Music of the Periodic Table Archives · Music of the Periodic Table

Tones of Silver

47-Ag-Silver On the Equinox this year 9/22/2023 I performed “Silver Moon” in the Key of Silver at the Commons in Viroqua, Wisconsin. Rahbi Crawford on Crystal Bowls (rahbi crawford.com), Jai Lynn Mcpheron on vocals and Monte Mcpheron piano (Mindfull living), Christopher Robin on piano, Rosie Rain on percussion and Jeff Miller on sax performed…

Boron

5-Boron-B Image explanation:An image reflecting the importance of boron as an essential mineral for plants. The tree and its strange metallic foliage ‘grow’ from a ‘pure’ dark powdered cone of the element. Appearance:Pure boron is a dark amorphous powder. Uses:Amorphous boron is used as a rocket fuel igniter and in pyrotechnic flares. It gives the…

Rumi’s “The Guest House” in the key of Carbon

The Tones of Carbon By Commons:Robert Lavinsky – File:Diamond-and-graphite-with-scale.jpg, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39385953 This recording is a sketch of the tones of carbon done by Siobhan Elia on cello, Maya Bennardo and me on violin. There are two versions, one that is instrumental and another with a voice over with a poem by Rumi. Maya…

Dancing Particles in the Key of Hydrogen

Rumi in the Key of Hydrogen Hydrogen, the most abundant element, the lightest known element, the element that is in every part of our body is the framework for this composition. As I work with the tones from the elements, I find a beautiful consonance between the colors. It is quite mind bending to step…

The Human Elements

After what seems like an inordinate amount of time, I have finished working through the elements of the human body. The question now is what to do with this body of work? Or is it, work of the body? While traveling in Europe the summer before last visiting a dear family friend, her partner…

Tones of Lead

This is the last element in this series that I am analyzing. Lead, Pb, (plumbum-Latin), element 82 is the second heaviest stable element. It is soft, malleable, blue-white element that tarnishes quickly in moist air to a dark grey. It may be the first metal that was ever smelted at approximately 7,000 BCE. The Wikipedia…

Tones of Gold

Gold is the 79th element and one of the heaviest naturally occurring elements. It has been known since ancient times and artifacts from the ancient Ur (modern Iraq) civilization have been found and dated to 3,800 BCE, or 5,800 years ago. It is a shiny, soft, yellowish red, heavy malleable and ductile element. A one-gram…

Tones of Iodine

Iodine is the 53rd element of the periodic table. It is a black, shiny, crystalline solid that melts at 237 degrees Fahrenheit, just above the boiling point of water and boils at 361 degrees Fahrenheit, a good temperature to roast beets. Interestingly, it is important in the stability of the ozone layer and there is…

Tones of Molybdenum

Molybdenum is the 42nd element in the periodic table. It was apparently known to the ancient civilizations, though was often mistaken for lead as they have similar appearances. It does not appear as a pure element in nature or an easily identifiable mineral, hence, there is no alchemical symbol for this element. More is written…

Tones of Arsenic

Arsenic is a metalloid meaning that it has characteristics between a metal and non-metal. It is number 33 in the periodic table. The references to arsenic go back to ancient times with numerous cultures using arsenic compounds, it is rarely found in a pure state. Our name comes from the Greek. Zosimos, the Greek Alchemist,…

Tones of Copper

I am consistently amazed by the qualities of elements and their interaction with life. Mendeleev, when he organized the elements in the periodic table by their qualities put them in a system that, quite often, aligned them in a manner that also reflected human attraction to those elements. Copper, silver and gold are all elements…

Tones of Nickel

Nickel is very similar to cobalt, though there is no known role in humans. Recently, the biological role in some microorganisms and plants has been established. If those microorganisms are in the human body and there is an excess of nickel in the body, then there can be some toxic responses to these organisms. Navy…