Thursday, May 3, 2007

Medieval Music Locked in Stone

Something was always a bit odd about the architecture of the Rosslyn Chapel in Midlothian, Scotland. Yes, it appears to be just another medieval church from the outside. Look how it innocently hosts medieval fairs and performs the sacraments of marriage. But, according to Thomas J. Mitchell, its arches contain carvings of cubes, arranged in a musically sequential way, each with specific markings that match Cymatics or Chladni patterns. After 27 years of studying these carvings, he and his son uncovered the secret to the music hidden in the chapel ceiling. You can listen to some of the composition on their website: http://www.tjmitchell.com/stuart/rosslyn.html.

Chladni patterns are produced when sound waves, at certain pitches or frequencies interact with a sheet of metal covered in sand or powder. You've got to see it in action to understand so check out this video of this phenomenon posted on Roger Bourland's blog.

These patterns were officially discovered by Ernst Chladni in the 18th century so an architect living in the 15th century architect shouldn't have known about these patterns. Was this secret maintained within a specific religious group for hundreds of years? What else does this chapel hide? No doubt the theories will spiral out of control. The secret of the location of the Holy Grail? The hiding place of all lost socks in the galaxy? Okay, let's not get too crazy.

Read more about it in Scotsman.com.

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