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Lak · 06-30-2007, 08:29 AM

Not really sure where I should put this... mods feel free to move it.

Inspired by Steve Ward's Amazing Singing Tesla Coil, and other projects located here, here and here (my personal favourite), I wish to construct and use a tesla coil for musical purposes.
Its sick and wrong, and tricky, I know, but holy crap do I ever want one.

I have never constructed a coil before, but have enough skill that I could create one from schematics and I understand that basic principles. However, what i [i]think]/i] I need is a solid-state coil, which is considerably more complicated. Here are some of the main issues I can think of and my proposed solutions, hopefully someone with more knowledge can throw me some pointers.

1) Its a tesla coil.
The most obvious problem is the vast amounts of stray voltage yearning to reach out and kill my gear. What I have in mind is a device like this, with two towers (even if the second on is just a fake which is grounded) to give the coil a favourite discharge spot, so it won't be tempted to go anywhere expensive.

2) Transformer voltage
Interfacing a 12V DC keyboard controller with a bajillion volt resonating coil can't be safe, for the gear or the player, so drawing on ideas from these guys, I think it'd be good to introduce an optical data link to break the physical connection between the systems. This could be done with a cheap laser pointer or IR send/rec LEDs (I think).

3) Modulation
I have no idea how I'd modulate the signal to the appropriate frequency. The chap from the above video (this one) discussed his design at some stage and mentioned he simply turned the coil on and off at the specified frequency, which was being given by the signal generator on an old roland JX-8P. When you're talking tesla coil modulation, some folks get hardcore, but all I really want is a monophonic thing.

The remaining issue is, even with the discharges contained, whether this kind of thing could be operated in proximity to, well, anything else. Ideally it'd be a modest thing in a wooden box that I could use alongside my other instruments, but most tesla coils will light a flouro tube without touching it, so theres a good chance that this type of EMF would seriously fuck with my other gear (not to mention the theremin).

Ideas, criticisms and pointings-out of further issues to conquer, please. Particularly if you have experience with either tesla devices or synthsizers.

06-30-2007, 08:29 AM	#1 (permalink)
Lak Insane Location: New Zealand	Ambitious Project - Tesla Synth Not really sure where I should put this... mods feel free to move it. Inspired by Steve Ward's Amazing Singing Tesla Coil, and other projects located here, here and here (my personal favourite), I wish to construct and use a tesla coil for musical purposes. Its sick and wrong, and tricky, I know, but holy crap do I ever want one. I have never constructed a coil before, but have enough skill that I could create one from schematics and I understand that basic principles. However, what i [i]think]/i] I need is a solid-state coil, which is considerably more complicated. Here are some of the main issues I can think of and my proposed solutions, hopefully someone with more knowledge can throw me some pointers. 1) Its a tesla coil. The most obvious problem is the vast amounts of stray voltage yearning to reach out and kill my gear. What I have in mind is a device like this, with two towers (even if the second on is just a fake which is grounded) to give the coil a favourite discharge spot, so it won't be tempted to go anywhere expensive. 2) Transformer voltage Interfacing a 12V DC keyboard controller with a bajillion volt resonating coil can't be safe, for the gear or the player, so drawing on ideas from these guys, I think it'd be good to introduce an optical data link to break the physical connection between the systems. This could be done with a cheap laser pointer or IR send/rec LEDs (I think). 3) Modulation I have no idea how I'd modulate the signal to the appropriate frequency. The chap from the above video (this one) discussed his design at some stage and mentioned he simply turned the coil on and off at the specified frequency, which was being given by the signal generator on an old roland JX-8P. When you're talking tesla coil modulation, some folks get hardcore, but all I really want is a monophonic thing. The remaining issue is, even with the discharges contained, whether this kind of thing could be operated in proximity to, well, anything else. Ideally it'd be a modest thing in a wooden box that I could use alongside my other instruments, but most tesla coils will light a flouro tube without touching it, so theres a good chance that this type of EMF would seriously fuck with my other gear (not to mention the theremin). Ideas, criticisms and pointings-out of further issues to conquer, please. Particularly if you have experience with either tesla devices or synthsizers. __________________ ignorance really is bliss.