musical beat thief

No we're not stealing musical beats of any kind but we are going to make leds flash to music using a joule thief circuit with a slight modifacation

Step 1 Finding parts

you could buy parts or salvage them like I did , but anyways you need :

toroid bead
3.5mm audio jack
thin wire
led (any colour)
270 ohms resistor (red,violet,brown,gold)
s9014 transistor or equivalent
stripboard (optional)

( http://www.datasheetcatalog.org/datasheet/auk/STS9014.pdf ) datasheet for the transistor.

Comments

[jacob5680]

 I think I blew up my transistor while soldering ( way to hot ) and the transistor is actually emitting sound... O_O I can hear the beats of my music from the transistor

[frag_bomb]

you should deffiently put that on youtube =D

[jacob5680]

 
Fixed the problem by reversing the resistor and ground. :P

[derbert]

(removed by author or community request)

[derbert]

i used a transistor that went red, violet, red, gold. does that matter?

[PyroMonger]

Its not a transistor its a resistor you are talking about and perhaps it should of been mentioned that you need an NPN transistor not a PNP one.

[derbert]

yh yh cheers my bad. my transistor is the kind detailed. just wondered if the resistance was wrong and needed changing.

[frag_bomb]

yes it does , at that resistance i dont think it will work but depends on your input i suppose

[PyroMonger]

nice ible anyway...I've got a strip of 3 blue LEDs wired to my laptop subwoofer for some sweet ground effects everytime the bass kicks...I love it....I did this for my friend's car too...underdash lights that go with the beat. I LOVE LEDs ^_

[tinkerman92]

hopefully not wired directly in after the amp because if it is it can make for bad sound quality or even damage your system

[PyroMonger]

u cant wire it b4 the amp or it wont light up...the amp gives it the extra power it needs to be lit because the louder i play musisc the brighter the LEDs. No problems so far and have this set up for almost a year now

[derbert]

what input would you suggest?

[frag_bomb]

at that resistance probably not sound, lower your resistor value and try with whatever musical device you can plug it into

[zoltzerino]

would a bc108 c work??? ZZZZ

[frag_bomb]

see no reason why not, try it

[zoltzerino]

I have just made the 'standard' JT I have no resistor before the base and I am using a bc108c. It only works with AAAs not AAs it just flickers with AAs. Current overpowering tran??? ZZZZ

[frag_bomb]

try it with a resistor you need it to determine the current output of the transistor ....... i think

[zoltzerino]

I made a MBT and it works, I even split the audio so i can listen and flash! Although it only flashes at a painfully high volume, is it my bc108 (do I need a low voltage transistor) or have I got the wrong amount of turns on my toroid??

[frag_bomb]

Well done on making it, i think a lower voltage transistor would be best you want a lower emitter - base voltage to get it to flash at lower volume.

[zoltzerino]

ok thanks

[Biotele]

can you post a video of the LED flashing to the music?

[frollard]

The solder DID ruin the photo - the camera focused on the solder instead of the project! ....USE MACRO MODE FOR CLOSEUP PHOTOS!!! :D If you don't have macro mode, then since its gonna get sized down by instructables, then take a picture, in focus, from farther away - then crop it. Pictures aside - neat project! Extremely low lowpass filter :D

[Kokkan]

We have a photographer in here RESPECT

[zoltzerino]

Restecpt. Ali G... IN DA HOWS!

[ironsmiter]

hmm. I wonder if anyone knows(or knows how to calculate) the resistor value to put one of these IN-LINE with a headphone speaker. I'm thinking a nice blue led synced with the music on my headphones. I get music, and the people around me get a light show!

[Emsaid]

the solder didnt ruin anything... ...the picture already was ruined! (Just kidding!!) Very cool!

[hominid]

Very good and clear. I like the new use for the JT. Thanks.