Colour tones

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  • Wolfgang Saus

    There in fact are mechanical connections between light and sound. In photo acoustic spectroscopy you use sputtered light to induce thermal effects that can be measured as sound. Also if you go into the vibration of molecules the movements relate to microwave spectrum. And by inducing cavities in liquids by application of standing ultra sound waves you can induce light emission. But I don't think any of this is meant by the octave principle.

  • Wolfgang Saus

    Percieving wavelenght as a sensation is an interesting field too. We are used to frequency perception. The frequency doesn't change if we change the fluid from air to water. I learned to feel the wavelength in air. It's a completely different sensation than hearing. I feels more like a mechanical vibration which I cannot realy describe.

  • Skye Løfvander

    I don't think sonoluminiscence is very relevant in this discussion but of course I recognize its existence.

    Talking about peceiving wavelength or frequencies actually the concept of frequency in music did not crystalize before 1636 where Marin Mersenne measured a tone of 84 Hz. Before that time it would be much more obvious to relate to music as space ... (wave-) lengths.

    We all agree that it is the frequency which is preserved when sounds are played in the water, causing the wavelength to rise.
    The point is that no matter whether we listen through air or through water the relation of f x λ = v is indispensable.
    f x λ = 1,481 m/s in water at 20 degrees C
    f x λ = 343 m/s in atmospheric air at 20 degrees C.

    So as the frequency remains, the wavelength rises 4.32 times if you drop your sound emitter in water.

    The important point is, that the identity of the tone is composed by both time (frequency) and space (wavelength). It is rather dubious to claim that anything meaningful is obtained by looking solely at the frequency aspect.

    I am all in for sensing wavelengths! Also in water!