3D | Making of a Tonoscope

Hi guys! Previously on my post, I showed some cool stuff of Cymatics. I was really amazed at how the objects moved according to the vibrations, thus, I decided to make myself a tonoscope! I did some research and since I do not really have the materials… I tried to improvise, and it sort of works?

What you’ll need:

A plastic container
Toilet Roll or a Tube
Cling Wrap and Rubber Band


Cut a hole at the side of the container and insert the toilet roll. Make sure it’s tight, so that the sound wouldn’t escape as much.

Cling wrap it reaaaaaal tight, secure it with a rubber band.

 

Tadah and it’s done! Simply place some salt/sugar/or cinnamon (as cheryl suggested to give some smell) on the cling wrap itself. Here’s a short video clip to show how it turned out!

I realised that a metal tin would be so much better as it will be able to give a better resonance than a plastic container. But oh well, it’s a fun experiment otherwise!


After sharing each of our sound texturizers with the class, Cheryl brought some of her own sound texturizer and we went up to the rooftop to try them out. It was reaallly fun. Especially the thunder drum(?) thingy.

3D | Cymatics

Hi guys!!

I was just looking around for some inspiration and I’ve finally found something that I’ve been looking for a long long time! I remembered seeing this somewhere on my Facebook but I don’t really know whats the term for it. And guess what, it’s called Cymatics.

Cymatics (from Greek: κῦμα “wave”) is the study of visible sound co vibration, a subset of modal phenomena. Typically the surface of a plate, diaphragm, or membrane is vibrated, and regions of maximum and minimum displacement are made visible in a thin coating of particles, paste, or liquid.
 
I felt that the word Cymatics, kind of reminded me one of the keywords in the brief, which was Resonance. In classical physics, resonance is a phenomenon in which a vibrating system or external force drives another system to oscillate with greater amplitude at a specific preferential frequency.
 
I couldn’t find the exact video I saw, which was that this artist had use cymatics to create his own art, it was really c o o l. But anyhow, here are some videos which I found that is quite awesome as well and I wanted to share with you guys! Please turn down your volume as there’s some high frequency audio involved.

 
I’ve actually tried to make a Tonoscope at home and I’ll bring it to class tomorrow! Oh and a tonoscope is a fun acoustic device that enables you to see beautiful patterns created by the sound of your voice. Buttttt, I didn’t get the right materials as I was just using a metal cup. So I used some music to produce bass and it moved! It didn’t work exactly like it did in the videos, but the salt… still vibrates ok hahaha.

3D | Soundscapes II

Here’s part II of the Soundscapes Mini Project! Since it’s not an in-class activity, I got to experiment more textures in the comfort of my home. For my material, I decided to use just paper. Paper, a versatile material that can create any kind of textures/ shapes you like. Though it’s just a simple white piece sheet, you can create anything you want just by scoring and folding it in different methods. I was able to achieve different types of looks by folding it differently even if the scoring method is the same. In addition, though paper can be quite stiff sometimes, you can either form organic curves by gently bending it or you can also forcefully create a curve! How amazing is that. Sigh god bless the one who invented the scoring method. 


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I always wondered how some artists managed to achieve this particular unusual shape, so I went to look for tutorials on how to achieve it and I managed to get this really cool geometrical looking shape (bottom right pic)!! I was totally BLOWN AWAY at how simple the process is but yet it turned out really good! 

Without further ado, let me share with you my Soundscapes 🙂


Pleasant Sound – Sea Waves

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The sea to me, has always been a place of tranquility. I really love the sea, not for the looks of it, but mostly for the sounds it makes. Personally, I would prefer the calm sea as the rhythmic pulse softly doused the sand, creating its own symphony. For this piece, I tried two different materials – tracing paper and normal 152gsm paper. In the end, I felt that the tracing paper portrays the idea of the sea more, due to its translucency as it reminds me of the sea waves.  Also, in order to show the repetitive motion, I decided to cut strips to represent the waves and curve the paper in a way to show the softness of the rhythm, and the never ending flow of the vast sea. 

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Unpleasant Sound – Fork Scratching on Plate

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First thing first, I don’t think it’s only me, but I think everyone HATES the sound when your fork accidentally scrapes the surface of the plate. O M G – if only I could express how much I dislike the sound! Even the slightest “whimper” of it will give me goosebumps. And that’s how I was inspired to do this piece, that coincidentally looks like a flower or an onion. For this piece of work, instead of using my trusty penknife to cut the “petals”, I decided to tear the paper instead. The  scraping noise gave me an image of a torn edge as I tried to mimick my goosebumps for the raw edges. To enhance the sensitivity, I decided to cut mini thorns onto the petals – to portray the goosebumps that I get. Cheryl mentioned that maybe I could add some foil onto the tip of the thorns so as to add some metal elements onto it to remind or hint of a metal plate/fork. 

So this concludes the Soundscapes project. Stay tune to this small space of mine!

3D | Soundscapes I

2 weeks ago, we were introduced to a new project – Soundscapes, sounds interesting right? It’s not the Landscape that I’m used to hearing, now it’s Soundscapes. This project reminded me of last semester’s project – Obscure Cities, as we dealt with sounds too and tried to portray our created audio in the sculpture itself. Throwback to then, I had lots of fun because it was something new that I’ve never tried before. As I’m a Visual Communication student, we’re always used to portraying meaning through visuals,  now it’s to portray sound through visuals, and in 3-Dimensional too! Say byebye to flatlays and vectors.

Anyhow, there was an in class activity and we were told to scout around our school to find a pleasant and a unpleasant sound. So of course… while getting our kopi gao siew dai, we recorded quite a number of audio!

Here are my Soundscapes. Enjoy!

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Pleasant Sound: Fountain Waves

I’ve always liked how the waves and the sea sound like as it makes me feel refreshed and energised. The clear sounds of the water splashing against one another reminds me of the vast sea (closest we have is Sentosa…), it makes me feel free. Hence, the closest I can find is the fountain which is in our school, ADM. It’s not exactly relaxing and soft as I wanted it to be due to the repetitive flow of it, but it’s close enough! I tried to portray the overflowing waves and ripples caused by the fountain, therefore the flowing motion of the paper, and I scored certain areas to show the “splash” of the water. I felt that I didn’t manage to portray it as accurately as it should be, I should have cut the curves even longer! And maybe curl more of them? 

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Unpleasant sound: Screeching of the Clamp

The 3D room is like my 2nd home, as I spend quite a long time there doing my projects. But what irks me the most is when someone or me accidentally release the clamp while tightening it and it makes a really LOUD screeching slam which gives me a headache! I tried to portray the screeching noise by scratching and tearing the paper itself. The lines are inconsistent, with different lengths for the ranges of the screech. I curled it into a cone (which reminds me of kachang puteh hahaha) to “amplify” the noise. As when the clamp slams down, it gives a loud and long *KNNNNNG* sound which drags and has a slight echo in the room, a new word I learn to describe this – Doppler Effect! 


In addition, Cheryl embraced more of the festive season by sharing some chinese new year goodies with us! How awesome is that!? She brought kueh balu (my fav), pineapple tarts and fishball crackers. We had a G3 tze char session as Cheryl wanted us to experiment and hear how different items produce or affect the sounds.

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After researching the words provided in the brief, I finally know the right term to describe some sounds that I’m hearing! It’s really interesting as I felt I’ve gain some new knowledge HAHA and I’m able to sound really “smart” when I used this certain words (im joking). But anyhow, here are some words and their meanings that caught my eye and their meanings.

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Pizzicato
A playing technique that involves plucking of a string instrument

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Whispering Gallery
Usually a circular, hemispherical, elliptical or ellipsoidal enclosure, often beneath a dome or a vault, in which whispers can be heard clearly in other parts of the gallery.

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Diffraction
Process by which a beam of light or other system of waves is spread out as a result of passing through a narrow aperture or across an edge, typically accompanied by interference between the wave forms produced. This reminds me of the word Refraction.

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Anechoic Chamber 
A room designed to completely absorb reflections of either sound or electromagnetic waves.

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Pianissimo
Very soft or softly.

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Kokopelli
Fertility deity, uses a humpback flute player

Thats all for now! Have a good day! 🙂