PYRO BOARD – Capstone Proposal
Greg Fiola
gfiola17@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
A pyro board will create an immersive cymatic experience that you can see, hear, and feel; as the
relationship between sound and fire is captured in an interdisciplinary artistic spectacle. A pyro board/fire
table can be related to the 100 year old Ruben’s Tube demonstration, taken to the next dimension, like a
‘Ruben’s Plane’. The pyro board been studied by Harold Daw, a Physics professor at New Mexico State
University, but has been used for technical and research purposes, and not artistic purposes. I will create
my own design of a pyro board, and study the sound frequencies that create flame formations that are
unique and appealing, and can be arranged and choreographed into an artistic spectacle to accompany a
scientific musical track. This project will require much research and learning on top of my current
expertise, as well as a multitude of other connections and resources around campus to succeed in this
capstone project in a timely and budget friendly manner.
INTRODUCTION
The question I aim to answer with this capstone is “How does sound interact with fire, and fire
interact with sound; and how can I optimize each to compliment the other to create an immersive
experience you can hear, see, and feel?” To find an answer to this question, I plan to create a flaming
equalizer. That is, a Ruben’s Tube in 2 dimensions. A Ruben’s Tube is pipe filled with a bunch of small
holes on the top, and filled with a flammable gas, then ignited to create a row of burners. An apparatus
such as this can demonstrate sound wave formation when sound frequencies are sent through the gas, as
seen in the diagram below (Figure 1):
Figure 1: Source http://www.fysikbasen.dk/Images/Figurer/rubensFlammeroerENG.gif
Expanding this in a second dimension would mean creating a plane of burners, as opposed to a
line of them. This has been done recently by researchers in Denmark, who have been my inspiration for
this project. Taking this idea, I plan to break new ground by creating a frequency-based musical track that
produces an artfully designed and choreographed fire spectacle.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
This project is largely characterized as interdisciplinary performance art. From the outer layer, I
will be performing a lot of research-based work, while also creating a technical work, to eventually create
a work of art. The next layer reveals an interdisciplinary relation between my major (fire protection
engineering) and DCC. Peel off another layer, and we see the relation between technology and art. Within
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that, there is a relation between sound and visual art. Finally, at the core, the art created is generative;
with fire being the autonomous creator.
Cymatics, in its textbook definition, is the study of wave phenomena, especially sound, and their
visual representations. Typical cymatics demonstrations involve observing the visible effects of sounds
and vibration on matter, which is where the cymatics of fire gets blurry. Fire is neither matter nor energy,
fire is a process involving both. Because of this, fire is still not completely understood by itself, let alone
it’s interaction with sound. This is the start of a long semester of research and learning ahead.
My design is not set in stone, but the apparatus will feature either one or two speakers arranged
either on the bottom or sides of the box, a four-point gas injection system, either a rectangular or square
surface shape, and somewhere between 500 and 2500 individual holes. Because of all these variables I
cannot predict which frequencies will create fundamental wave forms, and thus will be the frequencies I
use in a track for the performance.
HISTORY
The single dimensional Ruben’s tube used for demonstrative and teaching purposes dates back
over 100 years ago. In fact, a German physicist named Heinrich Rubens published his results in 1905 of
his discovery of a way to demonstrate acoustic standing waves visually, using what he referred to as a
“flame tube.” Creating an apparatus made of a brass tube (4 meters long, 8 cm wide) that had 100 holes,
2 mm in diameter, drilled in a line across the top, and spaced 3 cm apart. The tube was filled with coal gas
for 2 minutes and then flames were lit from the gas exiting through the holes on top. The tube was closed
at both ends, and a tuning fork was used to create a steady frequency. Standing waves were then observed
in the flame lengths overtop the tube. (Gardner)
In 1991, Harold A. Daw published details on a 2 dimensional “flame table”, being the first to take
the ruben’s tube to two dimensions. Daw’s research and experiments included variable shapes of the
table, and focused largely on the art and “intrinsic beauty” of Physics (Daw). Daw largely paved the path
for the direction I aim to head with this project, as he focused on finding frequencies that formed
resonance patterns in flames, comparing the same frequencies among the different face shapes.
From there, the internet is filled with people that have turned the flame table into a DIY project,
to be used for educational reasons in the classroom, as projects for physics classes, or as devices for
simply entertainment purposes. Few people have looked into the artistic features of the interaction and
relation of fire and sound.
SIGNIFICANCE AND DISTINCTION
Beyond the notion that fire is captivating, music is beautiful, and the juxtaposition of the two is
awe-inspiring, I believe a significant art form can be created from the interaction of the two. Many have
prior created a pyro board, with purposes of education or mere entertainment. As for my purposes, I seek
to find deeper meaning in the fundamental frequencies of wave formations. Not every frequency pumped
through a pyro board will create a flame formation that is exciting, different, or pleasing to the eye, so I
plan to experiment with different frequency ranges to find flame formations that are appealing.
Upon identifying these frequencies, I will experiment with harmonics to experimentally find any
flame formation relationships between octaves and harmonics of fundamental frequencies, to see if I can
design a sort of “flame spectacle” based on strategically selected and then arranged frequencies, which
will be eventually turned into more ear-pleasing music. Through this, one will be able to see, hear, and
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feel the interaction of sound and fire, as each one simultaneously controls the other. I am interested to see
if the feelings carried by the resulting music will agree with the feelings conveyed by the dancing flames.
Part of the meaning of this project will be derived from its installment, and I hope to be able to
install this creation as a live performing outside of Prince Frederick. In theory, every time my track is
played through the pyro box, the flame spread would be the same, but a different interpretation could be
found based on where you are viewing the display from. The pyro box could be viewed from all 360˚
around it, but the environment and surroundings will also have an influence on interpretation. Being on
the patio of Prince Frederick would not be an optimal installment; I imagine a close quartered indoor
experience in the dark would be optimal.
EXPERTISE AND SKILLS
I am currently studying fire protection engineering, and am hugely interested, intrigued, and
fascinated by fire. I am well versed in fire safety through some of my fire protection engineering classes
and training. This project will also require some technical drawing and building skills, both of which I
have. This project may prove to require some welding ability, which is a skill I do not obtain and would
have to learn. Also, I do not have a large amount of expertise in speaker types, quality, and
compatibilities, which will be a subject of much research and work. Finally, as an obvious point, I have
much to learn about sound waves and cymatics.
APPROACH
This project will begin with a lot of technical research into cymatics, to understand more about
how sound interacts with matter, and begin to hypothesize if this relationship holds for fire, too. Based on
some of these assumptions and conclusions, I will begin designing the pyro board itself, while also taking
other people’s designs into consideration. I have received word from the fire protection engineering
laboratory on campus that they will review this proposal before granting me permission to operate the
pyro board in the lab.
WORK PLAN AND TIMELINE
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AUDIENCE
This project is for music lovers, fire gazers, knowledge cravers, art enthusiasts, interpretive
dancers, and everyone in between. A project such as this is expansive, intriguing, and pleasing to the eye
and soul to the point where a great majority of people would be in the audience. More specifically, people
in DCC tend to be technologically excited and talented in musical arts, making this project very appealing
those who will be viewing it live at the DCC capstone fair. For people who are visually or audibly
impaired, they will miss out on a large part of the project, but the nature of the project itself, investigating
the relation between the audible and visible, makes it possible to still understand what is happening, and
hopefully still be able to appreciate the device.
BUDGET
My primary cost will come in the cost of speakers. I have yet to decide how many speakers I will
incorporating into my design, and there is a large risk of blowing out or burning out (literally) a speaker.
Since my apparatus will be fueled by flammable gas (I may look into experimenting with different kinds
of gas), the more I use it, the more gas I will have to buy. Propane will be a good cheap, available option.
My budget will also include some sort of galvanized metal, likely aluminum, for the structure itself, plus
an assortment of tubing, connectors, and valves. Plaster/sealants/duct tape, will be small, but not
negligible costs.
2 Speakers + wiring
$100
AC Voltage Supply/Audio Hub
$40
Galvanized Aluminum sheets
$20
Tubing and connectors
$10
Propane
$40
Plaster, duct tape, sealants, extraneous supplies
$10
TOTAL
$220
OUTCOMES
This project aligns with my long term goals of eventually going into the research and
development sector of the fire protection engineering field. This project will be my first opportunity to
perform experiments and research based around fire, and get some sort of credit and recognition for my
work. After building a functional device, After this project is complete, I will be left with a super cool
device that would be fun to use to show people and play around with, yet will not have much practical
purpose beyond that. I hope to be able to incorporate other people’s talents/capstones into my own, by
allowing other musically-based capstones (such as Tom’s mashup track) to experiment with a flaming
visualizer. If this project is largely successful, there is a potential to commercially produce cheap pyroboards for clubs, dance halls, etc.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bachelard, Gaston. The Psychoanalysis of Fire. Boston: Beacon, 1964. Print.
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"Cymatics - Science Vs. Music." CYMATICS. Web Film. 23 Nov. 2015.
<http://nigelstanford.com/Cymatics/>.
Daw, Harold A.. “Art on a Two-dimensional Flame Table”. Leonardo 24.1 (1991): 63–65. Web,
http://doi.org/10.2307/1575470
D. Jihui and C.T.P. Wang, “Demonstration of longitudinal standing waves in a pipe revisited,” Am. J.
Phys. 53, 11
(1985).
Gardner, Michael D., Kent L. Gee, and Gordon Dix. "An Investigation of Rubens Flame Tube
Resonances.
"The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America J. Acoust. Soc. Am. (2007): 1285.
Web. 23 Nov. 2015.
G. Spagna, Jr., “Rubens flame tube demonstration: A closer look at the flames,” Am. J. Phys. 51, 9
(1983).
G.W. Ficken, F.C. Stephenson, Rubens flame-tube demonstration, The Physics Teacher, Vol. 17, pp. 306310
(1979)
"Pyro Board: 2D Rubens' Tube!" YouTube. Veritasium. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2awbKQ2DLRE>.
Rubens, H; Krigar-Menzel, O. "Flammenröhre für akustishe Beobachtungen (Flame tube for acoustical
observations)," Ann. Phys., Lpz. 17, 149 (1905).
"Science DSA Enrichment | Nullspace - Nullspace Science." Nullspace Science. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.
<http://sci.nullspace.com.sg/#!portfolio-item/flame-table/>.
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