July 24, 2007

Neon Lamp Traces Sound Wave’s Picture (Sep, 1950)

Filed under: Cool — @ 8:05 am
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Sep, 1950
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This is pretty cool. Of course now you can do this much better and in real-time with even the cheapest PC.

Neon Lamp Traces Sound Wave’s Picture
That’s a sound wave you see in the picture above. Here demonstrating how an acoustic lens focuses sound from a horn, the wave was made visible with the device at left—an aluminum rod with a microphone and a neon lamp at the end. A small motor swings the rod in a wide arc, scanning the area. The microphone picks up the sound and turns it into electric current to feed the lamp. Wherever the sound is strongest, the light is brightest, and the wave is traced out. A complete sound photo, such as this from Bell Labs, takes 10 minutes exposure.

6 Comments »

1. “This is pretty cool. Of course now you can do this much better and in real-time with even the cheapest PC.”

   How, please?

   Comment by Stannous — July 24, 2007 @ 8:43 am

2. You should be able to use a microphone to record the sound into a sound editing program. Almost all of them let you see the waveform as you record. That’s basically what this is. No?

   Comment by Charlie — July 24, 2007 @ 9:07 am

3. I think what they’re trying to show is the physical movement of the sound waves through the air; as opposed to the “waveform” of the sound. Physical movement through air would require specialized computer software and/or hardware. But yes, any old audio editor can show you the waveform.

   Comment by jsmiley125 — July 25, 2007 @ 1:18 pm

4. [...] Neon Lamp Traces Sound Wave’s Picture (Popular Mechanics Sep, 1950) Modern Mechanix » Neon Lamp Traces Sound Wave’s Picture: [...]

   Pingback by Neon Lamp Traces Sound Wave’s Picture (Popular Mechanics Sep, 1950) « Headcaver’s Audio Bloggararoo — October 4, 2007 @ 10:34 am

5. Awesome

   Comment by MG — March 24, 2008 @ 12:09 pm

6. ..thanks

   Comment by MG — March 24, 2008 @ 12:12 pm

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