How did I miss this? These two Tesla coils are being controlled using something called a “Lippold Haken Continuum Fingerboard,” some sort of Midi device under the control of local musician/engineer Mark Smart. This March 7, 2008, performance was part of an open house for the university’s College of Engineering. The next time someone tries something this crazy on campus, please let Smile Politely know so that we can publicize it.
Here’s a lengthier cut of the song, if interested.
Here’s the full breakdown on the musical side of things, taken from the YouTube page. “Tesla coils were used to create musical pitches via a control system designed by university student Steve Ward. Two coils were used. The right coil is playing a prerecorded Midi track, acting as the bass, and the left one is performed live as a lead sound via the Continuum fingerboard. The Midi track as well as additional audio backing tracks were played via Cubase running on a Open Labs Neko workstation.”