Oscilloscope Art

If you have ever seen a black and white horror movie with a mad scientist in his lab chances are that in the background you saw one of these:

Well, this machine is called an oscilloscope and its primary function is to measure signals of voltages in relation to time. By visualizing signals in the X and Y planes, values such as amplitude, frequency, rise time, and distortion can all be measured from the visual representations of waves displayed on the screen. Its applications range from analyzing electrical systems to heart monitors.

In the field this is a valuable tool to measure waveforms, but there is an artistic side to it as well, which is what I am here to talk about. A channel, called  Jerobeam Fenderson, uses an oscilloscope to register audio signals. He uses the audio signals not only as the music for the video, but to create visuals on the screen. This results in some very interesting music videos. This just goes to show that science can go hand in hand with art in many surprising ways.

Here is his basic overview:

Here is one of his music videos: