symbols and shapes
used throughout world cultures
Books cited or of related interest
Signs of Life: Five Universal Shapes and How to Use Them Ð Angeles
Arrien
Messages From Water Ð Masaru Emoto
Synergetics:Explorations in the Geometry of Thinking Ð Buckminster Fuller
Cymatics Ð Hans Jenny
Tantra Art: Its Philosophy and Physics Ð Ajit Mookarjee
Being and Vibration Ð Joseph Rael
The Soundscape: Our Sonic Environment and the Tuning of the World Ð R. Murray Schafer
Results
I. Research on structure and
function:
Modern, industrialized life, housed in apartment buildings and the row houses of the inner city, is numb to the meaning of the shape that surrounds them. In past and non-industrialised cultures, the shape of a structure is symbolically and functionally significant. The traditional Mongolian home, the yurt or ger, is round to symbolize the cyclical essence of existence (birth and death, the seasons) and functions as a reminder of one's connection to each other, the earth, and the universe. North American tipis and igloos are round for similar reasons Ð to emulate the cyclical movements of the natural world. Conversely, the Picuris Pueblo Indians have square homes to complement the circular force of the feminine in the home while the kiva is round to ground the men who use it for spiritual practices (Rael 20). For the majority of western society, the home is predominantly composed of cubes for (I am guessing) economical purposes. The only structures that retain their symbolism of shape are those built for spiritual pursuits Ð the cross of the chapel of the Christian church and the rectangle of the Jewish temple. Could architectural tradition within religion be reminding us of our connection to shape?
Could this spiritual connection extend to us on a physical level?
ÒBuckminster Fuller, architect, scientist, mathematician, author and inventor of the geodesic dome has long contended that we pay much greater attention to the forms of our buildings. According to Fuller, homes, office buildings, churches or any type of building for that matter, should be other than a cube shape and explains this is particularly true of hospitals or other places of healing. He contends that if hospitals were built in a sphere or pyramid form, patients would heal quicker.Ó (www.wisdomofsolomon.com/vortex/html)
Researching Fuller's 'ideal' forms Ð the tetrahedron, octahedron, cuboctahedron (vector equilibrium), and icosahedron.- bring up a similarity to those of Plato Ð the tetrahedron, octahedron, icosahedron, hexahedron/cube, and dodecahedron.
Platonic solids, like B. Fuller's, are based upon the shape of the triangle Ð a shape that Fuller believed to be Òthe first formÓ. Plato also linked the five basic elements to each form:
TETRAHEDRON (3 triangles/side): fire
OCTAHEDRON (4 triangles/side): air
ICOSAHEDRON (5 triangles/side): water
HEXAHEDRON (6 triangles/side): earth
DODECAHEDRON (9 triangles/side): ether
II. Research on language:
Do words or letters have shape? Could the vibration created by the elocution of words or letters have influenced written language?
Hans Jenny (1904-1972) experimented with sending vocal sounds through his tonoscope and noticed that some Sanskrit and ancient Hebrew vowels created patterns that were reminiscent of their written form. Purportedly, 'om' made the same pattern or design as the yantra that is assigned to it in Hindu meditation practices (www.cymaticsource.com).
Joseph Rael's associated meanings and directional placement of vowels in the Tiwa tradition:
AH Ð purification; east
EE Ð awareness; west
UU Ð carrying; center
EH Ð relationship; south
OH Ð innocence; north
According to Rael in his book Being and Vibration, the Tiwa people Òdecided to keep Tiwa in the oral tradition because the oral sounds, like mantras of eastern religions, awaken inner mental knowingÓ (Rael 63). Furthermore, Òvowels in any given word reveal the power of the word and the consonants determine the direction the power of the energy must travelÓ (Ibid 142).
Sanskrit vowels that correspond to certain charkas/energy points in the body:
NG: crown
OM: third eye
EEE (as in 'see'): throat
AY (as in 'play'): heart
AH: solar plexus
OO (as in 'you'): genitals
O (as in 'go'): perineum
III. Research on metaphysics
relating sound and shape:
HINDUSIM
According to Hindu belief, the universe was initially set into motion by the vibration of the word 'om'. For a written exposition on the meaning of om, go to www.yrec.org/om.html
Yantras are geometric compositions assisting as focal points for meditation. They are usually composed of an outer geometrical shape surrounding an inner geometrical design or object. 'Om' has it's own yantra.
Chakras (energy points in the body) correspond to yantras and are symbolized with the lotus flower with a specific numbers of petals:
MULADHARA: located at the perineum Ð 4 petals (square)
SVADHISTHANA: above the genitals Ð 6 petals (crescent shape)
MANIPURA: in the navel Ð 10 petals
ANAHATA: behind the heart Ð 12 petals
VISHUDDHA: in the throat Ð 16 petals
AJNA: in the forehead Ð 2 petals
SAHASRA PADMA: above the crown of head Ð 1000 petals
BUDDHISM
From a Buddhist point of view, image/form is considered a sound-form, or nama rupa.
The link between sound and image/form is the essence of Tantric Art.
ÒÉevery thought or every idea originates in a sound (nada). The moment we think, an unheard sound is formed. As an idea appears in one's own mind, the sound that concurrently occurs is the ground of all formsÓ (Ajit Mookarjee, author of Tantra Art: It's Philosophy and Physics, 1966).
Buddhist sand paintings are constructed by a monk administering sand onto the design through the use of a metallic cone that is set into vibration (www.mandalaproject.org/What/Main.html).
IV. Transformative effects of
sound/vibration on substances and body:
Effects are evidenced through Chladni figures (sand or salt on a metallic plate) and Jenny's tonoscope (sand, liquid, paste, metal filings, mercury).
Masaru Emoto's findings with the effect of vibration (words, prayer, and vocalizations) on the molecular structure of water.
Barbara Hero's experiments with frequency and the organs of the body. (www.metamorphosislab.com/caterpillar/barb1.html)
Dr.Jeffrey Thompson of the Neuroacoustic Institute in California Ð studying the effects of frequency on the human body.
SET-UP:
Small, waterproofed woofer filled with milk and connected to an amplifier with varying sine wave frequencies being sent through the input.
OBSERVATIONS:
My initial observations yielded the discovery that the shapes I was foremost interested in (circle, square, triangle, cross, and spiral) were not as apparent as the forms or solids favored by people like Plato, Buckminster Fuller, and various eastern religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jewish mysticism). While these 'new' forms contain aspects of the five basic shapes, I believe that there is something worth investigating within the tenets of eastern mysticism and the geometry favored by Plato and Fuller rather than the universal symbolism behind the five basic shapes. Therefore, my interest in the shapes being researched and experimented with changed from the five basic shapes to the basic Platonic solids or 'Fuller forms'- shapes I characterized as having 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 points.
These vibrating shapes remained stable at distinct frequencies; a partial listing:
four
six
eight
ten
twelve
4.4, 7.5 4.8, 10.2 5, 10 6, 12 6.8, 13.6
Short video examples of each shape with one frequency follow this document.
Higher frequencies yielded tighter patterns with subtle movements occurring through the pattern, an example also follows this document.
Another realization procured through my experiment was how difficult it was to use the voice in my set-up. Technical limitations have suspended further trials with the voice and my 'milk speaker', although I plan on resuming experimentation once these limitations are resolved.
For the purposes of the research group, I can conclude that the resonating material used in a tonoscope - whether it be liquid, metal and sand, or something dependent upon the mediation of a crystal (as in Jenny's set-up) - is directly related to the shapes or patterns that are created. Volume also plays a significant role in being able to see a definitive shape or pattern occur in the movement of the liquid.
My interest in the connection between sound and shape began when I first saw the phenomenon of Chladni's figures. To see a substance take shape by the vibration of sound appeared to be an insight into the basic fundamentals of life Ð those of vibration (sound) and geometric shapes or solids Ð and how these essential elements influence and are connected to our physical and spiritual existence. My research began with investigating if anyone had picked up experimentation where Chladni had stopped. Simultaneously, I began researching shapes common to world cultures - how they were symbolically employed in structures by various cultures, and how they surfaced in Chladni's (and other's) figures.
Initially, I was interested in the five basic shapes as described by Angeles Arrien in his book about the five universal shapes. I wanted to see if these shapes Ð the circle, square, triangle, equidistant cross, and spiral Ð were represented in Chladni's figures and, if so, at what frequencies. My plan was to construct structures composed of each shape/form that would resonate with a shape's corresponding frequency. I hypothesized that the shape-sound combination could influence the interactivity of the participants visiting the artwork. Once I began to fully understand the physics of why certain shapes appeared in Chladni's figures Ð those shapes being dependent on the actual shape of the resonating material used, I had to revamp my plan. Furthermore, once I conducted my experiments in my 'milk speaker', I realized that the initial shapes I was interested in were not as noticeable as those attributed to Plato, Fuller, and various practices of eastern metaphysics. This is what propelled me to look into the 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12-pointed forms (or relatives thereof) within eastern and ancient mystic thought.
Hans Jenny's experiments with his tonoscope and the human voice making various vowel sounds stoked my interest in written language and how it might be influenced by vibration and the ways in which shape could be influenced by the voice's articulation of various vowel sounds. Researching various Hindu beliefs of using sound as a tool to arouse certain energy points in the body (chakras) also figured in as well as reading Rael's book which described the essence of language from the Tiwa perspective. I began thinking of how I could use language or vowel sounds in an interactive space as a means to create a transformational environment.
However, given the issues I had with time and technical matters, I have reformed my intention to use sound and shape/form as the chief elements in a transformational space. ÐA space that calls for the visitors, inhabitants or participants to interact on a cellular and spiritual level. More explicitly, I want to culminate this research of how sound and shape influence our existence on both microcosmic and macrocosmic levels by making shaped spaces that resonate in such a way as to transform the human body. I would like to conduct experiments with people which use frequencies relating to certain energy points in the body (as described by Hindu philosophy) and to conduct more research on the practice of vibrational healing.