Within genres of music a visual style is prevalent throughout. For example Black Metal often is characterized by hand rendered lettering that is often quite organic yet jagged. Imagery is often dark and often set in nature. The natural world holds a close bond to Black Metal. Other genres such as hardcore also show similarities in visual language. Varsity lettering is used throughout while imagery is often communal and interactive in terms of crowd participation while still be aggressive. These trends continue throughout other music styles but these are two brief examples of what I am getting at. I believe there is a defined visual language that is based on sonic perception of sound, which therefore effects the creation of visuals for music.
An essay by the University of California explaining how the test works, there is also a video displayed that walks you through the steps of the test and how to create the patterns at certain frequencies.
When an object vibrates at one of its natural frequencies (a rate of vibration at which it naturally tends to move), standing wave patterns are formed within the object. These patterns are the result of wave interference, which occurs at the meeting of two waves traveling within the same medium in different directions. The resulting disturbance within the material at the point where the waves meet is the net effect of the two waves. At certain points in the material, the waves cancel each other out through destructive interference and there is no net disturbance. These points are called nodes, or nodal points. Around the nodes, the waves constructively interfere; the points with the greatest disturbance are called antinodes, or anti-nodal points.
For example, imagine a rope attached at one end to a fixed point. If you hold the free end of the rope and move it up and down, you create waves. You can force the rope to vibrate at different frequencies by changing the rate at which you shake it. At certain frequencies (the natural frequencies), rather than seeing waves that propagate along the rope, you would see parts of the rope stand still. This happens because your movement introduces waves that travel down the rope, but there are also reflected waves that travel in the other direction up the rope that create interference. The points where the rope is standing still are the nodes; around the nodes, the rope fluctuates up and down.
It is only when an object vibrates at a natural (also known as harmonic) frequency that resonance, which creates large amplitudes of vibration with minimal energy input, and standing wave patterns can be achieved. At other frequencies, the interference does not produce a regular pattern. Standing wave patterns can be seen in the figures formed on Chladni plates, named after Ernst Chladni, a German physicist who studied sound. He observed that sand sprinkled on a plate that is forced to vibrate at its harmonic frequencies displays clear patterns. As the plate vibrates, the sand bounces around until it reaches a place that is not moving—along the nodal points. However, when the plate vibrates at other frequencies that do not produce standing wave patterns, the sand continues to tumble about and does not fall into distinguishable figures.
There is a direct relationship between sound waves and visual patterns. Ernst Chladni discovered nodal patterns that are created through different sound frequencies. He found this through what is now called the ‘Chladni test;’ which is performed by placing a speaker on it’s back, then attaching a metal plate to the face of the speaker. Other materials have also begun to be used to determine resonance frequencies within instruments like violins. The user then pours salt or sand onto the plate while different tones are played through the speaker. As the pitch is adjusted different visual patterns appear. The higher the pitch, the more intricate the patterns become.
If sound waves then can create such precise visual patterns, is it possible that sound and visual understanding would therefore go hand in hand? Visuals for music would not simply be created on a subjective level but rather a subconsciously predetermined level.
Think about your favorite musical genre and the visuals that accompany the albums. Psychedelic rock of the 1960’s has a distinct visual style, as does Norwegian Black Metal of the mid 1980’s and early 90’s. Why is it that we associate certain visual elements with particular music styles? Could it possibly be that the sound waves from a particular guitar tone or the frequency of a microphone, is what informs our visual preference.
People often associate themselves with music style and design goes along with that. Fashion trends, automobiles and their accessories, as well as record sleeve artwork are all influenced by the smallest changes in sounds. Heavy metal has spawned hundreds of off-shoot subgenres that are separated by only the slightest variations. For example, there is an enormous change in both attitude as well as visuals accompaniment in black metal, death metal, grind core, and hardcore but to the uninitiated they may all sound very similar. Take the typefaces used for band names in these genres. The abstract hand rendered titles of black metal bands is hugely different from the rigid varsity styled letterforms used in hardcore. Sound seems to influenced these visual variations within the genres. The same ideas exist in Jazz and many other musical styles as well. The visual accompaniment of a jazz album by someone like Diana Krall is vastly different from artists such as John Zorn or Ornette Coleman.
Through sound we generate feelings and emotions. Music can change your day and your outlook on a particular situation. Sound can also make you move in certain ways through dance, so it is too much to believe that sound could directly influence visuals such as design? I propose that there is a direct correlation between sound waves and visual language. Album covers, music videos, and even live performances are all influenced by sound. This is not simply a subjective undertaking but rather a predetermined course guided by sound frequencies and the visual patterns.
Visual Examples of the Chladni test.
Potential Sources
Adorno, Theodor W. and Thomas Y. Levin. “The Form of the Phonograph Record.” October Vol. 55, (Winter, 1990): 56-61.
Archbold, E. and A. E. Ennos. “Observation of Surface Vibration Modes by Stroboscopic Hologram Interferometry.” Nature Vol. 217 (1968): 942-943.
Beyer, Robert Thomas. Sounds of our Times: Two Hundred Years of Acoustics. New York, NY: Springer, 1999. 27-51.
Comer, J. R., M. J. Shepard, P. N. Henriksen, and R. D. Ramsier. “Chladni Plates Revisited.” American Journal of Physics Vol. 72, Issue 10 (Oct., 2004): 1345-1346.
Cook, Perry R. Music, Cognition, and Computerized Sound: An Introduction to Psychoacoustics. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2001.
Gau, Ching-Fu. Holographic Visualization of Nodal Patterns of Vibrating Membranes. Buffalo, NY: State University of New York at Buffalo, 1980.
Jones, Steve and Martin Sorger. “Covering Music: A Brief History and Analysis of Album Cover Design.” Journal of Popular Music Studies Vol. 11-12 Issue 1 (Aug., 2006): 68-102.
Klanten, Robert and Hendrik Hellige. Supersonic: Visuals for Music. Berlin, Germany: Die Gestalten Verlag, 2007.
Loewy. Print + Production Finishes for CD + DVD Packaging. East Sussex, England: RotoVision, 2009.
Miles, Barry, Grant Scott and Johnny Morgan. The Greatest Album Covers of All Time. New York, NY: Collins & Brown, 2005
Pickover, Clifford A. The Zen of Magic Squares, Circles, and Stars: An Exhibition of Surprising Structures Across Dimensions. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2003. 207-212.
Rayleigh, Baron John William Strutt and Robert Bruce Lindsay. The Theory of Sound, Volume 1. New York, NY: Courier Dover Publications, 1945.
Richardson, Edward Gick. Sound: A Physical Text-Book. Berkeley, CA: The University of California, 1935.
Sherwood, Lauralee. Human Physiology: From Cells to Systems. Florence, KY: Cengage Learning, 2008.
Smilansky, U., Hans-Jürgen Stöckmann and Ernst Florens Friedrich Chladni. “Nodal Patterns in Physics and Mathematics: From Chladni's Seminal Work to Modern Applications--A Historic-Scientific Perspective.” The European Physical Journal Vol. 145 (July 2006): 24-28.
Stauffer, Robert C. “Speculation and Experiment in the Background of Oersted's Discovery of Electromagnetism.” Isis Vol. 48, No. 1 (Mar., 1957): 33-50.
Stoltze, Clifford. 1,000 Music Graphics: A Compilation of Packaging, Posters, and Other Sound Solutions. Beverly, MA: Rockport Publishers, 2008.
Thompson, William Forde, Phil Graham and Frank A. Russo. “Seeing Music Performance: Visual Influences on Perception and Experience.” Semiotica Vol. 2005, Issue 156 (Aug., 2005): 203–227.
Weis, Elisabeth and John Belton. Film Sound: Theory and Practice. Irvington, NY: Columbia University Press, 1985.
Whitney, John. Digital Harmony: On the Complementarity of Music and Visual Art. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1981.
Other genres such as hardcore also show similarities in visual language. Varsity lettering is used throughout while imagery is often communal and interactive in terms of crowd participation while still be aggressive.
These trends continue throughout other music styles but these are two brief examples of what I am getting at. I believe there is a defined visual language that is based on sonic perception of sound, which therefore effects the creation of visuals for music.
