Anyone that knows me knows that I have a passion for music, I spent 17 years in the industry and look back on those days fondly. I always had an admiration for art and anyone who created something beautiful. So when my friend Justin was over one summer evening and began telling me about this idea he had to take his voice pattern and create a piece of artwork out of it, well, I knew he was on to something. We spent a few hours tossing ideas back and forth and before we knew it, Soundwave Art™ was born. Combining music, your voice, any sound you can think of with art was a perfect fit for me.

With Soundwave Art™ we wanted to create a way to turn anyone into an artist. We want you to take a recording from a loved one…. the audio you have of your baby’s heartbeat…. a song that is very important to you…. or record a special message for your wife or husband and create something custom, personal and unique to you.

Over the years, I’ve had many people ask me, “can you tell what someone is saying just by looking at their voice pattern?” The answer is no. Every voice, every sound is unique and produces different patterns. That question got me thinking about the artists that have taken their love for music and art and combined the two.

In an attempt to answer the question “What does music combined with art look like?” I’d like to share with you three artist’s that have given us their interpretation of music into art.

Music Into Art

Page Hamilton

Because of my love for music, I’m going to start with someone that I spent many years listening to. Page Hamilton, the founding member of Helmet. Page created the Out of Body series with the intention of showcasing a new dimension to guitar performance. Using a series of handmade gloves that track lead and rhythm performance through light, Page created a unique way to turn his music into art.

There are eight pieces in this collection. This series of abstract works is limited, numbered, and signed by Page Hamilton. The piece here is titled ‘Projectile’ and showcases the shapes found within Hamilton’s lead approach. You can just make out a slight illumination of Hamilton’s guitar strings reflecting light in the upper portion of this canvas.

You can view the entire collection here.

Stephen Orlando

Stephen captures motion through time and space in a single photograph. Orlando attaches a strip of LED lights to anything from a paddle while someone rows across a lake to an athlete playing hockey. Setting his camera to long exposure, he is able to track the movements through space creating brilliant photographs, all without the use of Photoshop.

Stephen has a wide range of beautiful photos and I highly recommend you view his gallery. You’ll find some truly amazing photographs. The photograph below was captured with the LED lights attached to the bow of a violin.

Stephen focuses on motions in nature, urban landscapes, and human movement. All of his work is available for purchase at motionexposure.com

Martin Klimas

Martin takes a unique approach to capturing sound. He splashes paint onto a canvas which is stretched and suspended over a speaker. Klimas turns the music up to full volume as vibrations from the speaker will toss the paint into the air. What he captures in his high-speed photographs is quite beautiful.

This piece is the result he captured from the song ‘Sex Machine’ by James Brown. He has taken some classic songs and combined them with fantastic colors to create some beautiful images.

Klimas has a large body of work but of course I’m drawn to his project titled Sonic Sculptures, all created from colorful paint, great music, and an amazing artist.

So What Does Music Look Like?

No one answer is correct, which is what I find great about art and music. Everyone has their own take on both. These artist’s have come up with different ways to show what music looks like to them. Some using their own music, others using the music they love, but all of them giving us their interpretation of what happens when you turn music into art.