I've posted a video at the top of the forum of an experiment I am presently engaged in... like I need another distraction this close to DECFEST  ;)



Above is a still shot I took during one of the experiments I'm doing with photographing sound inside a single drop of water. The frequency was 528Hz and the amplifier was a Zen Triode.  As experimenting ramps up this winter, I'll be using a TORII Jr because I need more power to get high frequencies.  

While as you might expect, different frequencies will create different geometric patterns, but I am first focusing solely on one frequency and changing only the size of the water droplet and the amplitude of the signal to see what the range of patterns are.

The drop of water is placed inside a bowl sized to hold exactly one drop so that when the drop is placed inside the bowl it can become either a sphere or a hemisphere depending on how much water I use.

Anyway, I though this little teaser might be of interest to some of you. I plan to take this same 3 minute video and create a second video where explain what's happening and point out the similarities between what you see here, and what actually happens in your room, as the two are hauntingly similar.

What you see in the water is almost exactly what happens within the boundaries that create your listening space. You can watch the boundaries of the visible pattern become pressurized when the volume is increased and in turn cause new patterns to emerge as a way of dealing with the pressure.

I believe every frequency played in a listening room creates an instantaneous spherical geometric pattern that the fills the room almost exactly the way you see it work inside the water droplet.

Anyway, for those who might find it fun not to wait for the full explanation, there is perhaps an hour of knowledge about acoustics in this 3 minute experiment, especially if you begin to study and compare frames.

I have already found out that these experiments will have another benefit in that they allow me to see harmonic distortion levels of the amplifier, particular tubes, and the source with far more information than I get from my distortion analyzer and scope.

The image here was 0.7% THD  The pattern becomes unrecognizable at around 20%.

Steve

And this one is just fun to watch.  :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uENITui5_jU

Fascinating subject, Steve. Points out the complexity of what we are hearing - also the complexity of good design of components and room treatments. Keep us informed w/your future experiments, esp. incorporating this knowledge into design of room treatments.

Fantastic thinking, Steve! I'm 100% with you on this!

Also, is there a way I can share the video on Facebook?

I've always been with the mind that ultra high frequency is *felt*, and we can and do "hear" beyond the 20Hz to 20kHz.

I think part of why I still hear so well, and pick out things others miss, is that I'm more in tune with these ultra high sounds. It effects how I sense space in life, as well as in recordings. I think most people are tuned out on it, like when you live near train tracks but no longer hear the train.

I`m so glad Steve designed and built my amps. My mind cant articulate the complexities of sound through speech, just a jumble of theories which are only maybes because I dont have the proofs or time required and tools at hand to get the truer explanations. Steve post is Zen-like and that angle is, when you think about it, quite cosmic. Wheels within wheels and the patterns of vibrations.
I wonder if our ears take energy from the waves and therefore help the decay process, like a vibration control draining unwanted vibrations away. Do sound waves seek out ears like a magnet.
Thats what happen when I trip out to these deeper meanings. More question than answers.  

Hey Steve,

The more I think about this, the cooler it seems to me. I'm thinking that the only real-world way to design room treatments using this knowledge is to have a disc that sends out different tones that is picked up by a microphone (or a series of microphones) in someone's listening room. Those tones would be recorded, and then decoded by a wizard (such as yourself) to design types and placement of different room treatments. (I know that there are programs existing like Audessey that help set eq levels for the components, but I am thinking specifically about designing room treatments for optimal sound in a given room).  Am I thinking along the right lines? And when can we expect the disc/software? C'mon, Steve, what's the holdup?

Diamonds in that picture Steve!  Wonderful!

Cor

I'm wondering if this phenomenon would change with the viscosity of the liquid?
Would a light oil propagate the waves different? Boundary layer stuff,hysteresis etc...
I've hit my head on the ground way too many times since I was in school!

Quote:


I would assume that viscosity, density and other properties of the liquid would have to relate to the frequency used if the goal is to understand sound in air.  The usual stuff one adjusts for when doing scale modeling.  I'm guessing that frequences used would be shifted down -- or is it up?  What did Captain Kirk have Uhura do in Star Trek the Journey Home?  

re: machine oil - you probably had surface tension working against you.

Another thought is that the surface tension is causing a resonant response depending on the "stiffness" of the surface tension which acts like a spring.  Too much damping in the oil?

http://www.surface-tension.de/

Oooh, this one is even better - has viscosity as well.

https://www.accudynetest.com/visc_table.html

I had a feeling that oil would damp itself out. Long chain molecules have a natural damping effect.
Now I would like to see what happens with some detergent in the water to lower the surface tension.
I like thinking about stuff like this, it makes my brain tingle.  

I forgot to mention that I also tried 100% pure turpentine and it also did nothing.

And here is the next pattern to appear at a slightly higher amplitude:

and this with no change in amplitude... just two different images since the pattern is somewhat animated:



You can see here the pattern tightens up from increasing amplitude as show above, just before it pops to another pattern.

Then with an even larger increase in amplitude you get the fuzzy flower, also possible with water. Since it is impossible to focus because it IS in focus (that's a zen thing) I usually don't post these, however in this case it's good to see what it's breaking point looks like and the interesting surprise that formed in the outer groove!



Look at the complexity of that outer groove... you could levitate a grain of sand in each one of those amber stones...  and of course let say you wanted to levitate a grain of sand in the center of just one stone or many... all you would have to do is push it and it would pop into the next node meaning you could move the grain of sand all the way around the ring.  Sorry I got distracted.

In fact if you look closely you can see the orifice between each node where the grain could pass through to the next node with zero resistance...  damn, still sorry.

For PART II of this test, images will not work. You must see the actual video.  Prepare to have your mind blown.



I'll save that for tomorrow night.

Steve  ;)

You want your push-pull sales to go through the roof? Show us how to build some room treatments so we can crank it!

Corey

So... now you know what happens on the surface before the first flower forms at 52Hz.  BTW, all of these tests are being done with a Zen UFO 2 watt amp bridged to achieve 6 watts in an effort to energize the droplet.  A true analog waveform generator is used to feed the frequency into the amplifier.

That's pretty amazing to watch...it's flowing like a fluid pump, then harmonizes with itself. Beautiful.

Steve,

What a fantastic experiment and venture! So fkn cool. You've totally piqued my interest. I feel like i'm seeing an unbelievable visual of fusion in action. I wonder how the results would change depending on the amount  of NaCl in the solution? Get those two nuclei to meld and somehow control the energy and not only have you expanded the principles of sound but also managed to figure out some of the most ambiguous principles of fusion.

Well done

JD

If you think the universe is trying to tell us something with that video... wait until you see what happened this week... when instead of injecting a pure tone into the water droplet, I injected a sacred harmonic from a 19th century bowl from Nepal...



Here is the video:  https://decware.wistia.com/medias/x281q8zzsf

Steve

I watched it three times. It does look like it makes faces.