Lissajou Figures | Laser Visualization of Intervals | Tempered Tuning | Rhodes Piano

With this series of videos we want to share with you one of the most interesting insights: the visualization of intervals. Geometry, mathematics and music are expressions of the same sensation: the rational perception of the human mind. It's the human apprehension of consonance and dissonance that let us separate "sound" from "noise" - the foundation of all music.
Since the days of Pythagoras there have been made countless efforts to understand, rationalize and visualize harmonies. Jules Antoine Lissajous was the first who used an optical method to make harmonies visible ("Lissajous figures"). Our video is in that same "harmonographic" tradition.
To make the harmonic pattern visible, we used a laser beam, reflected by a mirror glued to a rubber membrane that was attached in front of a loudspeaker which reproduced the direct signal from our electric Rhodes Mark II 88 Piano. Steve Mould explains in his video, how this works: • Laser + mirror + sound A big thanks for this inspiration!
"Music is a hidden arithmetic exercise of the soul, which does not know that it is counting."
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
#perception #intervals #Lissajou
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[@LydellAaron]

Absolutely beautiful. I'm looking at Lissajous figures to represent quantum states for quantum computing, so you demonstrating yourself progressing the scales for one full chromatic octave like this with two audio frequencies and real time output was very insightful.

[@WorldPianoBar]

Hi Lydell, thanks a lot for your comment. That's really a fascinating topic! I am so glad you found our video - I always thought that there is way more to lissajou figures than I could possibly grasp as an ordinary musician with only rudimentary knowledge of math and physics. 😀 From my understanding I would say that the figures show the "simultaneity of non-simultaneity": a rational row of numbers in relation to an irrational row, right? Surely the "rational" figures of a just intonation would be also interesting to see!
It would be interesting to know if there might be a way to produce three-dimensional holographic lissajou figures with a more sophisticated setup...
Best regards, Claudio

[@thomapple]

Could you use this method to help tuning a piano visually instead of by ear? What does a slightly out of tune octave look like?

[@WorldPianoBar]

Hi! Thanks a lot for your comment. No, I think this setup won't be of any use for tuning a piano. You always need to adjust the rubber membrane to a certain key on the piano in order to visualize the intervals. We tried a lot to achieve a perfect circle when hitting the middle C. Whe you go up or down the scale, the image is getting more and more distorted. Best regards, Claudio & Christian