Re:What Musical Notes Can Look Like
by DigitalJack on Monday July 25, 2016 @12:40PM
(#12159831)
The sound waves induce a surface wave in the 2d plane of the surface of the water.
This surface wave reflected reflects of the side walls of the container.
At specific frequencies, the reflected waves will interfere with the generated waves in such a way as to cancel the amplitudes out completely at certain points, and double amplitudes at other points. When these points are stable, the pattern is known as a standing wave.
The standing waves are the patterns shown here. Imperfections in the container, the medium, and the way the sound source is transmitted to the medium make the patterns imperfect. If they were perfected, they would have a more symmetric, kalaidescopic appearance: https://www.google.com/search?q=kaleidoscope&source=lnms&tbm...
I agree that the picture may say more about the vessel and the water than the note itself. But then why do the pictures look so different? Was there a different vessel per note?
When the tuner registered a note—reading 220 hertz, the frequency that produces an A, for instance—Louviere stopped adjusting. As each note’s unique vibration induced its characteristic pattern into the water, Brown captured it with her camera. The pair worked together to obtain a “portrait” of each of the 12 notes.