How does sound move? That’s one of the questions that Virginia Tech physics researcher Omolara Bakare addressed at the March 26, 2026, Science on Tap event “The Physics of sound: From vibrations to relaxation.” In collaboration with singing bowl practitioner Fraser Lee Hudgins, Bakare helped participants learn about the physics of sound with a live singing bowl demonstration.

Bakare, a woman wearing a long brown cardigan and black pants lectures a crowd. Her arms are out to the side, in the middle of a sentence
Omolara Bakare leads a discussion about the physics of sound with the audience at Science on Tap. Photo by Esther Oyedele for Virginia Tech.

    Bakare framed her discussion on the physics of sound with a sharp, quick movement: tapping the table in front of her. The tapping created a sound, which Bakare explained could have many interpretations: a noise, a disturbance, or music could all potentially describe the tapping. No matter its description, though, all sounds follow three rules. First, for there to be sound, there must be movement. Often, this movement is back and forth, causing a vibration. At the moment that Bakare explained this, an alarm in the audience began vibrating, demonstrating her point. 

Bakare stands in front of the crowd, answering questions from the audience. There is a smile on her face and she is explaining her research
Bakare fields questions from the audience, describing how the way we interpret sound involves characteristics like the movement (Energy), speed, and frequency of sound. Photo by Esther Oyedele for Virginia Tech.

    Second, sound can move through different materials, like air, solids, and liquids. The speed of sound depends on the medium it is moving through. It is faster through solids than through air and liquids. For example, the speed that sound travels at is related to its frequency. Finally, hearing is the perception of sound, meaning that there are upper and lower limits to the sound that we can perceive. If the frequency of a sound is too high, our brain is unable to process it — the sound moves too fast.

Hudgins holds a large metal bowl in her hand. She is standing in the middle of a crowd, and three people in front of her sit quietly with their eyes closed as they listen to the music she is making.
Hudgins maneuvers through tables at Rising Silo Brewery, playing a large metal signing bowl as the Science on Tap audience begins to relax. Photo by Esther Oyedele for Virginia Tech.

    Before demonstrating the concepts that Bakare introduced, Hudgins explained her relationship with singing bowls. She found that the sounds the sets of bowls produced were helpful for her relaxation and was inspired to use the bowls for others’ benefit, too. Hudgins now serves as a singing bowl practitioner in Radford and the New River Valley. Building from Bakare’s talk, Hudgins presented information about five frequencies of brain waves, similarities between brain waves and sound waves, and how sound interacts with the human nervous system.

Hudgins stands slightly bent over behind a group of people. She is holding a large metal singing bowl in her left hand and the drumstick in her right. Her eyes are closed
Hudgins creates a “sound bath” in the main room of Rising Silo Brewery, explaining that she believes that sound baths offer mental and physical benefits, including helping shift the nervous system from “fight or flight” into “rest and digest” mode. Photo by Esther Oyedele for Virginia Tech.

    After sharing her background, Hudgins encouraged the attendees to close their eyes and meditate on the singing bowls. She coached participants into breathing deeply to transition into a more relaxed state and then walked around the entirety of Rising Silo while playing the bowl. The smaller bowls produced higher sounds than the larger bowls. After twenty minutes, the attendees opened their eyes, having heard the sounds and felt the vibrations.

This photo is centered around a group of women all sitting at a table. Every person has their eyes closed and a hand over their heart to feel the vibrations of the singing bowl. The woman in the foreground of the photo is wearing a baseball cap and a blue jacket.
Audience members at Science on Tap experience first-hand the sounds produced by singing bowls at the “Physics of Sound: From Vibrations to Relaxation.” Photo by Esther Oyedele for Virginia Tech.

    Thank you to Omolara Bakare and Fraser Lee Hudgins for sharing their knowledge of sound and to Rising Silo Brewery for hosting! Science on Tap is a monthly event sponsored and supported by the Center for Communicating Science and by Virginia Tech's chapter of Sigma Xi. Come out to our next event at 5:30 p.m. April 23, 2026, to hear Katie Burke, Marsha Craiger, Jenny Hall, and Craig Ramseyer discuss the effects of climate change in your backyard.

By Bria Weisz, Center for Communicating Science graduate assistant