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OMG musical DRSSTC vids

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Steve McConner

Sun Jun 25 2006, 07:38PM

Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 04:52AM
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Posts: 3554

Hi all

I finally gave in and decided to post footage of me testing my OMG super secret musical DRSSTC. I designed it last year as a paid commission for a Danish arts group who wanted a chorus of six musical coils that could be played by MIDI. I made a single prototype to test it here, but they ran six coils together in the final system, built by Finn Hammer over in Denmark.

http://scopeboy.com/tesla/finns/musical_test_raw.mpg

http://scopeboy.com/tesla/finns/dazed-and-confrazzled.mpg

What I made was an adaptor board that connected the internal tone generators on a Roland JX-8P synth to one or more DRSSTCs. The board converted the volume envelope to burst length, so the harder you pounded the keys, the bigger the sparks got. Hitting a high pitched note hard would blow the fuses, and the MIDI arrangements had to take this into account.

Since it was a paid job, I guess I'd have to get their permission to show you the schematics, but I think I'll get away with pimping the movies now. I don't think I ever posted them on the forum before, although I might have posted in the #hvcomm chatroom.

"I mean, if 10 years from now, when you are doing something quick and dirty, you suddenly visualize that I am looking over your shoulders and say to yourself: 'Dijkstra would not have liked this', well that would be enough immortality for me."

Funky

Sun Jun 25 2006, 09:39PM

Registered Member #316
Joined: Mon Mar 13 2006, 07:30AM
Location: Marietta, GA
Posts: 209

That's awesome! I really want to see a video of all six going in harmony! Did you have to sheild the Roland?

I don't know how it works. I just build it the way you guys tell me to.

Part Scavenger

Sun Jun 25 2006, 09:54PM

Registered Member #79
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 05:35AM
Location: Arkansas
Posts: 661

That thing is...uh, FREAKIN' AWESOME!!!

I've heard about that and was planning to do that with my coil, but I'd never seen it done! "Sweet" doesn't describe! After that, I'm going to see if I can figure out how to hook my Strat into my DRSSTC. Talk about "electric guitar!"

Just doing my part to help replenish the ozone layer.
Coming soon:

Old Site Mirror:

Blackplasma

Sun Jun 25 2006, 10:03PM

Registered Member #63
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 12:18AM
Location:
Posts: 1368

omg wuv j00 steve! brilliant! =)

I've never built a DRSSTC, and probably never will (too noisy)

, but when I finish my digital electric 'cello project (of which a significant part of the system Avi correctly called an "analogue phased locked loop" LOL), I'm sure I'll have some SSTC goodness to go with it.

Maybe I can get corona to spray off the strings, too.. heh, yeah, right. =D

Desmogod

Sun Jun 25 2006, 10:35PM

Registered Member #139
Joined: Sat Feb 11 2006, 05:01AM
Location: Perth, Western Australia
Posts: 358

Outstanding!
Now I want a video of it playing "What's your frequency kenneth"

電光

Alex

Sun Jun 25 2006, 10:55PM

Geometrically Frustrated

Joined: Wed Feb 01 2006, 10:18PM
Location: Bowdoin, Maine
Posts: 407

Yeah, you must have posted it in the chatroom, because I have had those movies on my computer for quite some time. Very cool! It has a neat sound, and interesting dynamic characteristics.

So, when does the SSTC synth VST plug come out?

Object Manipulation is doing things with stuff.

Finn Hammer

Mon Jun 26 2006, 12:59AM

Registered Member #205
Joined: Sat Feb 18 2006, 05:59AM
Location: Hobro, Denmark
Posts: 403

All,

Steve built the controlling electronix, I built the coils and organized the venue. J.S.Bach wrote the music:

At the premiere, the music was written by Palle Vang, another short snip:

Funky wrote ...

Did you have to sheild the Roland?

In a way. The Roland did not fare well with the back EMF trough the 6 coax signal lines to the controllers, so I built a fiber optic connection instead.

Cheers, Finn Hammer

...

Mon Jun 26 2006, 01:11AM

Registered Member #56
Joined: Wed Feb 08 2006, 11:02PM
Location: Southern Califorina, USA
Posts: 2118

I soo want to build a drsstc now just so that I can do that to it

To quote the police chief at me eagle court of honor:

I am a man of few words... How can I describe a man like you... Wow... Amazing...

check out my website!

Plasmaniac

Mon Jun 26 2006, 03:27AM

Registered Member #206
Joined: Sat Feb 18 2006, 09:17AM
Location: Germany, Duesseldorf
Posts: 72

Great work! I actually thought I could be the owner of the first "musical DRSSTC" with my nanoDRSSTC, but as I see now, you have been building one before I only had the idea...

Reaching

Mon Jun 26 2006, 04:27AM

Registered Member #76
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 04:04AM
Location: Hemer, Germany
Posts: 429

very great work steve, now im really impressed.
if you cant show us the shematics, can you explain it a bit more how it actually works? im very interested in building this musical interrupter

from what i understand the on time stays the same all the time and you produce the sound by variing the off time between the cycles. thats not too hard to build with a simple pll and a lot of keys, but with a real midi input its difficult i think

Visit my new Website

, in German but soon in English

WaveRider

Mon Jun 26 2006, 04:36AM

Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 03:00AM
Location: Hasselt, Belgium
Posts: 430

I love it! Especially the Bach piece (too bad it's not longer)...Great work Finn and Steve!!!

"Work is the curse of the drinking classes." Oscar Wilde

Steve McConner

Mon Jun 26 2006, 04:41AM

Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 04:52AM
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Posts: 3554

Thanks for posting that movie Finn!

And thanks for hiring me to design the musical bit. Anyway, we're not going to publish the schematics or tell you how it works. And the VST plugin has to wait till Terry Fritz can get 60fps out of his streamer modelling code.

EastVoltResearch

Mon Jun 26 2006, 06:48AM

Joined: Thu Feb 02 2006, 07:11AM
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Posts: 2203

Awesome Steve. Geesh, you're even more goofy in person. Probably shouldn't have shot the video with you in it!

Just kidding.
Anyways, good work. Wonder if i can hook that thing up to a piano! Sounds like i may have to dig the ole DX7 out of the attic, if it still works.

Is there capability of of playing two-notes together, or do you have a lock-out feature which prevents that from happening?

Anyways, nice. Now you have both hobbies combined!

wrote ...

Great work! I actually thought I could be the owner of the first "musical DRSSTC" with my nanoDRSSTC, but as I see now, you have been building one before I only had the idea...

Plasmaniac,

The idea isn't new. In fact, both Steve's, and myself, as well as others, have already coupled a keyboard to the DRSSTC. But definitely not cool like this with the features Steve has incorporated. Also, Alan Sharpe had musical SSTCs going long before us.

Click here for DRSSTC Books and Board Kits, Plasmasonic Boards, CM600 Driver Boards
Do NOT send me PMs regarding DRSSTC or related design questions. Please use the forum.
If you send me a PM of that nature, I will delete it. Thank you.

Blackplasma

Mon Jun 26 2006, 07:11AM

Registered Member #63
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 12:18AM
Location:
Posts: 1368

The "I give you this organ music--" clip, judging from the distortion when the camera goes near one of the coils is.... LOUD!

Huge volume of air being moved, in person you must be able to literally feel the sound... I love it!

Avalanche

Mon Jun 26 2006, 07:45AM

Registered Member #103
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 02:16PM
Location: Derby, UK
Posts: 597

That's incredible, just from watching the vids especially Finn's first vid. I can't imagine what it must be like to actually be in that room (apart from deafened

)

So where is the whole system now? Is it going to be used for anything else?

Also, how did a Danish arts group find out that musical Tesla coils existed?

"I've lost track of where all the different burning smells are coming from..."
"Is the water off? I need to cut this hose" ... "That's not a hose you idiot, that's the 3-phase!"

vasil

Mon Jun 26 2006, 07:51AM

Registered Member #229
Joined: Tue Feb 21 2006, 01:33PM
Location: Romania
Posts: 444

...Woo, your coils are cool Steve!"....

I will not be able to replicate this ever...:(

Sparking all the time

Steve McConner

Mon Jun 26 2006, 08:37AM

Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 04:52AM
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Posts: 3554

Haha Dan. As soon as I get my teeth fixed, I'm coming over to America to kick your ass. Or to save the hassle I might just get Emilie Autumn to kick it for me.

The keyboard has a button to select monophonic or polyphonic mode. With one coil connected, it had to be set to mono mode and could only play one note at a time. I did try wiring up all six voices to the same coil so it could play chords, but that caused huge power draw. If you played a three note chord with middle C as the root, the coil ended up doing around 800bps on average. >_<

Musical SSTCs have been around for a while, true enough, but ours was the first to go up to 11.

Reaching

Mon Jun 26 2006, 09:53AM

Registered Member #76
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 04:04AM
Location: Hemer, Germany
Posts: 429

mhh, to bad that you cant give us an example, but thats no problem, i need only a few days to prove my variation of this, of course no midi but 2 octaves or someting like this to play with. with a slightly changed version of my pll interrupter that should be no problem.
ha, going to build a keyboard

Visit my new Website

, in German but soon in English

Steve Ward

Mon Jun 26 2006, 11:18AM

Registered Member #146
Joined: Sat Feb 11 2006, 10:21PM
Location: Skokie, IL.
Posts: 890

Yep, Conner's setup beats my simple zero cross detector that i used to pump sound from my DRSSTC. It did work with electric guitar and bass at very low volumes, but as i turned up the power, the noise from the DRSSTC would couple back to my input signal and cause it to go nuts. Finn has the right idea with fiber optic isolation. BTW, the coil sounded like the crunchiest guitar distortion you've ever heard... sorta interesting, but definately not within my musical tastes!

EastVoltResearch

Mon Jun 26 2006, 12:28PM

Joined: Thu Feb 02 2006, 07:11AM
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Posts: 2203

Here is another MIDI controlled audio modulated DRSSTC system. Not sure who did it though.

http://members.thegeekgroup.org/~capper/midisch.html

Dr. Spark

Mon Jun 26 2006, 02:02PM

Registered Member #290
Joined: Mon Mar 06 2006, 02:24PM
Location: Arizona, USA
Posts: 1119

Steve C. and Finn,

Hey, thanks for sharing video’s, they are cool indeed! I think one of the great positives about this forum is the motivation and inspiration acquired from all the nice cool projects presented!

Only issue: I just do not have enough time to try all the neat projects and Tesla Coils presented on this Forum. The videos of the singing coils made my day!

Cheers,
ch_r

A man’s existence is not about making a name; it is about making a life!
youtube@

coils @

Finn Hammer

Mon Jun 26 2006, 02:11PM

Registered Member #205
Joined: Sat Feb 18 2006, 05:59AM
Location: Hobro, Denmark
Posts: 403

blackplasma wrote ...

The "I give you this organ music--" clip, judging from the distortion when the camera goes near one of the coils is.... LOUD!

This distortion, and bandwidth, is the reason for the short clip. The rest of the original clip I walked all the way around the coils, and back but I thought it best not to confuse the listener with the added distorted bit.

Avalanche wrote ...

So where is the whole system now? Is it going to be used for anything else?

Also, how did a Danish arts group find out that musical Tesla coils existed?

A short resume of this project. During 2004 I had modified a cheap toyshop syntesizer into triggering my OLTC coil, so that it could put out single notes at a time.
In the town where I live, we have an anual "art night", where local artists show what they are doing. Painters, sculptors, choirs, the lot.
I was showing this very crude musical coil in front of the church.
The leader of the music school got very interested, and we agreed to make a performance together the next year, which was 2005 and so the group was formed around the idea of the Tesla Organ. Steven was willing to make the electronics and a dance group joined too.
That, in short, is how.
The coils are here with me, and I am of course looking for a proper chance to present it for a larger audience. I`l keep you posted when I find the right time and place.

Cheers, Finn Hammer

Michael W.

Mon Jun 26 2006, 05:24PM

Registered Member #50
Joined: Wed Feb 08 2006, 10:07PM
Location: Vernon, B.C, Canada
Posts: 325

History tends to dictate that we as a people like to combine favorite things, in this case; Tesla Coils and music. Now we just have to come up with a way to combine 4hv's favorite thing; tesla coils with the worlds favorite things; food, women and fighting....

Haikus are easy
but sometimes they don't make sense
refridgerator

Hazmatt_(The Underdog)

Mon Jun 26 2006, 05:30PM

Registered Member #135
Joined: Fri Feb 10 2006, 06:06PM
Location: Stanton CA.
Posts: 1247

wow...this is such great stuff. the Fugue just blew me away, its always been a favorite. I'd love to have multiple octaves, I just don't have the kind of 'play time' necessary. I hope after graduation though.

Maybe Ill play guitar through the fist one for fun.

"Our five year mission to find new answers, methods and determinations to solving old problems with Tesla Coils, to seek out new simulations and approximations.... To Boldly go where no amature has gone before!" *intro Star Trek theme*

*guess im over the whole website loss thing by now... now to get $$ for a website...mmm*

coaster_chris

Tue Jun 27 2006, 01:56PM

Registered Member #359
Joined: Sat Apr 01 2006, 03:27AM
Location: Utrecht, The Netherlands
Posts: 16

Conner you're a sick man!!!

Holy crap, that is brilliant dude!!

I could only dream of getting stuff like this working!

Chris

~ Resonant Arcs ~ //Tesla Coil Design & Development (Under Construction)

Reaching

Tue Jun 27 2006, 03:37PM

Registered Member #76
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 04:04AM
Location: Hemer, Germany
Posts: 429

mhh, today i tried my idea of a musical interrupter and it worked fine, its not that difficult than i thought when you use a simple keyboard without all that midi stuff, okay its not that confortable but it works fine and you need only 1 ic for everything and its no yC.

Visit my new Website

, in German but soon in English

Avalanche

Tue Jun 27 2006, 04:27PM

Registered Member #103
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 02:16PM
Location: Derby, UK
Posts: 597

I've already started working on a version as well

No midi from me either I'm afraid, not yet anyway. Mine is just an SSTC - it can do CW so it can do chords too!

If it gets to the point where it is impressive, I'll start a thread in projects.

"I've lost track of where all the different burning smells are coming from..."
"Is the water off? I need to cut this hose" ... "That's not a hose you idiot, that's the 3-phase!"

teravolt

Tue Jun 27 2006, 10:36PM

Registered Member #195
Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 02:27PM
Location: Berkeley, ca.
Posts: 426

that is very cool!!! can you play any audio like voice or music

Reaching

Thu Jun 29 2006, 04:17PM

Registered Member #76
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 04:04AM
Location: Hemer, Germany
Posts: 429

i finally did it and it sounds almost like an electric guitar. okay im not the best musician so i made a video with a simple baseline or something.

Visit my new Website

, in German but soon in English

Dr. Spark

Thu Jun 29 2006, 06:12PM

Registered Member #290
Joined: Mon Mar 06 2006, 02:24PM
Location: Arizona, USA
Posts: 1119

Reaching,
Cool, can you share your schematic?

B.T.W., I like your base on the DRSSTC, nice work!

Steve C,
Ohhhhhhhhh goodness, your smiling….the ladies are going to bang on your door “Can Steve come out and play?”

Cheers,
Ch_r

A man’s existence is not about making a name; it is about making a life!
youtube@

coils @

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