Cymatics Project (my 1st project)

Hey...

I had the idea of trying to make a "Cymatics Device". A device where you can see how water or sand react to a sound wave.
Something that would make "this":

There is also a Collin's Lab video talking about it:

The thing is, i have NEVER made a project of my own. i have only followed very SIMPLE projects from tutorials. I have only very basic ideas about electronics, arduino programing, etc...

But i thought like this.
My idea would be to make an Independent Device, that is not dependent on a computer to produce a sound wave. Is the Arduino capable of this? Does it need some kind of shield?
Then surely it needs a speaker (maybe a water proof speaker), a couple of knobs (to control the frequency of the wave, maybe to change the type of wave and the volume), an LCD to display the frequency being played and an OnOff switch.

How does this sound to you?
Do you know any projects like this?
Any ideas?

Let's see if i can go forward with this as a 1st project and, hopefully, come out with something nice!
All your help, ideas, suggestions and contributions are very welcome.

Thanks
=)