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Pendulum

Tilt your phone and it draws — and sings. Two pendulums, one per axis; leaning sets their frequency ratios. When the ratios settle near a simple whole-number relationship the traced figure closes into a still rosette and the two tones lock into a consonant chord. Between those points the figure precesses and the tones beat against each other. Sight and sound agree in one gesture.

interval: perfect fifth (pure)state: precessingratios: 1.500 : 1.000drive: self-demo (0x4232)

manual control

No phone to tilt? Drag on the figure, or set each pendulum here.

brightness

Each strike rings down over ~26 s. Tap Re-strike to swing the pendulums again.

Lock targets are the just ratios 1:1 · 5:4 · 4:3 · 3:2 · 5:3 · 2:1 — unison, major third, fourth, fifth, major sixth, octave. Nothing is quantised: sit between two and you hear the roughness the figure's precession is drawing.

The dream lab — Karel Barnoski