This is what sound looks like

Sound is made audible air vibrating air molecules. Sound is a form of energy, we can’t see it, and we can only hear it when the volume is high enough and if it exists between 20Hz and 20kHz, the audible range of the human ear.

Sound also moves through liquids though, and Eva Schindling created a computer model which simulates the collision of two sounds in a fluid environment. The resulting form is then modeled out of Styrofoam. Now we have a sound we can touch, but we can’t hear it!

Comments

[Enigmafon Records]

Cool.
I wonder if the result sculpture is cut by a computer or is it cut by hand?

[Tom Davenport]

This would have been better if they did a 3D rendered video. There's little to understand looking at this.

[tim]

I disagree Tom, the reality of it is whats fascinating - both for our ears & for our eyes... sound is real but we cant see it, now we can but in a way that we could actually touch! Far more interesting than badly rendered 3d, which lets face it most 3d is badly rendered with everything in focus & those dreadful fake reflections & lens flares...

[admin]

@Enigmafon: It was modeled using the Roland MODELA MDX-15 desktop milling machine. On the picture it looks quite big, I guess it's a lot smaller in reality.

@Tom & Tim: I agree with Tim, and the original model was made in software, this is just a 'printout' of that. There's no way to find out what the actual sound would have been, but it's a nice idea to be able to touch the sound, isn't it?

[Meddan]

Great! That would be even better if we could find out what the source of the sound is? Is it a human voice singing a register, instrument playing a note or simply a noise traveling thru space?

[admin]

Good questions, Meddan! I have no idea what the original sounds were, and the makers' website doesnt say anything about this either...