I built this for a school art project to compare the similarities and differences between art and science. It was inspired by Walter Giers' work.
The three strips of LEDs and another ring in the middle, all respond to music which comes from either a source in the room, or an iPod or CD player plugged into the device. The box then reacts to the music, changing the background colour, rate of change and flashing ring in the middle, according to the music played.
The device can also pick up the sound of a conversation in a room if no music is playing, and so respond to this sound.
It was a fun project which looks great on the wall afterwards, filling the room with a great atmosphere.
The three strips of LEDs and another ring in the middle, all respond to music which comes from either a source in the room, or an iPod or CD player plugged into the device. The box then reacts to the music, changing the background colour, rate of change and flashing ring in the middle, according to the music played.
The device can also pick up the sound of a conversation in a room if no music is playing, and so respond to this sound.
It was a fun project which looks great on the wall afterwards, filling the room with a great atmosphere.
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Signing UpStep 1: What you need
Tools:
- solder iron & tin
- Dremel or other small drill
- hot glue gun
- lighter
- screws and screw driver
- double sided tape (Normal & heavy duty)
Supplies:
- 30cm x 50cm wood board
- 30cm x 30cm x 5cm milky acrylic glass box (with 1cm x 1cm x 1cm cubes in the bottom corners, best with a hole in them)
- two 30cm x 10cm acrylic glass panels
- white sticky plastic wrap
- 90cm RGB LED strip
- 10 cm diameter White LED ring
- 3 RGB LED controllers (With IR remote controls)
- IR remote control for LED controller
- amplifier
- Speaker
- RF sound input controller
- lots of wire
- adapter for controllers used
- shrink tube
- Old CPUs for decoration
- 40cm x 20cm x 2cm wooden frame
- solder iron & tin
- Dremel or other small drill
- hot glue gun
- lighter
- screws and screw driver
- double sided tape (Normal & heavy duty)
Supplies:
- 30cm x 50cm wood board
- 30cm x 30cm x 5cm milky acrylic glass box (with 1cm x 1cm x 1cm cubes in the bottom corners, best with a hole in them)
- two 30cm x 10cm acrylic glass panels
- white sticky plastic wrap
- 90cm RGB LED strip
- 10 cm diameter White LED ring
- 3 RGB LED controllers (With IR remote controls)
- IR remote control for LED controller
- amplifier
- Speaker
- RF sound input controller
- lots of wire
- adapter for controllers used
- shrink tube
- Old CPUs for decoration
- 40cm x 20cm x 2cm wooden frame
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However, electronic music like Kraftwerk tends to work better. :)
Although it works pretty well with heavy metal
Really nice project!
I don't have any electronic skills but I don't understand how this thing works.
1) why do you need 3 rgb controllers? The RF sound input controller seems to be an rgb controller/amplifier Why can't you use it to drive the 3 led strips+the led ring. How are the 3 rgb controller linked to the sound source?
2)What is the speaker here for?
3)How do you switch from the embedded mic to the aux line-in?
I would love you to provide some schemes or some more details about this very very nice project!
Thanx!
I basically used 3 RGB controllers so that each row of lights would be a different colour, and not all be the same.
The RF sound input controller is a RGB controller, but I only connected it to the white ring in the middle because i thought that if it was connected to them all, there would be too much going on. With just the one being effected by the music there is a nice balance.
I basically designed this thing for an art project so had to think about the colour distribution, but theoretically, the three RGB LED strips and the LED ring can all be connected in different ways.
the 3 rgb controllers aren't connected to the sound source, they are just a background colour, only the ring is connected to it, but again, you can go through the RF sound input controller to change this.
The speaker is basically there so that you have sound. You connect your ipod or cd player into it and it plays the sound close to the mic of the RF sound ic which picks it up more easily this way.
To switch to the aux line-in, there is a little audio input jack on the side of the rf sound ic which can be used. However, again due to the fact that this was used for an art project based on Walter Giers, I decided to use the wireless method as it looked better in my opinion.
I'll have a look if I can get some more detailed cicuit diagrams up of the whole device :)
Thanks a lot
Hope this helps
Kaba
The arty side of the project confused me a bit I think :) Some things didn't seem logical in the wiring and all but after your explanation everything seems clearer!
Nice idea and realisation!
See ya!