Tesla coils take on Lady Gaga

(PhysOrg.com) -- In an amazing display of lights and sounds, the Open Spark Project and the Tesla Orchestra, formed from researchers at Case Western Reserve University, have taken Tesla coils to a whole new level. Their new Tesla Orchestra uses Tesla coils to covert music into an amazing display of lightning and sound.

An alternating current, or AC, generates each bolt of lightning. Given that it is an AC current, the bolt has a frequency that the operators can tune to represent different note on a keyboard. They designed a series of microchips and circuits that take a standard MIDI signal and convert it to a fiber optic signal that is sent to the Tesla coils.

The Open Spark Project put a call out to all musicians last month, inviting them to submit original songs that they could convert into their music light show. Because the Tesla coils are only capable of playing one note at a time, they asked the artists to create songs specifically designed for the coils. In their demonstration videos, where they take on the Lady Gaga hit “Poker Face”, they will take out and perform the melody part with the Tesla coils while playing a backing track to go along with it.

On June 11, 2011, they will be performing a live show at the Masonic Auditorium in Cleveland and will be showcasing the original songs from the various artists.

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