EC EVENT 2: MATH + WAVES + SOUNDS

On the 30th, I attended Professor Vesna's lecture regarding the combination of math, sound, and waves. We were asked that if no one was there to hear a tree fall, does it still make a sound? This lead to the question: what is sound? Some people said it was based on vibrations through air but we concluded that sound is a relationship between an object and its listener. Still, many sounds are imperceptible to the human ear, but that doesn't make it any less of a sound than the things we hear. In fact, humans are imperceptible to most of what happens in the world, from the footsteps of microscopic creatures to the hum of celestial bodies based on orbital hum.

Chladni Figures

An interesting art form I learned about was cymatics: the visualization of sound by vibrating medium. Jurist, musician, and physicist Ernst Chladni was actually the first person to show that sound has the ability to make geometric patterns with matter. For example, if we vibrate an elastic plate with sand on it, the plate will vibrate as a whole, but also in sections like a wave. Some parts will oscillate up and down (anti-nodes), while some parts won't vibrate at all (nodes).  The sand will collect where the nodes are and create beautiful patterns.


I was also very fascinated by the works of John Cage, who was famous for his composition of 4 minutes and 33 seconds of silence.

The art of this piece isn't in the silence, but in the ability for people to notice the other sounds around them that they don't usually hear. I find genius in Cage's idea because he was able to use something so simple, and teach people to be more aware of their environment. 

Other interesting topics:

Max Neuhaus: artist who projected sound underwater

Can ears blink? Can we temporarily "not hear?"
Noise Cancellation:
A microphone can play inverse of the sound it receives creating destructive interference and canceling the sound.
Sono, a noise cancellation device

UCLA's very own anechoic chamber

Sources:

"John Cage - 4'33"" YouTube. YouTube, 1 Oct. 2010. Web. 02 Aug. 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY7UK-6aaNA>.

Pettersson, Peter. "Science Mysteries." Cymatics - The Science of the Future?World-Mysteries.com, n.d. Web. 02 Aug. 2014. <http://www.world-mysteries.com/sci_cymatics.htm>.

Plafke, James. "Sono, a Noise Cancelation and Isolation Device That Sticks on Your Window.

ExtremeTech." ExtremeTech. Ziff Davis, 8 Nov. 2013. Web. 02 Aug. 2014

<http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/170649-sono-a-noise-cancelation-and-isolation-device

that-sticks-on-your-window>.

Malter, Erich. "John Cage :: Official Website." John Cage :: Official Website. John Cage Trust,

2013. Web. 02 Aug. 2014. <http://johncage.org/>.

"Max Neuhaus." Max Neuhaus. The Estate of Max Neuhaus, n.d. Web. 02 Aug. 2014. <http://www.max-neuhaus.info/drawings/waterwhistle/>.