Lit from Within transforms firefly blink patterns into sound using custom software that reads each flash as a musical event.

A 12 minute video and sound work that begins with a simple observation: fireflies communicate through light. Each flash carries information; species, timing, duration, and intensity that form a biological language spoken in darkness. This work listens to that language and translates it into sound.
Photosensitivity Warning: This video contains the flashing of fireflies and visual effects that may trigger seizures in individuals with photosensitive epilepsy.

Within each species track, individual notes are assigned from the five pitches of the Gong pentatonic scale (C, D, E, G, and A) using a random selection process. Each time a flash is detected and routed to a species track, the software selects one of the five scale degrees at random for that note. This means no two consecutive flashes are predetermined to land on the same pitch, and no melodic pattern is imposed by the software.

The result is that the rhythm and timing of every note is entirely determined by the fireflies; the software records exactly when each flash occurs and places a note at that precise moment. The pitch of each note is chosen randomly from within the five available tones of that track’s octave register. The fireflies compose the rhythm and the scale provides the harmonic framework, while the specific melody that emerges is a product of chance operating within those constraints.
Special thank you to the “G-Town Church Sampling Project” by Tobias Marberger

To view the media in it’s entirety please email: contact (at) ginstoneart.com

Field Notes:
Date: June 15, 2026
Time: 21:33:33:00 Duration: 11 minutes and 43 seconds
Weather: 62° partly cloudy, 79% humidity
Moon phase:  New Moon
Location: Latitude 41° 42’ 37” N Longitude 70° 0’ 34” W
Elevation: 30’/9m above sea level, facing a decline to the south-southwest
Original video shot on an iPhone 16 Pro Max: video capture
Black Magic Software Settings Shutter: 1/30 Frame Rate: 30
Premiere: First round of alteration was to contrast, saved out and midi rendered.
Saved video from that became basis for the following:
Changed settings to increase the contrast, tint, saturation, temp and opacity as layers of video on top of each other. Blurs and glows. Original blue with low opacity over final video with effects. Premiere is Adobe’s film editing and finishing software.
MATLAB: Script movement triggered by flashes, rendered into a track for each species. MATLAB, the language of engineers and scientists, is a programming and numeric computation environment for algorithm development, data analysis, and visualization.
Reaper: A virtual instrument was set and plays back the notes derived from the data. All sound work and production are completed in this program. Reaper is a complete digital audio production application for computers, offering a full multitrack audio and MIDI recording, editing, processing, mixing and mastering toolset.

Extras…