Voltaic Piano

2022
167x90x75 (height, width and depth)
Sound object made of pink cedar, naval plywood, polycarbonate, keyboard, electronic circuit, bipolar Tesla coil and piano bench
220V
SESI LAB DF Brazil Museum Collection

The Voltaic Piano is a piano that produces sound by generating electric arcs by a bipolar Tesla Coil. The electric arc heats the air around it, moving the particles back and forth at the frequency of the musical notes. This is how we can hear the sound produced by the keyboard. The timbre of the sound carries the characteristic crackling of electric sparks.

This work was commissioned by the SESI LAB DF Museum and sponsored by the Exploratorium San Francisco, California, USA.