[PBS Digital Studios intro] [IOTBS intro] I'm here with Dianna from Physics Girl and we're here in Austin, Texas at ArcAttack Studios "Howdy" and this is king beat I just took a spin through the car wash to spruce up for our shoot today notice how the water beads up and rolls off my sweet frame King Beat I don't think you're waterproof [GLITCHING] I just took a spin... [GLITCHING] Don't worry he does that all the time I'm sure that we can fix this So what is ArcAttack This is ArcAttack [MUSIC] Arcattack makes music using singing Tesla coils the notes that you hear are coming right out of the air they're actually made by the electricity [MUSIC] but before we explain how these coils make music we have to explain what a Tesla coil is [APPLAUSE] In the late 19th century Nikola Tesla divides the machine that he claimed to one day transmit electricity around the world without wires instead using the air and even Earth itself ultimately the Tesla coil failed to revolutionize how we power our lives but they're still really cool a Tesla coil is basically a big transformer when they're not hanging with Shia Labeouf, a transformer's job is to amplify voltages and Tesla coils do this using a trick called resonance a Tesla coil is a transformer this one's a little special because it uses a tuned secondary coil so the top load and the secondary coil form a tuned circuit so that means that every time we put energy into ahead its resonant frequency the voltage of the top load gets higher and higher, until eventually it gets so high that it becomes a lightning bolt so putting in energy at the resonant frequency means you're matching the frequency that you're pumping energy in with the frequency that this is oscillating yeah exactly and every time you're putting energy into the system is still is retaining some of the energy from the last cycle so that's why it keeps building up it's because it's storing it Imagine you're pushing a kid on a swing set by pushing at exactly the right moment even small forces can add up keep pushing at the right moment and you could send the kid flying over the top Well so we don't usually think of the air as a conductor but this is making just so much voltage that it makes that happen yeah the atmosphere will actually break down and become a conductor when you see the purple spark you're seeing the nitrogen in the air ionized so that means that we're just trading electrons between atoms ok so that's how Tesla coil works but how do you make music with one so we've all listen to a speaker where the the membrane of the speaker is vibrating air at a specific frequency so that's actually pushing the molecules of air back and forth that reaches our ears and we hear that frequency with a Tesla coil as your ionizing the air it's getting really really hot and the air is expanding so you're getting these shock waves at the right frequency to make a note let's say you wanted to make like an eighth note 440 Hertz we're actually making 440 pops per second exactly So how do you get lightning to strike 440 times per second I'll use a computer controller we're here with John from arcattack John how do you turn music into lightning so as a composer of architect I write the music and then I converted into a format called MIDI, and MIDI is essentially a musical programming language and once I get the midi file all composed, I put it onto one of these guys a little SD card and we plug it into this box down here this box takes the MIDI and transmits it to the Tesla Coils over a fiber optics cable like this guy right here and once it gets to the Tesla Coil it interprets that MIDI data and tells it to play a certain note, say we want to play the note A which is 440 Hertz we turn the smart on and off 440 times a second the end result is just about the most electrifyingly, entertaining thing I've ever seen but you know what they say, you never really understand an instrument until you play it the idea of this suit is that I am becoming a human Faraday cage faraday cages are pretty complicated but an easy way to put it is it keeps the voltage potential of your body all the same right so if your head is at a million volts and your feet are also at a million volts then your whole body is has zero volts of potential and you need a voltage potential in order to be electrocuted I'm ready [MUSIC] In the Faraday suit any exposed skin can leave me burned or electrocuted I'm also wearing a hat so my hair the catch on fire I wanted to shoot lightning from my fingers but with hundreds of thousands of volts in my hand a fist is a much safer shape [MUSIC] So singing Tesla coils aren't the only thing that ArcAttack does Why don't you follow me over to Dianna's channel we've got another video about how electromagnets can be used to blow up cans Goggle up [LOUD NOISE] Oh and if you want to know what is like to be inside those Tesla coils we shot a 360 video and it is pretty awesome, links to all that down and description and uh Stay Curious Brought to you by Chet Hesterson's Robot Chassis Wax, keep that chsssis looking classy with Chet Hersterson's Robot Chassis Wax what are you talking, like It's for the sponsors I get 50 bucks every time I say that, it was in my contract we want to say a big thanks to Darren from beyond slow motion for all the awesome slo-mo footage go check out his YouTube channel it is awesome stuff