The Periodic Table

Welcome to Music of the Periodic Table. Here is an insight into the vibrations of elements with the colors and tones that are unique to each element. The site opened in the Fall of 2012 and is being developed to publish the results of my research. A brief overview of the project.  To use this page, click on an element and, if the analysis is complete, there will be a number of parts to the page. An Explanation is below the table.

The first section is a table with several columns. Ångstroms is the wavelength of the colors in the individual spectrums of that element. Nanometer (nm) is the same wavelength used for the color algorithm that is seen below. Color is the approximate color of the individual wavelength. Hertz is an extrapolation of that wavelength brought down to the audible range. The deepest color of violet has a wavelength of 380 nm and a vibration in Hertz of 788,927,521,052,631 or 789 Terahertz (trillion hertz). This vibrates close to the piano note F. The last two columns have the common concert pitches and their vibration and are used as a reference to the colors of the elements.

The second section has the approximate color and its tone underneath it.

The third section has the “scale” of that element played with my violin and a tone generator and a simple improv showing the basic relationships of the notes. These are sketches of the notes and some of the relationships are easier to play than others, but they do give you a sense of how the notes for the colors work together. I don’t always play every note just as every note of a scale would not be used in contemporary composition.