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Eigendrum

Draw any shape and hear what it sounds like as a drum

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Hi HN, I built Eigendrum, a web tool that solves the 2D wave equation for arbitrary shapes so you can hear what they sound like as drums.How it works: * Solves -∇²u = λu using finite element analysis (Kφ = λMφ) on a triangle mesh. * Validated to <0.1% error against closed-form solutions for circles (Bessel zeros) and rectangles. * Sound model factors in strike location, Rayleigh damping, and mallet width. * Includes Kac drums I & II to demonstrate identical sound spectra from different geometries. * No frameworks, build steps, or dependencies.Repo and tests: https://github.com/BaselAshraf81/eigendrumHappy to answer any questions about the FEM solver or Web Audio setup!https://eigendrum.com/#p=circle

HN · launched Aug 10, 2026 · 243 upvotes (top 2%) · 1 view

Niche: software synthesizers and midi tools · 119 launches, 5 in the last 7 days ▼ -64% · Explore this niche →

Category and tags
  • Media & entertainment
  • Content generation
  • B2C
  • Not AI
  • Hobby / open-source project

Visit website ↗ Source listing ↗

More like this: all 119 launches in software synthesizers and midi tools →

Could you build this?

Partial The web UI and audio playback are straightforward, but solving the 2D Helmholtz/wave equation on arbitrary drawn polygonal meshes via finite element analysis and modal synthesis requires non-trivial computational physics knowledge.

What it would actually take: Requires implementing 2D constrained Delaunay triangulation (e.g., Triangle or earcut), assembling sparse stiffness (K) and mass (M) matrices for linear triangular elements, and solving the generalized sparse eigenvalue problem directly in the browser using WebAssembly. The resulting eigenmodes are then mapped to resonant audio frequencies synthesized in real-time via Web Audio API oscillators.

Discussion

20 comments analyzed.

Competitors mentioned: Airbnb, Speaker design software

Concerns raised: Doesn't work on mobile phones (iPhone 14), SSL/TLS cipher mismatch errors across browsers, Website offline issues, Ads and consent banner problems

Feature requests: Mobile phone support

Competitors

Other products that read as similar to this one : 252 launches clear the similarity bar, closest 8 shown.

Attention rank: #3 of 253 (itself plus its competitors, highest first, normalized so YC and Product Hunt are compared fairly).

Launched 285 days after the earliest competitor.

Related data

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