Awesome Sound

Franzoli Electronics is a master at making music with electricity. We’ve heard a number of his Tesla coil tunes, now he’s turned his attention to a new type of high-voltage instrument – a couple of old flyback transformers from CRT televisions, rigged to spark against a metal plate. So sit back and enjoy plasma-powered versions of Popeye’s theme and the music from Super Mario World.

Each year, members of Goodwood Road & Racing show off their cars on track at the famed British venue. This video showcases the best sounding engines and exhaust notes from their 82nd Members Meeting, including exotics like the GMA T.50S and Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3. But it’s the Capris and Minis buzzing about that won our hearts.

Chibson USA is known for designing quirky and humorous products for guitarists. While some of them are clearly fake, they do occasionally turn them into real products. Danny Jenkins couldn’t wait for them to make their Wah Slip-Ons wearable effects pedal, so he made his own with the help of a little tape.

Comedian and beatboxer Afonso Rodrigues has a impressive and uncanny talent. He’s able to make it sound like his voice is creating an echo. He doesn’t just have one echo sound either – he can create doppler effects and can pull off echoes in both English and Portuguese. His echo mountain trick is crazy.

Stressed after a long day at work? Head over to the Pluvior website, go full screen, and unwind to the pitter-patter of raindrops on your screen. As the virtual rain falls, you can tweak other sounds like wind, lightning, and urban ambiance. We wish the raindrop simulation was tied to the sound intensity, though.

We’ve heard the phrase “singing sands” but never really knew what it meant. James from Atomic Frontier headed to Australia to explore why some sand makes a squeaking noise when you walk on it. After putting some of the rare squeaky sand beneath a microscope, he explains how sand dune can make a much larger sound under the right conditions.

Auto mechanics hear all kinds of weird stories about cars and the problems they’re having. Just Rolled In offers up another amusing video of strange sounds that cars are making, then follows them up with the description provided by each customer. Our favorite is the defective blend door actuator, which sounds exactly like the intro to Hot for Teacher.

Using lasers to clean metal can be very satisfying to watch. But with a powerful enough laser and a dirty enough surface, it can also be a feast for the ears. This short video shows how a fiber laser not only removes dirt from a rusty hunk of metal, but it sounds awesome doing it. Be sure to turn your volume up for maximum enjoyment.

Jan Hakon Erichsen does just the kind of ridiculous stuff that we’d do if we were performance artists. He spends much of his time popping balloons in creative ways, but this reel reveals his appetite for destruction of pasta. We hope he cooked some of those noodles after he cracked them.

Medicom Toy and Rinaro created this official BE@RBRICK Bluetooth speaker. The bear-shaped speaker has four drivers in its head and outputs 360º audio. Its track and volume controls are activated bb the bear’s hands. Its battery offers up to 6 hours of playback per charge, and two BE@RBRICK speakers can be paired together. Available in clear, smoke, and black.

Stand next to a spinning jet engine, and you’re likely to experience an ear-splitting volume of about 140 to 150 decibels. But that’s nowhere near the loudest sound in recorded history. This short video from Great Big Story explains the insane 310-decibel sound that could be heard more than 3,000 miles away from its source.

During a visit to 3M’s Innovation Center, James from The Action Lab checked out two very different rooms they use to test sound waves. The first is an anechoic chamber that deadens sound reflections, while the reverberation chamber is designed to reflect sounds. Then, he tested various sounds to see how differently they behave in each space.

The sounds you hear in movies can dramatically enhance what you see on screen. But other than dialogue, most movie audio isn’t created on the soundstage, it’s added in post-production by foley artists and sound editors. Paul E.T. explores the importance of sound effects, music, and speech in filmmaking.

GLASYS has perfected the art of performing music which also is a drawing. This time, he used his own likeness as the subject for a musical portrait. The tune sounds like the soundtrack from an underground level of an 8-bit platform game. His composition Spectro Dragon is also quite special.

Upgrade your gaming audio with this desktop sound system from OXS. The Thunder immerses you in sound thanks to 10 audio channels, upward-firing drivers, and a satellite neck surround speaker. It supports Dolby Atmos and has built-in LED lighting that can react to on-screen action. ScorpioTech checked out early review unit.

After building an organ out of Furbies and an orchestra out of LEGO, musical hacker Look Mum No Computer has unveiled his latest creation, an army of interconnected Teletubbies who wiggle and giggle in sync thanks to a custom controller system. The sound of 30 Pos and LaLas is just as annoying as you might imagine.