Visualizing Sound

Sound propagates outward from its source more like a bubble than a wave, according to John Stuart Reid.

He uses a Cymascope to capture the patterns of sound in a membrane of water, whose behavior is photographed, and, in this case, superimposed over the image of the violinist.

The technique has been used to study the patterns of sound made by birds, elephants, dolphins, and human vowel sounds.
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Gallery of history of Cymascope images