Tracing Sound Through Reaction and Flow

Reaction diffusion has always fascinated me. Not only as a mathematical model, but as a visual language. These systems create forms that seem alive: spreading, folding, stabilising, breaking apart. In TouchDesigner, I spent time exploring different variations of this behaviour, testing how patterns shift when algorithm, input and time collide. It became less about simulating nature and more about understanding how structure emerges from interaction.

From this research, a small side project developed: audio-reactive vinyl cover. The idea was simple – to use reaction diffusion as a bridge between what we hear and what we see. The patterns generated in TouchDesigner respond to sound, translating rhythm into motion and mapping it back onto the surface of a record.

What interests me is the intersection where graphical form meets audio – where a system built on equations becomes an experience shaped by sound. It’s still a work in progress, but it opens up a space where visual behaviour, music and materiality start to overlap.