Introduction: Simple IPod Music Playing Box - Dancing LEDs

By TheTechHelpDude
About: I make tutorials.. WOOO! Check me at - http://www.youtube.com/user/TheTechHelpDude
This is a pretty simple dancing light tutorial.
Here's a video of it in action...


What you'll need:
TIP31 Transistor (MUST HAVE (for dancing lights anyway)) - $1 at Radio Shack
3.5 Jack (aka any old headphones) - Find some under the bed
Singing Card OR small speaker - Have a birthday and get a singing card
2 Super Bright LEDs (You can add more, just add more voltage) - I pulled mine out of a book reading light
9v Battery

What is optional:
Electrical or Masking tape
Random switches
Knife or other sharp cutting device
Thin see-through plastic
Lighter
Wire strippers

Step 1: Prepare Wiring

Pull out the speaker from the singing car and take the circuit board off. You will be left with just the speaker and 2 wires coming off of it (usually white)

Most headphone interior wiring is laced with acrylic paint (which gives it the color) 
This paint IS NOT conductive, so in order to use headphone wires, you MUST burn off the paint,
The easiest way it to simply use a lighter and light it on fire, blow it out once it has burned, and light it again until the copper wiring turns a faint orange meaning all the paint is gone.
Here is a video demonstration..

Step 2: Wire Everything

Wire everything together like shown..

9v+++LED---+++LED---+++Middle prong on TIP31
Speaker to ground on TIP31 and to either the red or green wire from 3.5 jack.
3.5 jack, red or green to speaker, other to input on TIP31, and brown to ground.

Step 3: Shove It All in the Box

Carve out some holes in the top for the LEDs to stick out of, OR you can just leave them inside the box and it will light up from the inside,
Add switchs for cool looks, and if you want, wire them in. Tape everything down to keep it from flying around when you carry it around..

Step 4: Add Looks

Add a window by cutting out the letters (I did mine poorly)
Tape a thin plastic backing on the inside of the lid to keep people from sticking their fingers in the box
I got the thin plastic from a product casing, anything will work though.

Step 5: DONE!

Plug her in to you iPod or iPhone and listen and watch your music!

Things to add:
A mic?
Make it prettier
Better speaker
More lights!!!

I hope you enjoyed my Inscructable, check out my YouTube channel for a lot of tutorials too!