Lightning effect using camera flash units

Step 8 The color organ

I was lucky enough to find this homemade color organ circuit at a yard sale.  You can find kits on the internet, for example here , or pre-made circuits.  For safety, be sure to properly package the circuit and include a fuse.

The camera flashes on their own are not very spectacular as a lightning effect, and the color organ alone is also kind of boring, but the combination is very effective.  The camera flash goes off at the beginning of the thunderclap, followed by the flickering lamps as the rolling thunder sound continues.

Plug 3 extension cords into the color organ, and run them to lamps around the house.  I had 4 lamps in 4 rooms, so I plugged 2 of the lamps into one channel of the color organ (be careful not to exceed the wattage rating of the color organ circuit).