White
0 dB / octave
Equal energy at every frequency. Because we hear in octaves, it sounds bright and hissy — the classic "TV static".
Cymatics: sound you can see.
Sprinkle sand on a metal plate, play a tone, and the sand gathers into a figure. Every frequency draws its own: play them, sweep through them, or set your own.
Now playing
Deep sleep
Play a tone, watch the sand
Tap a frequency to play it and watch the sand settle; tap again to pause. The plate here is a simulation of an ideal square plate, so the figures are its own, though they follow the same rule as a real one.
How cymatics works
A plate driven at one of its natural frequencies does not move all over. It splits into patches that move in opposite directions, separated by lines that hardly move at all: the nodal lines. Sand on the moving patches is thrown about until it lands somewhere still, so it collects on those lines and draws them.
Higher frequencies split the plate into smaller patches, so the figures get finer. Between the plate’s own frequencies it barely vibrates and the sand stays where it is. The shape, the material and where the plate is held all change the figures, which is why every plate has its own set.
Good to know
- Ernst Chladni published the figures in 1787, bowing metal plates sprinkled with sand. Napoleon saw a demonstration and funded a prize to explain them; Sophie Germain won it in 1816.
- The word cymatics came much later, from Hans Jenny in the 1960s, who filmed sand, liquids and pastes on vibrating plates.
- Violin makers still use the figures: sprinkle the top plate, play a tone, and the lines show how it vibrates before the instrument is closed.
- Very fine powder does the opposite of sand: in 1831 Michael Faraday showed that air currents carry it to where the plate moves most.
| Frequency | Mode | What the sand shows |
|---|---|---|
| 125 Hz | (1, 2) | The simplest figure |
| 250 Hz | (1, 3) | Two crossing lines |
| 325 Hz | (2, 3) | Rings and curves |
| 500 Hz | (2, 4) | A grid of cells |
| 1025 Hz | (4, 5) | A lattice of curves |
| 1525 Hz | (5, 6) | Fine lace |
What is cymatics?
Making vibration visible: sand, salt, water or paste on a vibrating surface forms patterns that show where it moves and where it stays still.
Why does the sand form lines?
The plate vibrates in patches that move in opposite directions. Between them are lines that stay still; sand thrown off the moving parts settles there.
Is this a video of a real plate?
No. It is a live simulation of an ideal square plate: the frequency you hear picks the vibration pattern, and the sand moves by the same rule as on a real plate.
Mixes
Pick what you need. One tap to start, change anything and save it as your own.
Focus timer
Work in waves.
The Pomodoro rhythm: focus with calm sound in your ears, then take a real break. A soft bell marks every change, so you never watch the clock. Every fourth break is a long one.
Every fourth break is twice as long.
25:00Focus · 1 of 4
Sound while you work
Breathe
Slow your breathing down.
Follow the circle and the sound: it rises as you breathe in and falls as you breathe out. Choose a rhythm, or set your own, and pick what plays underneath.
Ready
Sound while you breathe
Noise generator
Any color of noise, from deep brown to bright violet — and everything in between.
Brown noise
Spectrum · 20 Hz – 20 kHz
Sound science
The colors of noise
Same randomness, different tilt. Each color shifts energy between low and high pitches — here is what that sounds like.
Pink
−3 dB / octave
Equal energy in every octave, so it sounds even to the ear. Steady rain, rustling leaves. A favorite for focus.
Brown
−6 dB / octave
Deep and warm, like a distant waterfall or a plane cabin. Masks voices and traffic without any hiss.
Grey
Equal-loudness curve
Shaped around how our hearing works, so every pitch seems equally loud. Balanced and soft.
Blue
+3 dB / octave
The mirror of pink: more treble than bass. Airy, crisp, like a light spray.
Violet
+6 dB / octave
Mostly treble, like hissing water. Sometimes used to mask high-pitched ringing.
Calm
Gentle tones to settle into: singing bowls, a slow warm drone, wind chimes tuned so every note fits.
Frequencies
Famous tones on pages of their own: hear them side by side, with honest facts.
Sound phenomena
How sound bends, shifts, rings and fools the ear, and why space is silent: hear it for yourself.
Nature
Rooms & travel
Animals & countryside
A purring cat, whales and dolphins, a nightingale in the dark, cowbells on a summer pasture. Wonderful in stereo.
For babies
Womb sounds are what a baby heard for nine months: a deep rush of blood flow, and the heartbeat.
Hearing and speaker tests
Check your ears, headphones and speakers, each test on a page of its own with a live picture.
Ear Age · 60 seconds
Test your ears.
Our ears lose the highest pitches first, and it starts early. Find the highest tone you can still hear and see the typical age for it.
- Headphones on, quiet room
- Set a comfortable volume on the 1 kHz tone
- Don't turn it up when a tone disappears — that's the point
Step 1 · Volume
Play the reference tone and set your volume so it's clear but comfortable. Leave it there.
Step 2 · Listen
8,000Hz
Your result
8k12k16k20k
A rough guide, not a diagnosis. Your phone, headphones and even this browser can cut the highest tones. Worried about your hearing? See an audiologist.
More ear tests
Check your headphones, find the deepest bass your setup can play, or play any pitch you like.
Headphones check
Left & right
Each ear should get its own side. It matters for 8D, binaural beats and every stereo sound here.
Headphones on, then tap a side.
Bass test
How low can you go?
Deep tones from 200 Hz down to 20 Hz, the bottom of human hearing. Mostly it tests your speakers or headphones.
200Hz
Your setup plays down to
Tone generator
Any pitch, 20 Hz – 20 kHz
Hz
Start quiet: high tones and square waves get tiring fast.
Take it to bed
An app without the app store.
Add Ears & Waves to your home screen and it opens like any app — full screen, with its own icon. Everything it needs is saved on your device, so it keeps playing on a plane, in a tent or with Wi-Fi off.
Preparing offline mode…
- Works offlineNo streaming. Sound is computed on your device, forever.
- Screen offKeeps playing with the phone locked. The timer fades it out gently.
- PrivateNo account, no ads, no cookies. Your mixes stay on your device.
