Cymatics and the Effect

of Sound and Music

on Society

Written By Daniel Kelly

© 2007
In this Thesis I will attempt to answer questions about the relationship

between Cymatics, the study of sound wave phenomenon, the implications

of its use for alternative healing and the effect of music along with everyday

sound on us as individuals and as a society. The relationship between these

subjects may seem a bit farfetched to some people but the more I researched

the subject of Cymatics along with its healing properties it became more and

more clear that there was also a relationship between music and the patterns

found in society. A subject such as this requires much more research than

has been performed but I will try and un-blur the line as much as I can with

the research I have done along with observations I have made on the effect

of sound on society and individuals. Although Cymatics uses a pure tone

and is applied to powder or a liquid to create a distinct pattern which can be

re-created, I will attempt to draw similarities firstly from Cymatics, then to

sound therapy and alternative healing techniques and finally I will move on

to the social and individual aspect of sound and music’s effect on us as

humans.

Cymatics is the study of sound wave phenomena and was pioneered by a

Swiss medical doctor and natural scientist, Dr Hans Jenny (1904-1972). Hans

Jenny spent 14 years of his life performing experiments bringing inert

substances such as powders, pastes and liquids to life by using pure tones to

excite these substances into forms such as flowing rivers and flowers along

with structures that resemble art and architecture. All of Hans Jenny’s

experiments were direct physical representations of how sound manifests

into form through the use of different materials and a pure tone.

2
Cymatics uses a simple vibrating platform connected to a piezoelectric

sounder mounted on a plastic tube. The piezoelectric sounder is connected

to a signal generator and a tone of say 2 KHz is dialled up. On the platform

is the material that will be affected by the tone whether it be salt, sand,

water or a powder. As different materials respond differently to different

tones.

In Hans Jenny’s experiments he used a combination of sand and

lycopodium powder. The lycopodium powder moves to the centre of the

field and the sand moves out to the edges forming the lines that represent

the field lines. When two frequencies are applied to the sand mixture at

once, it begins to pulsate or beat. When a tone is applied to a layer of

standard turpentine a regular latticework form appears, and when a tone is

applied to glycerine, an insect like figure appears and moves like a worm or

sea creature through water.

When a black liquid is dripped into a transparent fluid, the vibrations now

produce circular eddy formations; there is always a pair of eddy formations,

which continue to form two by two for as long as the tone continues.

These eddy formations that are generated in the liquid are similar to the

ones formed in the cochlea of our ears whenever we hear any type of sound.

A plastic substance will always form into ball like shapes; to begin with

smaller ball shapes jiggle around slowly forming and blending with other

balls to form larger sphere shapes from the same continuous tone.

The human voice can also be used to affect matter in the same way as the

tone, a sequence of notes sung will form different shapes and a visual

interpretation of melody can be seen.

3
Music and complex waveforms will also generate form in a liquid although

it is not as uniform as a pure tone or a single note sung by a human and is

more random but still shows the effect of sound on matter.

When a tone is applied to iron filings along with a magnetic field the

attraction of the filings to the magnet are substantially reduced allowing the

iron filings to move around freely within the magnetic field and also form

structures taking the shape of ant hills, or small cone or pyramid type

objects but only because of the sound vibration applied will these forms

appear.

All materials and substances and the various states of movement behave in

characteristic ways under sound vibration. A pulp will form a round shape

and will circulate inside to out but the lycopodium will circulate in the

opposite direction.

In either substance the vibrations will cause the material to join together,

separate and pulsate all in quick succession with an outcome which looks

like multiple eruptions or explosions or could even be related to boiling

water but with magnetic properties. Higher pitch tones seem to generate

more uniform patterns with an increase in pitch forming more and more

complex patterns whereas lower tones seem to generate smooth ball like

shapes. Increase in amplitude of either high, mid or low frequencies causes

a more violent outcome with spikes and ejections of the substance from the

main body.

4
Cymatics has been used also to aid in the healing process and has been used

by the American Indians to heal the sick with sound and vibration. Also

evidence suggests use of Cymatics in Greece, Egypt, China, Mexico and

Brazil.

Cymatic therapy is the use of pure tones to stimulate the tissue and

structure of the human being, all organs and areas of the body produce a

harmonic or a sound, which is extremely small in frequency and amplitude.

Cymatics works on the principal that a specific organ will have a specific

frequency and the use of a tone to replicate the natural frequency of the

organ in question is used to manipulate the frequency that is being

generated by the sick organ back to the original. In the 1930’s a researcher

by the name of Harold Saxon Burr, suggested that diseases could be

detected in the energy field of the body before physical symptoms

appeared. Moreover, Burr was convinced that altering the body’s energy

field could prevent diseases.

These concepts were ahead of their time, but are now being confirmed in

medical research laboratories around the world. Scientists are using

S.Q.U.I.D. (Superconducting Quantum Interface Device) instruments to map

the ways disease alters the biomagnetic field around the body. In the early

1980’s, Dr. John Zimmerman began a series of studies on therapeutic touch,

using a S.Q.U.I.D. magnetometer at the University of Colorado School of

Medicine in Denver. Zimmerman discovered that a huge pulsating

biomagnetic field emanated from the hands of a TT practitioner. The

frequency of the pulsations was not steady but swept up and down from 0.3

to 30 Hz, with most activity in the range of 7-8 Hz.

5
The biomagnetic pulsations from the hands are the same frequency range as

brain waves. Confirmation of Zimmerman’s findings came in 1992, when

Seto and colleagues, in Japan studied practitioners of various martial arts.

The “Qi emission” from the hands is so strong that they can be detected

with a simple magnetometer consisting of two coils, of 80,000 turns of

copper. Since then, a number of studies of QiGong practitioners have

extended these investigations to the sound, light and thermal fields.

Early Cymatic therapy performed by Dr. Peter Guy Manners based on these

findings along with early research carried out by Hans Jenny centred

around the audible aspect of this type of therapy and treated arthritis,

muscular disease, bone disease, joint deformity and so on. It was kept into

these specific fields so as to compile information and case history to validate

experiments. In 2001 diabetic patients who frequently experienced a critical

lack of blood supply to their feet due to diabetic neuropathy had tone

generators under the soles of their feet during treatment. The tone would

start at a pre-determined pitch and slowly ramp up to another

pre-determined pitch and then return to begin a repeating sequence. The

blood was able to be drawn into the feet and minimize the damage caused

by neuropathy.

The mere thought of the use of sonic vibrations to enable healing in humans

and possibly animals must seem a bit far fetched for some people to

comprehend. Not only does it go against all the techniques medical

practitioners are taught to practice to become “in tune” with the human

body and its ailments, but it also opens the door for anyone with a desire,

6
need or curiosity to use another form of treatment aside from the

traditional.

The use of sound is at the forefront of our civilization, not only in the form

of the spoken word as communication, but also as music in the form of

communication. As I have mentioned above, the original studies conducted

by Hans Jenny used sound to manipulate matter into shapes and patterns

and into almost living structures, therefore, does music also have the power

to shape?

If a simple pure tone can give rise to complex patterns to violent eruptions

to swirling, swarming, dancing amoeba like shapes then the use of complex

waveforms found in music may be seen to both:

1. Shape our society, and

2. Allow society to shape the music we make and wish to hear.

The general assumption is that music is a product of the society and a

reflection of its culture. This may be so in many cases, but there are also

people who strongly believe that music shapes our personalities and our

culture. Music dates back to the beginnings of civilization and most

probably beyond and has been a form of communication of feelings and

ideas for centuries before our time, but is it fair to say that music

manipulates us and our thoughts or do we simply make the music that

resonates with other like minds giving the pied piper illusion?

All genres of music can be traced back to earlier forms of music, that is to

say, that all styles of music today came from somewhere. It could be said

that there is no new music - only adaptations of other forms and genres

7
manipulated by the writer to form a composite of genres that influenced the

writer at the time.

If there were truly a new genre then it would probably be disregarded and

not accepted by the wider public as it would be seen as too far ahead of its

time. People are conditioned to like certain things by a certain age - mostly

things that we have come into contact with before. This brings up the issue

of form in the human psyche.

If we are predisposed to like certain things that fall into the categories or the

boundaries we set for ourselves, or are set for us, then music must be the

manipulated form. In Cymatics, form is manipulated by a pure tone into

definite patterns or behaviors specific to the tone, which is applied.

The tables turn when form is already determined by a living entity such as a

human being. A heart has a beat due to the physical requirements for life

therefore the basis for music is already in place. Where the line is blurred as

to the argument, does music manipulate society or does society manipulate

music, is at the point where music resonates with the conditioned mind of

the listener. If the listener is already predisposed to a certain type of thought

process then to the untrained eye the music can be seen to have an adverse

or positive effect on the listener.

The term “sympathetic resonance” comes to mind. If a tuning fork in motion

will induce a frequency into another tuning fork not in motion, if they’re

both in the same key. Then a psyche with form already in place will

automatically begin to resonate with the music that is being produced and

the listener will relate to the thought process that went into producing the

8
music and therefore will have an effect similar to the tuning forks. In this

case the two forks are already in motion -one being the piece of music and

the other being the mind of the listener, in which case the listener will seek

out the music that resonates with their psyche at that moment. The mind

manipulates the form and the form resonates with the mind. This is why I

think we sometimes like to hear music that reflects our thought process at

the time. Sometimes we come across music that seems so new and so fresh

that we think that it is a new form or new genre, which can be explained by

the mind taking on a new form itself. As we grow and discover new things

about the world and ourselves our mind and thought patterns change only

slightly but accordingly.

Have you ever heard something that seems to exactly duplicate the way

you’re thinking at the time, and then find out that this band or group have

been around for years? The music seems to have such an impact on you at

the time that you see it as a new style but in an old genre. Does this mean

that if you were to hear this piece a few months ago or even a few months

later, would it still have the same impact on your mind as it did when you

originally heard it? Did this album or song come to you as a result of the

your new thought process or was it your new way of thought which may

have seemed minor or insignificant at the time which bought the music to

you to drive home this new thought process or period in life. Music can

resonate with the human psyche and we can relate to the message being put

forward by the music, but if this is the case then it would be unfair to

suggest that music cannot shape a society.

9
If enough people are feeling the same way about an issue then the right

piece of music at the right time may be all that’s needed to give society that

push to unify their feelings into action over a pressing issue.

Regardless of the like or dislike of the genre the message is being delivered

it’s the message that is of importance. Just like good music is good music no

matter if you’re into that specific genre, you cannot deny good music if it

truly is. The same goes for a way of thought, if the message is one that many

people believe consciously or sub-consciously it will have an effect on

everyone no matter who said it, who sang it or what style of music it was

delivered in.

Just as a pure tone applied to different materials causes distinct patterns to

emerge does this also apply to patterns emerging in society not just from

music but also from any sound that is prevalent in everyday life, for

instance? Would a factory worker think differently about a subject or their

life or anything they thought about from day to day if they were to hear a

bird chirping instead of a steel press grinding away, or would an office

worker have different ideas about the world if they were to be listening to

children playing instead of the monotonous background noise of a busy

office? Would they be more productive at work if these sounds could be

used to mask the other sounds of the original environment?

Not to say that all factory workers and office workers are unproductive or

dissatisfied with their jobs nor am I saying that these people would want to

listen to birds chirping or kids playing but it makes sense to be listening to

something that you can relate to on a physical and spiritual level and not the

hum-drum mundane backwash of noise that bombards us everyday of

10
which most of us accept as a normal environment.

Some people are so focused and driven by the world we live in today that

the sound of a child’s laugh or a bird’s chirp would seem to be the most

annoying sound they could imagine while they were trying to work. We

know that a baby is most at ease when they can hear the mothers’ heart beat,

as it is the babies’ closest recognition to the warm safe womb. A toddler can

be calmed down by the sound of its mother’s voice and often parents will

buy specially made audio CDs that are designed to help calm babies and

children in preparation for bed. So given that we are all pre-conditioned to

some sound before we are born so it would make sense that we would

naturally seek out pleasing sounds to be at our most productive or relaxed.

Every sound has its own signature or fingerprint and no two sounds are

alike, except for pure tones, and most sounds can be grouped into

categories. So given this are there patterns emerging in society from the

everyday sounds we hear on a voluntary or in-voluntary basis. Are these

patterns uniform and predictable or are they violent and un-predictable?

It’s obvious to me that the same physical laws that affect the entire human

race are the same as the physical laws that make up all music and all

thought. Just the same as the lycopodium powder in Hans Jenny’s

experiments are affected by the pure tones applied to them, thought patterns

from an existing form i.e. our brains are able to affect sound and in turn,

affect and resonate with the form and patterns already found in society.

No matter what material has a sound applied to it, it is always affected in

one way or another with specific pattern outcomes which can be recreated

time and time again with absolutely no change in the results, provided the

11
characteristics of the experiment are the same.

Although there have not been many experiments looking into how the brain

processes music aside from the use of the electroencephalogram (EEG),

which has shown that both the right and left hemispheres of the brain are

responsive to music, there is much left to be discovered about this field of

science. People are always looking for new ways of thought and new ideas

in which we humans operate and function within ourselves and within our

societies. I believe the time has come for us to put conventional teachings

and ways of thought on the back burner for the sake of finding better ways

of dealing with disease, injuries, medical anomalies and psychological

conditions. For so long the norm has been to accept what these professions

have been telling us sometimes without question. I don’t think that these

things I have mentioned can be always fixed by a pill and often they’re not. I

also believe the drug companies like to make us think that they have a fix for

almost anything and conventional medicine is drawn into this way of

thought as most drug companies have a finger in the teaching pie when it

comes to university. After all they need to sustain their incomes somehow

and what better way than to be advising medical students and the public on

the best drug for a certain condition.

12
More and more people seem to be looking for alternative treatments for all

kinds of things not necessarily because conventional medicine isn’t

performing but because people are beginning to understand that

conventional medicine is just that “conventional” and its not the only way

results can be achieved.

I hope that in the future it will be possible to steer away from the norm and

into a new way of dealing with these sometimes life threatening situations

where everyone could potentially diagnose and heal in their own homes

then there would be no need to use drugs as a first option. I would hope that

in the future there are more studies done by independent, non-biased

researchers into the effect of music and sound on the human body. It seems

to me that the surface has only been scratched and what was found had

been stopped, covered up or disregarded by the very companies that it

would bring down and be announced as a pipe dream, but had the potential

to become a major part of all our lives. Ultimately this could spell the end of

our reliance on drug companies. Maybe the answer is closer to us than we

are currently able to believe or willing to accept, even as a possibility.

13
References:

1: Application of Cymatic Therapy Pt 1-4

Dr. Peter Guy Manners

Retrieved November 14, 2006, from

http://video.google.com

2: The Structure and Dynamics of Waves and Vibrations

Peter Pettersson

Retrieved November 14, 2006, from

http://word-mysteries.com

3: Science Measures the Human Energy Field

Retrieved November 14, 2006, from

http://reiki.org

4: The Sound of Silence Pt 2

Thomas Vaczy Hightower

Retrieved November 14, 2006, from

http://home22.inet.tele.dk/hightower/octave3.htm

5: Top Ten Technologies

Mike Adams

Retrieved November 14, 2006, from

http://newstarget.com

14
6: Picture on front page taken from

http://lucidquest.com

7: My brain.

15