Musical Tesla Coils Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy

[jsymons1985]

ozone smells, it has a distinct 'fresh air' type smell in low quantities

[piratekitsune]

wow, this sounds a lot more menacing when performed on zuesaphones =P

[QuantumConundrum]

Witness and fear the graceful power of science!

[jiccoby]

Putting someone in the middle of that would be the most hilarious way to murder someone.

[yourmomdidsayyourean]

So freaking cool I love science woot!

[Vipmaxp]

I bet running a nice synth through that...like a juno.. would sound nice.

[peaceonearth347]

My god, their electricity bill must be enourmous!

[natestone81682]

i wanna hear House of the Rising Sun. please do it and post it, that would make my day

[jaimy22]

better listen to your Ipod, this is expansive music :)

[008abdullah]

as much as this makes me lol as much as it is awesome, and im rofling XD

[clcradio]

And we place the dancers here, and here. That should be fine......wait.

[demonfiren]

I am amazed, and must say that the music they play should be listened to with earplugs on when listened to live...for the coils are rather loud.

[008abdullah]

@demonfiren

great, cuz i got my supa earplugz :PP

[promotor27]

Amazing... Simply amazing...

[panzarw]

HEY Plug Guitar pro (its a midi prog) to that and you can basicly play any tune!!

[panzarw]

...and it make ions, so you can also smell the music!!!

btw i bet we could play METALLICA ON THEM YEAH!!!!!

[ThreeStarWolfie]

Woah! you guys must have WAAAAAY too much time on your hands XD

[markgoodson67]

Is there a how to on this? I got to do this in my Halloween light show!

[bylime]

That is effing epic!

It's my new favorite Christmas song.

I wonder if they could do a wedding march for hire? How cool would that be instead of organ??

[Benjo316]

Tetris! :D

[realar]

Not quite, it's Fantasia.

[sylvastreak]

no, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from The nutcracker

[ConanGabe]

It actually shouldn't cost much to run one that size. They don't actually use a lot of electricity; all they do is step up the voltage.

[mfnickster]

Makes me want to play Tetris! :)

[Zims1andonlyMik]

could you feel the electricity in the air long after its over?

[MasterMWL]

You could probably smell it... In the form of ozone.

[Grahamster909]

@MasterMWL I don't think ozone smells the burning grass probably would smell.

[Grahamster909]

@MasterMWL I don't think ozone smells the burning grass probably would smell.

[MarkQP]

how is the sound made?

[millerjt]

same way that lightning makes thunder

[dkowis]

The tesla coils are really turning on and off at the frequency that creates the music. It's a square wave, which is very similar to the way 8bit games generated music too :D

[DannyBurgoyne]

The sound is made by the electric discharges causing the air to vibrate at a specific frequency, it's the same mechanism as thunder.

[scottycanes]

If you wanna be technical, lightening (which makes random vibrations) plays every pitch at the same time, which makes a loud, seemingly pitchless noise. Drums work in the same way, hit it once and all hell breaks loose.

What these guys did is more. . . specific and ordered, producing specific notes at specific times.

I love science :) I can't wait to learn about electricity and magnetism!

[moosepiss9]

@scottycanes Actually, if you REALLY want to be technical, just read a bit on the webertube.

It's actually pretty cool how they do it. What's happening is they've run a MIDI signal through an optical cable to a PWM (Pulse Width Modulator) circuit to produce an "off-on" signal. The Tesla Coil itself has a set resonant frequency, so it always sounds the same. The PWM is turning the coil on and off at whatever frequency rate the MIDI is pushing to it, thus simulating different frequencies. Cool!

[blackknights94]

think of it like different sounding frequencies of lightening, or when you hear a spark zap. only they programed them to make vast amounts of those zaps, with more or less electricity behind them to change the sound.

[UltimatePwnageNL]

modulation  of its resonant frequency i think.

[ossilation]

The electricty creates pressure waves in the air.

[salemcripple]

The way i understand it is the air around the "lightning" bold is super heated which causes it to expand. When electricity is cut, the air rapidly cools, and "shrinks," and the collision of the air molecules returning to fill the void, creates the shock wave that we hear as sound. It's the same cause of thunder (or any other electric "zap" for that matter).

[Comhippy]

The sound is made by varying the frequency of the tesla coil. I'm trying to find a component that can do that, and the closest match I found was a relay.

[Grzld]

alot of the transformers on these "musical" tesla coils are extremely efficient so it doesn't end up costing as much as you would think

[GenXCypher]

Tesla coils are efficient.. so actually its not as expensive as you may think

[Brandon01110]

WOW i was seriously laughing pretty hard

[VerDad1818]

the fart song

[shadowdragonmage]

simply amazing... but as for that guy in white shirt backstage... never wear white backstage =/

[MachetexXxAxe]

Techno Plum fairy :D

[Grnd91]

Euber Techno Plum Fairy :D

[JanitorMaster]

Lol, there is a swiss talking in the background

[nikki8356]

tetris

[amberb57]

Just think what could be done with 6 of these!

[diaphoneman]

No David, he's still 100 years old. He just hasn't aged well. . .

Happy B-Day, Nick. . .

[Zeepolian]

this could SO go in like an 8-bit NES or Atari game XD

maybe even SNES, or gameboy!

[OOZ662]

That's because it's run off of a MIDI file.

[soutsoon]

dude sounds like nintindo or some broken ass base system.

[Computerman897]

I built one of these things.... And I'm STILL PSYCHED ABOUT IT CAUSE OF STUFF LIKE THIS!

It looks like some of his modulating circuitry is shorting out down at the bottom of the left one though... Might want to track that one down.

[Marnor123]

Omg awesome it sounds sooo.. dead Lol. :D

[DavidAndrewSingleton]

Happy Birthday Tesla! You would be 100 today. But your dead, so your not.

[Novecento]

AhAHa so hilarious man! You're making me dying by laughing!

[Nord72]

He was born at 1856....so he should be 153 years old at least today....

He was dead aged 86 (at 1943).

[im0thing]

He'd be 153.

[meep98]

these remind me of the command and conquer video games lol =P

[kerbal666]

Wow thats sooo goth

[trikitiger]

I would -so- get a pair of these things XD

[spintecmaster]

that is alsome

[yidneth]

ooo I love i wouldn't mind to bring those on stage LOL for my shows, arg!

[ZRush1]

Coolest thing on youtube...

[trashletal]

interesante, quiero uno de esos!

[ferretyluv]

It's kind of ironic that a dance that's supposed to be light and delicate is being played by giant powerful and loud tesla coils.

[jcbiddulph]

sounds like the death remix XD

[wwwwolf]

This thing look and sound like something out of Warner Bros cartoons.

BUT THEY'RE REAL.

[EirosNevermore]

this reminds me of Tetris on the original Nintendo, but much more sinister sounding :D

[sugarisgoodness]

I wanna throw a party in a classic "haunted house" with a few of these!

[noobpwner2323]

i already diid that i got like 50 of those things

[alalap]

I kind of feel like the Zeusaphone is the ultimate symbol of humanity. We've become so powerful we can throw around energy like that for kicks.

[Oldage429]

Nah, we're not that awesome until there's a popular metal band that uses tesla coils instead of amps at their concerts, hopefully with insane pyrotechnics for the hell of it..

[nicholo05]

anyone have any idea how much energy these things are using?

[megavoltmeister]

These coils are about 12kw each.

[movitmovit]

i want these... please

[peaceonearth347]

tesla coils for the win

[bogieman987]

science + nikolas tesla = tesla coild music ftw

[jdmmxbth]

Oh My God. I just found my new ringtone.

[Rumplesmoothskn]

They look like Dahleks.

[malenkytoys]

this is what hell sounds like.

[saltystuff]

sounds pretty awesome then

[Sunnygrrl99]

wow then hell really is a party with all your friends there

[nickoli82]

sugar plum creepy! win!

[Zacharias13]

Awesome !!!

[freakman420]

this would be perfect as an entrance-way to a mad scientists laboratory.

[jmb817]

Now what they need to do is play the opening  theme to Dexter's Laboratory on this.

[timerider4]

Baraboo, WI? Are you doing it again this year? I totally want to go.

[lochmarFiendhiem]

people would say that this song is very gay. But not a 40+ thousand volts. haha!

[mashersmasher]

closer to between 500k and 1 million volts.

[hugboxx]

Only an ignoramus would say this song is 'very gay'.

[ganondufus]

Physics Win!

[susandunn]

This is fantastic!

[RamboRabbit1345]

So cool man! I love it. They aren't energy saving at all i guess. I guess that you need massive amount of electricity to make them sing. Anyway, cool.

[debunker1905]

awesome, I'll build that.

[YawnGod]

EPIC.

[SkaChick702]

this needs to be brought to a vegas rave!!!! or a cali one

either way itd be AMAZING =]

[imafractal]

there is a tesla coil guy who is usually (if not always) at burning man. it's not vegas but it is better than vegas and in the same state. there are a bunch of videos here on youtube. i think i have some in my favorites. he goes by dr. megavolt or some silly shit like that.

[Zethalai]

ultra haxxor

[snerjeck]

I think you can see the spark gap at the base of the tesla coil on the left.

[darcstorms]

this kind of reminds me of two kids rasberrying each other :P PBBT PBBT PBBT haha

[Fractangle]

I really hope some rock group incorporates this into some epic songs and goes on tour.

[Rolsku93]

This is the theme A for Tetris on NES

And it friggin rocks!

[Yakshinian]

I've had my dose of awesone for this morning.

[salemcripple]

Have you seen them playing ghost busters?

[clara241984]

thats amazing

[InfinitePhoenix]

My God i agree, ass has been kicked here today. Must have taken you forever to calculate which bolts make which sounds and frequencies ect... Nice job though, 5/5 =)

[Sunnygrrl99]

dang, that is an amazing sound.

[Maxables]

Are those poles to ground the arcs?

[Doughnut189]

Like someone playing a electric guitar with only 2 volts running into it after its been dunked underwater

[michaeldenham11]

Quite possibly the most awesome thing I've ever seen!

[Horusdragon]

Shit....wow.....omg....incredi­ble

[KetamineFix]

It's the song of death.

[glabutis37]

That is really cool! My daughter says it sounds like its farting! lol!!!

[meowmix259]

lolz that is sooooo funy!!!!111!1

/s

Grow up.

[greengrendel]

Yep, I love singing tesla coild, but this one I can't watch, it sounds like two people blowing raspberries at each other XD

[cacorrosan]

nice and dangerous!! hehe

[Intangent]

Wow. That sounds actually pretty evil.

[LadySorrowIshana]

Sure, even evil genuises like to make music. ;)

More complicated than the average musical instrument.

[cooky3007]

its so cool.... it turned such a pretty song into a really creepy dsong haha

[FMNikoyo]

Ass has been kicked here today.

[allycat114]

bricks have also been shat

[Smaksmilla]

Castles, more precisely.

[Rascus75]

No, indeed whole kingdoms.

Strangely, the sound actually reminds me of the classical piece In The Hall Of The Mountain King.

[missaka231]

amazing cheers...

[BloodyBun]

There you go researching Tesla coils...

This is brilliant.

Wow!

[evankoka12]

do they come in pocket sized?

[Mar10Man94]

someone should make a piano synthesizer that's based on one of these. like, in a globe or something. makes a nice, fat sound.

[queenoftheuniverse]

AAAAKKKK! I've played over 500 performances of Nutcracker, and this video has put me over the edge! Off to the funny farm!

[Willstoolman]

:O i saw it on daily planet and thought it was amazing!! id love to see a band try this out as an experiment

[0FinnCross]

Just saw that on Daily Planet and thought that it was amazing :D They even have a guy that joins in wearing a full metal suit and stands in the middle.

[313313]

I WANT PLAY RED ALERT NOW :D

[ChocolateMuffinEater]

Lol me too!

[appenis]

wow sounds so evil :P

[IMGTheBomber]

well...I play it on the piano, they make tesla coils play it :-) great^^

[Puncake2007]

wow. now that was cool.

[missvitreous]

Awesome!

[nost78]

how did they fit these things into an original game boy??

[MafiaDelJefe]

xD rofl

[ShonTolliverMusic]

duhhhh.. they used the headphone jack.

[HeavyMetalRedneck42]

I laughed heartily.

[Q3HackerPolice]

lololololololololololollolloll­olololollollollloolololllolooo­olololollolololoolooolololl

[KetamineFix]

Coming from a pair of extremly high voltage Telsa coils the 'Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy' sounds more like a Dance of Death.

[mechaghostman2]

I never can stop being amazed with eletricity. Even theese famous Nicola Tesla coils, modernized, are so cool!

[lookalive25]

wow this is way cool....I love it.

[jeich55]

totally amazing. Hi tech stuff

[Beefree2006]

Dance Of The Sparky Shock Fairy... Who now has major burn wounds to her face and torso... And is in the Intensive Care Unit...

[beeromaniac]

notes depend on the frequency?

[tippyc2]

the way i understand it, theres a carrier frequency (in the MHz range) that drives the lightning, and it is turned on and off to create the sound, which is really a rapid succession of pulse waves (thunderclaps) that combine to create a continuous wave that we interpret as sound

[MissEyeliner92]

That much lightning would probably be enough electricy to fry the entire world.

Or at least a lot of homes, busnesses, etc.

[ChrisCVW]

Proposed Compromise:

would it not be possible to hook this up to a synth keyboard and then play live? To me that would be just an awesome thing to play.

[jamesdl00]

it's been done, you can find youtube vids of tesla coils being used for guitar amps, and keyboard synth amps

[ssfriends7]

man...

why arent there people that puts there lives in this to make an hole concert?

these are the best instruments ever!

no mistakes in an hole play and you can almost make every instrument (sounds like almost all instruments ^^):O

[jlbohrer]

man i was going all O.C.D. over this bcuz the pole on the right was getting struck more than the one on the left, lol jk

[nairda55555]

taikovski would be proud.

[ZeroMAnta]

wait did you say not expressive? so creating a new medium for us to experience music isn't expressive i admit it is more staccato than i would have it be it definitely is music which in itself is expressive

[PianoVlog]

the evilest thaikovski i've heard!

[jdk2k2]

Wow, I absolutely love the timbre of a Tesla coil! Tesla coil counterpoint sounds so sick.

[CaptianOwnage]

could you get the same musical effect with 2 smaller coils? and how do you get the coils to resinate this frequency of audiable sound?

[yourkolbaska]

The frequency is dependant on the voltage you apply to the coil. (Less voltage means a bassy sound. More voltage equals higher sounds.) And yes you can use smaller coils

=]

[trebor121290]

from what ive found, because i want one of these... the coil produces music by turning on and off at the hz of the tone, much as a speaker vibrates at the frequency.

[berkulese]

tesla coils operate at about 150kHz, way above human hearing. The audio is created by flicking the coil on and off at the desired frequency. I have a video in my favourites that explains this better if you want

[trebor121290]

from what ive found, because i want one of these... the coil produces music by turning on and off at the hz of the tone, much as a speaker vibrates at the frequency.

[Gazongola]

Meh. At least they aren't playing more bloody game music!

[CoolSpy0]

Actually, this was in a Tetris variant. I forgot which though.

[naniloa86]

i believe they used in tetris

[WernerWarhead14]

It is used in the Nintendo Licensed Teris to NES

[keyboardmum]

Well, I guess this is very clever...but it just isn't the same as having real humans making musical sound. There's simply no expression here...

But I suppose that's not the point of it. Its still very impressive.

[Kragnorak]

Well, let's see. I would argue that there is more human expression here than in your average Nickelback song. My reasoning: the expression in the composition is strong enough that we hear the electricity of invention in the air here. On the other hand, a pop group has a non-expressive idea input into a computer which then proceeds to suck the humanity right out of even the musicians.

[vidfun101]

were is dr.zuse?

[Pianoman1770]

there is nooo way thats reall! thats too cool!

[vidfun101]

evil is good and HV

[PhoenixxWolf]

Wow i honestly can't think of any thing other then "epic" to sum this up with, The things science can do....never ceases to amaze does it?

[m3kth]

At first that sounded like "Hall of the mountain king" but absolutely awesome!!!

[darknessmar]

wow thats amazing man i wonder do u have enough money to pay for the electricity xD

[dinnae]

How high was your energy bill by the end of the month?

Anyway, very, very cool

[precelek2004]

How did You managed it to play a certain melody?

[Aslana1]

this is freakin awsome lol!

[prljamrlz]

HOW BAD-ARSE! My hubby's an electrician...I'm sure he'll appreciate watching this one.