Beer Bottle Color Organ

This is a beer bottle version of the classic color organ, where different color lights are triggered by different frequencies of sound, resulting in a display that flashes along to music.

Please bear with me as this is my first instructable, and I didn’t start the documentation until after the project was finished.

This was one of those projects that just kept changing. I originally only wanted to make an interesting light for my little corner of the garage where I relax with a secondhand TV, a vintage pop machine full of cold drinks, and an old stereo. 

I began with inspiration from the “popcorn lamp” made by “i_make_stuff”.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Popcorn-Lamp/

Then I saw the Wine bottle accent lights made by “KEUrban”.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Wine-Bottle-Accent-Light/

So I decided to put lights into a few beer bottles, and mount them to a wood base. I don’t know where the idea to hook the entire project to a color organ came from, or how it changed from a string of lights to one large bulb, but I think it turned out nice.

Step 1: The light kits

I began with 2 ML1 light kits from Ramsey electronics. I bought them on sale for $36.00 each. I chose these over less expensive light kits because they were the only ones that I found that came with an outer case. Each kit took about two hours to assemble with about 70 electrical connections being soldered.

Comments

[KEUrban]

Nice instructable. Thanks for looking at and referencing mine!

[Build_it_Bob]

Any instructible that incorporates Electronics, Light and BEER is my idea of a great idea ,well done!
I think I am going to try something similar and light up a few favorite brands myself.
Thanks again!
Build_it_Bob

[tcorleone]

Wuuuuuu sweet tasta baby !

[thingy]

1000 internet points for Dueling Banjos.

[CrLz]

Cool project, can you explain the stereo connection steps in more detail?

[goaly]

When I was searching the internet for a color organ kit, I learned that there are two methods used to connect your lights to the music. One type of kit uses a built in microphone. While this would be the easiest, it would also pick any ambient noise, such as people talking nearby. The other version is wired directly to the speaker outputs on the back of your stereo. I chose this type because I wanted the lights to react only to the music that was being played.

In addition to being the only kit that I could find that came with an outer case, this one had the added benefit of having an RCA audio connection built right in. So all I had to do was run a spare RCA speaker cable from the back of the light kit to the speaker outlets on the back of the stereo. The connections on my stereo are made by securing a bare wire by means of a screw, so I just twisted the speaker and light kit wires together and tightened them to the back of the stereo. If your stereo had RCA type inputs, you could use splitters for each connection.