Sound Caves are interactive musical sculptures.

The 5 Elements Tea House is a Sound Cave shaped as a pentagonal gazebo built out of piano harps, musical strings, and exquisite wood working. With upwards of 10 piano harps and 2000+ musical strings, this musical sculpture is highly interactive for all to enjoy!

Intricately tuned, they sound amazing no matter who is playing them, whether people choose to subtly plucking out beautiful melodies or bang away ecstatically. These strings also amplify the natural phenomenon called Sympathetic Resonance, so any sound made near them will resonate and echo back, sometimes for a few minutes. This experience often induces interactions of people yelling, laughing or singing into the strings.

In addition to participant interactions, we activate the space with performances, tea ceremonies, sound healing baths and workshops.

At night, warm and subtle incandescent lighting glows on the bronze piano harps and beckons people to enter its sanctuary like space.

During the day, the shifting sunlight reflects beautifully off the copper patinaed roof and piano strings, while casting geometric shadows that move across the carved parquet wood flooring like a sundial in an ancient temple.

14′ W x 13′ D x 8′ H

One 20 amp circuit for all lighting and programming needs

The acoustic sounds from the piano strings are unamplified and generally not heard more than 25’ away, making sound bleed coming from it a non-issue at most events. While these acoustic sounds are strong enough for people inside or playing with it to enjoy their interactions within any sound environment, their experiences are greatly enriched when placed in relatively quieter areas. When desired, we have piano mics and a small speaker that can gently boost these volumes, or that could be plugged into a full system for large scale sound baths and music performances. We also have a solution to quickly mute all sound coming from installation temporarily when needed for other programming or nighttime closure.