Tesla coils have been used for all kinds of different reasons in entertainment. For decades, they’ve been making certain cinematic moments cooler, from the original Frankenstein to The Prestige. But did you know they can be also used to make music? One group in particular has turned Tesla coil music into an elevated art form. The collective known as ArcAttack has been designing musical Tesla coils systems and performing with them since 2005, primarily by shaking the air with electrical discharge.
Now, the musical pioneers at ArcAttack have created a new musical lightning storm: a super-charged version of the music one hears at 5PM in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The lead instruments in this video are actual bolts of artificial lightning, created in ArcAttack’s shop in Austin, TX. You can watch and listen to their full rendition down below:
If you get a kick out of this, then Arc Attack has a lot of electrically charged covers of well-known music on their YouTube channel. There are more than a few Metallica songs in there, including (of course) “ Ride the Lightning.” There’s even a version of Daft Punk’s “Derezzed” from the TRON: Legacy soundtrack. Even after all these years of using Tesla coils to create music, ArcAttack says that “the unique mysteries of these machines are still revealing themselves to us.” Their performances have gained attention not just online, but through years of live performances as well.
Arc Attack/YouTube
Hopefully, this isn’t the last Animal Crossing musical interlude that ArcAttack gives us. Anyone think that “New Leaf” or “Wild World/City Folk/Let’s Go to the City” might be next? We think they’re up to the challenge. Although, what we really want is for them to go old school and give us some Tesla-fied Super Mario music. Someone make that happen, please!
Featured Image: ArcAttack / YouTube