An instrument that uses candles to control sounds.

This instrument uses candles to control sounds. It takes four sounds – requests for prayers uploaded publicly to youtube – and uses the light from the candles to manipulate their playback using a granular synthesis system. This video was recorded in the woods late one rainy summer night.

It is a custom built enclosure made from oak and cedar, and the electronics are based on Bela and Teensy micro controllers. The sound system was programmed in Pure Data (Pd). It runs entirely standalone, without a computer, and it is plugged into a custom built battery powered amplifier.

Side story This is part of a long-running project around prayer requests which began with my Ritual (Prayer Request) installation for Sanctuary 2017. I have found myself doing a number of projects based on prayer requests, which I find both fascinating and terrifying.