Chladni-like art from the 19th Century

  • Context: Art 
  • Thread starter Thread starter Swamp Thing
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Art
Click For Summary
SUMMARY

Margaret Watts Hughes, a Welsh singer, invented the Eidophone in the 1880s, a device that combines auditory and optical phenomena to visualize sound. This device, similar to Bell's Photophone, features a mouthpiece connected to a diaphragm, allowing her to measure her vocal power by observing the movement of powders sprinkled on its surface. Hughes innovatively added a time dimension to her experiments, creating a visual record of vibrations by moving a vibrating disc over a wet plate. Her work exemplifies the intersection of art and science in the exploration of sound visualization.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of acoustic phenomena and sound waves
  • Familiarity with basic principles of optics
  • Knowledge of historical inventions related to sound visualization
  • Awareness of the relationship between sound and physical mediums
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the principles of Chladni patterns and their applications
  • Explore the history and functionality of Bell's Photophone
  • Investigate modern sound visualization techniques and tools
  • Learn about the scientific contributions of Margaret Watts Hughes
USEFUL FOR

This discussion is beneficial for historians of science, acoustics researchers, artists interested in sound visualization, and educators exploring the intersection of art and science.

Swamp Thing
Insights Author
Messages
1,047
Reaction score
784
Welsh singer Margaret Watts Hughes, in the 1880s, invented something like a Chladni pattern generator driven by the human voice.

https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/picturing-a-voice-margaret-watts-hughes-and-the-eidophone/

The Welsh popular singer and philanthropist Margaret (Megan) Watts Hughes (invented) a device almost identical in most respects to the transmitter of Bell's Photophone — one which similarly combined the auditory with optical phenomena. Her "Eidophone", which she had conceived of and produced in order to measure the power of her voice, consisted of a mouthpiece leading to a receiving chamber, over which was stretched a rubber membrane, or diaphragm. Her experiments with this device involved sprinkling a variety of powders onto its surface, then singing into it to see how far these powders would leap. This activity would soon take an unexpected turn...
1701867459575.png
She also managed to add a sort of time dimension to the acoustic figures:

The plate and disc [i.e. diaphragm] being both coated as before, the plate is laid upon the table, the wet colour side uppermost. The disc is now reversed, set vibrating, and, while vibrating is moved along the surface of the wet plate. As it glides over the moist surface, while a steady note is sustained, it leaves behind it a register of every vibration, recorded with the strictest accuracy.

1701867871862.png
1701868061706.png
 
Reply
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: berkeman