Music Visualization without Computer

This, my first instructable, will show you how get addicting audio visualizations using ordinary tap water.
Caution: when completed, this can be highly addicting.
Caution: this could potentially harm your speakers. It has not harmed mine for any long period of time, but it could happen.
Have fun!

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Step 1: Remove the speaker cover.

If your speaker is already naked, great. If not, you will have to remove the cover. Some speakers have a cover that just needs to be pulled, some you have to unscrew the whole housing to remove whatever's in front of it.

HelenaTroy says: Feb 18, 2013. 8:08 AM

I saw something similar to this demonstrated on QI some time ago - did a serach and found a page that explains the physics and shows results of some attempts - they used cornflour and water, though
http://www.flitemedia.com/physics/cornflour.php

nametaken says: May 26, 2011. 12:39 PM

Clever design :) Do you think sand would work just as well?

nikolardo (author) in reply to nametakenMay 26, 2011. 3:33 PM

I'm inclined to think not - I know I've seen things on youtube with sand resonating, but they're generally surface patterns on something flat. I certainly don't know, and you should definitely try it, but I suspect that sand isn't fluid enough to move quickly enough to show these effects - my guess is that it would just muffle the sound.

cesar harada in reply to nikolardoAug 1, 2012. 1:44 AM

yeah, you're right, salt / sand will just gets ejected if you are not dealing with a simple wave : it will just jump all over the place and no clear figure will form - from my experience.
But if you are into that kind of thing, some minimal electronic music would work very nicely.

Maybe I'll try this kind of track:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3J4d4RbeWc&feature=related

On this setup :
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-Chladi-plate-vibrating-membrane/

Also curious to see these "magical frequencies" in action :
http://youtu.be/fc4_xaWsQC4

kallen8 says: Jul 28, 2011. 7:36 PM

Does it change the sound at all?

nikolardo (author) in reply to kallen8Jul 29, 2011. 2:58 AM

Yes - it's significantly muffled. The water dampens the speakers vibrations. However, it's certainly still audible.

Logan D says: Jul 10, 2009. 9:08 PM

Try this with non-newtonian fluid like cornstarch in water. However, you might need a more powerful speaker to get some crazy results.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zoTKXXNQIU&feature=related

nikolardo (author) in reply to Logan DAug 12, 2010. 1:21 PM

After a long time, I did eventually do this with cornstarch in water. However, I found that it would not respond to music at all, only a sine wave - not even both at the same time. However, by varying the period of the sine wave, I was able to create some very, very creepy things. For added creepiness, add a drop or two of food colouring AFTER starting it up - it'll crawl and swirl its way around for a long, long time.

Laral says: Jul 18, 2009. 9:49 AM

Nice Chladni figures! Try shining a small spotlight on the water and watch the light show on the wall/ceiling.

ChpperKahn says: Jul 16, 2009. 9:35 PM

ack! i used to get the worst kind of heeby geebies from this... it freaks me out when i look at it. happened first in my moms foot massager, the one where its a tub of water with vibrating pads and such. am i the only one?

zabdiel says: Jul 13, 2009. 2:00 AM

You can buy waterproof speakers or weatherproof speakers. If you just want the speaker without an enclosure (which would probably work for this) then you can get on for a couple of pounds.

Sandisk1duo says: Jul 11, 2009. 11:50 PM

it looks as if it's alive!

Wolf Seril says: Jul 10, 2009. 7:49 PM

That's sweet. And it doesn't affect the sound?

nikolardo (author) in reply to Wolf SerilJul 11, 2009. 5:47 AM

Actually, it does affect the sound. If you don't use much water it's not too noticeable, just a little muffled, but the more water you add, the more muffled it is, because all the energy is being transferred to the water instead of the air. HOWEVER this is really cool, because if you put your finger(s) in the water, it feels AWESOME. It's like touching a speaker and feeling the sound, only instead of having it vibrate away from you like a speaker, it vibrates all around you. But yes, when I do this I usually have one speaker with no water so I can hear the music well.

Wolf Seril in reply to nikolardoJul 11, 2009. 9:05 PM

Oh that makes more sense then.