The Musical

Application of Teslas
Resonant Transformer
Zulma Garrido

A mechanical application is essential for the production of music, and it has been
harnessed in order to reproduce sound. Edisons phonograph is the ultimate example of
this mechanical application. The physical circular movement of a disc with grooves on it
is able to recreate the sound waves that were used to make those grooves with a stylus
connected through a pivot and into to a pressure sensitive diaphragm. However, the
technological development of electricity has also progressed to combine with these
mechanical applications for the production of sound and music. Instead of employing
varying vibrating systems to radiate sounds directly into the air, voltage controlled
electronic modules can be used to control frequency by applied voltage and electronically
change the sound waves produced. Because the use of voltage-controlled modules can be
applied to an electrical resonant transformer circuit, it can be turned into a musical
instrument.
More popularly known as the tesla coil, the electrical resonant transformer circuit
invented by Nikola Tesla produces electricity with a high-voltage, low-current, and high
frequency alternating-current. During the late 1800s, Tesla originally experimented with
this alternating current system (AC) in order to find an alternative to the direct current
(DC) electrical power transmitter. With the discovery that light was electricity, vibrating
at an extremely high frequency, Tesla found new possibilities for electricity. The product
was the Tesla Coil. This invention took ordinary household current and increased it to
extremely high frequencies, into the hundreds of thousands of cycles per second. In
addition to high frequencies, the coil could also generate extremely high voltages.
The tesla coil today is mainly used for educational purposes as well as it is used for the

makin
ng of music. However, out
o of the maany types off coils, solid--state coils aare
particcularly well suited to aud
dio modulatiion because of the very hhigh level off control oveer
the op
peration of the
t tesla systtem. The Sollid State Tessla Coils (SS
STC), are esssentially
comp
posed like an
ny other teslaa two-coiled
d resonant traansformer.

Teslas hiigh voltage resonant

r
tran
nsformer prooduces ionic emissions inn the form oof
electrrical discharrges through a relatively small energgy input and resulting in a significantt
increase of energ
gy output. Th
he process sttarts with thee high voltagge transform
mer charging a
u to a sufficcient voltagee, the spark gap
capaccitor. Once the capacitorr is charged up
conneected to it co
onducts by io
onizing the air
a in betweeen.

This spark gap triggers the circuit to oscillate between the two resonators as
shown above. In order to avoid the drop off of available current, the oscillation must
occur at a resonant frequency. To have a resonant frequency means that both resonators,
the primary and secondary, should be calibrated at the same frequency. However, as it is
apparent in the chart above, some decay still happens because some of the energy is
transferring in either the primary spark gap or due to the formation of sparks from the
secondary. Resonant frequency not only avoids a significant decrease in energy, but it
aids in the charging of the output terminal. Labeled Torus, the output terminal will
eventually become charged enough and the energy will be forced to escape in the form of
ionized air emissions, which is the lightning that is observed.
The coils can be manipulated through he use of audio modulation, giving way for
the production of varying sound pitches and therefore music. The particular type of coil

that is prone to this modulation is the SSTC and it is more popularly done so with
amplitude modulation (AM) and pulse repetition frequency (PRF). This is so because
there are two types of SSTCs, one with a continuous spark and one that only appears to
have a continuous spark because it produces sparks at several hundred times per second.
A continuous spark SSTC can be modulated with an AM. This controls the amount of
power put into the plasma flame in order to control the physical volume of the plasma.
This way the air surrounding the plasma will expand or contract thus producing the sound
waves that we perceive as musical tones.
The second type of SSTC can be modulated with pulse repetition frequency. This
is due to the non-continuous nature of the spark produced. PRF modulation affects the
frequency of the spark output coil. To get the musical tone desired, the solid state tesla
coil must be set to fire off sparks at a rate equal to the frequency of the note.
Essentially, the tesla coil is used as a type of synthesizer, but instead of a
diaphragm transducer form of a loudspeaker, it physically produced sound with a plasma
speaker. Both perform the same thing; they create a variation in air pressure in order to
create the electrical signals into sound waves. The only difference being that plasma is
not a solid and it is created with large amounts of high-energy electricity. This is an
example of how the technological development of electricity has progressed to allow the
direct combination of mechanical applications in order recreate sound to be negligible.
The tesla coil can be used in the production of sound and music almost entirely out of
electricity.

Works Cited

Anderson, Barton B. The Classic Tesla Coil: A Dual-Tuned Resonant Circuit. Rep. 24
Nov. 2000. Web. <http://www.tb3.com/tesla/tcoperation.pdf>.
Blake, Terry. "Tesla Coil Theory." Terry Blake Home Page. Web. 19 Dec. 2012.
<http://www.tb3.com/tesla/theory.html>.
Burnett, Richard. "Richie's Tesla Coil Web Page." Richie's Tesla Coil Web Page. Web.
19 Dec. 2012.
Gerekos, Christopher. The Tesla Coil. 2011. Web.
<http://www.teslacoildesign.com/docs/TheTeslaCoil-Gerekos.pdf>.
Glenn, Jim, and Margaret Cheney. "Tesla Life and Legacy: High Frequency." PBS. PBS,
2000. Web. 19 Dec. 2012.
"Musical Tesla Coils." Musical Tesla Coils. Web. 19 Dec. 2012.
<http://stevehv.4hv.org/MusicalSSTCs.htm>.