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Toto’s “Africa” Played on Tesla Coils
- dehrmann 6y agoThere are kits for building plasma speakers, but the 1" arc is a lot less impressive. It's still a little mind-blowing that an electrical arc can make sound.
- vhodges 6y agoDr Who theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdrqdW4Miao https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdrqdW4Miao
- balls187 6y agoSuper Mario Brothers theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1O2jcfOylU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1O2jcfOylU
- YeGoblynQueenne 6y agoMetallica's Ride The Lightning(abridged), with actual lightning. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yD5oIegFKXg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yD5oIegFKXg
- hinkley 6y agoIt seems reasonable to me to request that the entire anthology of AC/DC be given the same treatment.
- YeGoblynQueenne 6y agoOr at the very least half of it, the AC.
- PoachedSausage 6y agoA Solid State Tesla Coil is basically a power inverter so technically its DC/AC.
- YeGoblynQueenne 6y agoI guess then one should start with the most recent albums and work their way back to High Voltage.
- hinkley 6y agoI don't recall if Mario was the first, but it certainly was my intro to Tesla music. I still go back and watch it about once a year. The only maker in my high school was way into Tesla coils, and I have been Team Tesla (Tesla vs Edison) from the first short form biography of Tesla that I read. One of Tesla's craziest inventions, to my mind, was discovering that, given the right conditions, a human can survive both high voltage and high current. He developed circuits to increase the frequency of the electricity (I believe a version of that strategy is applied here?), and if the frequency is ridiculously high then the skin effect puts the electricity into your epidermis only. Wikipedia says that 1GHz in copper is 2μm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_effect. I sincerely hope nobody has measured this in human tissue. Reportedly, it makes you tingly. This invention is bittersweet to me, because I feel this also marks the beginning of Tesla's transition into canonical Mad Scientist. He figured it was therapeutic and exposed himself to these fields routinely.
- protomyth 6y agoIt looks even better in person and sounds almost the same, just without the beat/percussion backing track. Dammit, I really wish when people would do this stuff they would not add backing tracks.
- FlyMoreRockets 6y agoThey should generate the percussion beat with a honking big spark gap.
- pugworthy 6y agoI don't mind it. I think it tightens it up nicely.
- latortuga 6y agoThere's a video for Chopin Nocturnes Op 9 with no backing track on the person's channel!
- Scoundreller 6y agoAnd plasma speakers: https://youtu.be/rasp88nbsRw https://youtu.be/rasp88nbsRw
- williesleg 6y agoSo much work but I could only watch for like 5 seconds before I got bored. Yay internet!
- catalogia 6y agoI'm partial to the floppotron rendition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q260bjSiyq0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q260bjSiyq0 It's not quite as visually impressive as those tesla coils though.
- Splognosticus 6y agoHis Megalovania cover is great too. https://youtu.be/1MJ2g7Eb0QE https://youtu.be/1MJ2g7Eb0QE
- dougmwne 6y agoFun! Idea: Could the song be played at 2x or 4x speed, recorded at a high framerate, then slowed down to .5x or .25x so that song is in real-time but the sparking was in slow motion?
- izzydata 6y agoWould the sound frequencies really scale that way though? I feel like when you speed up or slow down audio it doesn't sound right.
- dehrmann 6y agoThis sounds like a midi, but either way, there are resampling algorithms that can change speed, but retain pitch. Or change pitch (this is what autotune does).
- vmchale 6y agomusical tesla coils are such a wonderful invention
- paulodeon 6y agoI saw a live performance using a 12 foot Tesla coil at Burning Man 2017 It was earthed to a 18 foot tall geodesic dome. They played a medley of tracks and then the base of the Tesla coil mildly exploded and started burning. I went by the next morning and the whole camp had packed up and left. Pretty awesome experience. If anyone knows any more about that project I'd love to hear it.
- vmception 6y ago> I went by the next morning and the whole camp had packed up and left. That's happened to me at Burning Man too. Entire buildings gone when I wanted to go and ask about what happened last night, like the camp never existed. I like the anonymity and definitely be aware that no closure or responsibility is possible too!
- toby 6y agohttps://www.coupdefoud.re/2017 https://www.coupdefoud.re/2017 I was camped right next to it, and I work with one of the people who built it.
- kleiba 6y agoSound-wise, quite reminiscent of some C64 tracks, although with a bit more meat behind it.
- leeoniya 6y agoEye of the Tiger on a dot matrix printer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8I6qt_Z0Cg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8I6qt_Z0Cg
- war1025 6y agoWe had a dot matrix printer growing up. I remember the first time I saw an ink jet printer it was basically magic.
- timdorr 6y agoReminds me of [The User]'s Symphony for Dot Matrix Printers: https://vimeo.com/6868193 https://vimeo.com/6868193
- aidenn0 6y agoI'm just going to say that the (1998) combined with calling the technology "obsolete" makes me a bit sad, since I was still using a dot-matrix printer then as I couldn't afford a new inkjet. I had to wait until morning to print out my papers if I procrastinated too late the night before!
- xwdv 6y agoCould you send this in a fax? (Never used a fax)
- juststeve 6y agoThis is awesome - getting those chords to work must have been a pain with the harmonics and also keeping the groove. Thanks for sharing
- davidf560 6y agoHere's an acquaintance of mine playing with a musical Tesla coil and a propane blowtorch: https://youtu.be/M91AYp3_x5k?t=122 https://youtu.be/M91AYp3_x5k?t=122 He also has some small tabletop-sized coils that are really neat: https://youtu.be/li3rGKFfQ1A?t=18 https://youtu.be/li3rGKFfQ1A?t=18 And here's the Ghostbusters theme at one of their performances while spectators are standing inside the cage: https://youtu.be/bTkjgBRiCsE?t=2198 https://youtu.be/bTkjgBRiCsE?t=2198
- barbegal 6y agoTowards the end of that first video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M91AYp3_x5k&feature=youtu.be&t=225 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M91AYp3_x5k&feature=youtu.be... he definitely gets struck by the arc, which makes me question what the point of the metal suit is. Is it just for show, to make it look more dangerous? My understanding is that the frequency is such that it doesn't interact with anything in the human body neither the heart nor the nervous system but I would expect that an arc to the eye would cause some amount of UV damage.
- davidf560 6y agoIf you're referring to where it appears to hit his head, he actually has on a "helmet" of sorts that's made out of rows of thin wire, so the arc is actually hitting that. The suit is not just for show - my understanding is it would be very dangerous to stand that close to those coils otherwise. I don't know all the ins and outs of the safety of interacting with these things, but I do think one concern if you were to get hit by one of the arcs is skin burns.
- 6c696e7578 6y agoSince we're talking about Toto's Africa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH9FyLsfDzw
- Baeocystin 6y agoLeo has a ton of fun tracks. Well worth a listen if you like slightly silly but technically solid metal.
- andrewflnr 6y agoI recommend his cover of Adele's "Hello" to everyone. He redeemed that song. It's clear after you listen his rendition that it was meant for metal. Ed: https://youtu.be/LtQUJMBH8uE https://youtu.be/LtQUJMBH8uE
- leeoniya 6y agolucky neighbors. (actually serious)
- FlyMoreRockets 6y agoIt would definitely be cool, unless you want to listen to the radio, watch TV, use WiFi, Bluetooth or have a pacemaker.
- growlist 6y ago'The internet is obsessed with two songs and two songs only. But for different reasons. The first is Smash Mouth’s “All Star.”'... 'The world wide web’s other musical obsession though legitimately rules—Toto’s “Africa.”' Surely this is in with a shout? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
- aries1980 6y agoReminds me the Four Horsemen of classical music in movies: - Chopin: Nocturnes Op 9 - Mozart: Requiem - Lacrimosa - Beethoven: Sonata No 14 (aka Moonlight Sonata), 1st Movement - Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody
- Splognosticus 6y ago> Beethoven: Sonata No 14 (aka Moonlight Sonata), 1st Movement Speaking of, anyone who's never heard the whole thing owes it to themselves to give it a listen. The 3rd movement is off the chain. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Tr0otuiQuU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Tr0otuiQuU
- grawprog 6y agoI should have known better than to click that link. First time being Rickrolled in years.
- borgatronics 6y agothis comment is rickblocking our friend
- growlist 6y ago:) I got one!
- voz_ 6y agoI think "Never gonna give you up" is different. It's the basis of a prank, it is silly, but it does not inspire the same level of dedication to re-creating or really any kind of creativity around musical effort as two other songs: - Sandstorm / Darude [1] - Africa / Toto "All star" is closer to "Never gonna give you up" due to it being a sort of tongue-in-cheek ironic kinda thing due to how bad it really is. "All star" also has close proximity to the Shrek based meme subcultures / trends, and gains popularity from that as well. (see: Shrek is love, shrek is life and similar greentexts) [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXfnrEguhxA&t=8s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXfnrEguhxA&t=8s
- jl6 6y agoI wonder what it would sound like playing in an empty mall.
- littleweep 6y agoI would have gone with something by AC/DC.
- dralley 6y agoMy favorite is this rendition of House of the Rising sun on two Tesla coils: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JH-YmzZgZ-Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JH-YmzZgZ-Q
- SeanLuke 6y agoIt sounds like he's playing more than two notes simultaneously in many places. How is he accomplishing this?
- jweather 6y agoCycling quickly between the frequencies. The modulation on the Tesla coils is fast enough for them to give the illusion of multiple notes.
- jules-jules 6y ago"Big Ideas: Don't get any" (Radiohead) played on old hardware. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmfHHLfbjNQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmfHHLfbjNQ
- Chris2048 6y agoplasma audio can be dangerous b/c of the ionisation; here is a guy who went around demonstrating one, who ended up with ozone poisoning: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msE14cWTwKI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msE14cWTwKI
- xster 6y agoWhat type of oscillator in basic synthesis would this sound be fundamentally broken down to? What's the physics behind it?
- neurostimulant 6y agoAlso you can hear AM radio transmission if you short the tower: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo9nGzIzSPw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo9nGzIzSPw Electricity is both awesome and terrifying
- _bxg1 6y agoHow long until Daft Punk incorporates some musical Tesla coils in a live show? Update: somebody beat them to it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psoLXEBmfRg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psoLXEBmfRg
- ninju 6y agoDon't forget that Africa is playing in the African desert right now... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCuP7ABO_Go https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCuP7ABO_Go https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/toto-africa-loop-african-desert-sound-installation-778767/ https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/toto-africa-lo...
- LeoPanthera 6y agoThere's no way that thing is still working, even if the story is true. (The location is "undisclosed" so it would be easy to just claim you did it but take it home with you.) If it really is still out there, it's not much better than litter.
- dpix 6y agoThis is awesome? Can anyone explain why all the notes are strung together with glissando? (like a slide on a guitar). I assume it somehow cannot react fast enough to produce the notes separately without sliding between them
- 1_person 6y agoAssuming this is the DRSSTC design I am familiar with it uses solid state switching with audio modulated interruption. The drive waveform is pulsed, the resonant frequency would typically be not significantly above the audible frequency range, and there's typically a few cycles of attack with active drive then several cycles of decay without active drive. There will consequently be a decent amount of smearing of fast notes and harmonic distortion but the interruption frequency shouldn't be sliding or anything.
- userbinator 6y agoAnother one previously on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21488786 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21488786
- rbanffy 6y agoOne of my favorites is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ. It HAD to be done.
- artistsvoid 6y agoNot sure if I can create some excitement for this here, but it doesn't seem completely off-topic. Immediately had to think of Animusic: "Unlike many other music visualizations, the music drives the animation. While other productions may animate figures or characters to the music, the animated models in Animusic are created first, and are then programmed to follow what the music instructs them to do."[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGCTLJDoMGw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGCTLJDoMGw This isn't my favorite, but the 'futuristic theme' makes it maybe more obvious why I immediately thought of it. I think I've seen all their stuff, and Tesla Coils creating music would have been right up their alley. These two are some of the best for sure https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlyCLbt3Thk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlyCLbt3Thk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41a3DR0sZ-c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41a3DR0sZ-c [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animusic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animusic
- andrewflnr 6y agoThose last two videos are absolutely delightful. Thanks for sharing.
- redler 6y agoAnd here's a real-world build of the Animusic Pipe Dream project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCIkbr9HCcw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCIkbr9HCcw
- Splognosticus 6y agoIf you like these you might also enjoy the Wintergatan Marble Machine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvUU8joBb1Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvUU8joBb1Q
- solarkraft 6y agoYour description immediately made me think of oscilloscope music, in which an image is made with 2 audio channels being shown on an oscilloscope: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XziuEdpVUe0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XziuEdpVUe0
- adrianmgs 6y agoI thought the internet was obsessed with one song and one song only: Darude’s Sandstorm. I’ll show myself out...
- mikehollinger 6y agoCheck out Arc Attack[1] (I've had the pleasure of seeing them live) for some other cool people doing neat things with tesla coils and music. They've done several different events, and even dress up in chain mail and dance around between the coils[2]. [1] https://arcattack.com/ https://arcattack.com/ [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5xSYNFNEjI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5xSYNFNEjI
- afandian 6y agoIn this vein, Device Orchestra's performance of Finlandia is masterful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOgd2B__X0k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOgd2B__X0k
- mark-r 6y agoThis completely out-geeks the PDP-8 I saw using timing loops to project songs to a nearby radio in the 1970's.
- tiborsaas 6y agoHe also made a this gem by Daft Punk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mjrzu23Lc-4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mjrzu23Lc-4 And one more: Mortal Kombat theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeeN9JKvay4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeeN9JKvay4
- oplav 6y agoUIUC usually has a "tesla coil concert" at Engineering Open House, which is basically a big multiday science fair thrown by the students in the College of Engineering. Here's last year's: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv1dY6C4WW8&t=1463 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv1dY6C4WW8&t=1463
- mfsch 6y agoPerhaps a bit off-topic, but the chorus of “Africa” is almost exactly 20 seconds long, so it is a great song to wash your hands to if you’re sick of “Happy Birthday“.