Homemade color music. Color music using powerful LEDs

Step-by-step assembly of a simple design of LED color music, with a passing study of amateur radio programs

Good afternoon, dear radio amateurs!
Welcome to the website ““

We assemble LED light music (color music).
Part 1.

At today's lesson in Beginning radio amateur school we will start collecting LED light music. During this lesson, we will not only assemble light music, but also study another amateur radio program "Cadsoft Eagle"– a simple, but at the same time powerful, comprehensive tool for the development of printed circuit boards and we will learn how to make printed circuit boards using film photoresist. Today we will choose a circuit, look at how it works, and select the details.

Light and music (color and music) devices were very popular during the Soviet Union. They were mainly three-colored (red, green or yellow and blue) and were most often assembled using the simplest circuits on more or less affordable KU202N thyristors (which, if my memory serves me correctly, cost more than 2 rubles in stores, i.e. were quite expensive) and the simplest audio frequency input filters on coils wound on sections of ferrite rods from radio receivers. They were made mainly in two versions - in the form of three-color spotlights on 220-volt light bulbs, or a special case was made in the form of a box, where a certain number of light bulbs of each color were located inside, and the front of the box was closed with frosted glass, which made it possible to obtain a fancy look on such a screen. light accompaniment of music. Also, ordinary glass was used for the screen, and small fragments of car glass were glued on top of it for better light scattering. It was such a difficult childhood. But today, in the age of the development of incomprehensible capitalism in our country, it is possible to assemble a light and sound device for every taste, which is what we will do.

We will take as a basis LED light circuit diagram published on the website:

To this diagram we will add two more elements:

1. . Since we will have a stereo signal at the input, and in order not to lose sound from any channel, or not to connect two channels directly to each other, we will use the following input node (taken from another light-music circuit):

2. Device power supply . We will supplement the light and music circuit with a power supply assembled on a KR142EN8 microcircuit stabilizer:

This is approximately the set of parts we need to assemble:

LEDs for this device can be used of any type, but they must be super-bright and of different colors. I will use ultra-bright, highly directional LEDs, the light from which will be directed towards the ceiling. You, of course, can use a different option for the light display of the sound signal and use a different type of LEDs:

How does this scheme work? . The stereo signal from the sound source is supplied to the input node, which sums the signals from the left and right channels and feeds it to variable resistances R6, R7, R8, which regulate the signal level for each channel. Next, the signal goes to three active filters, assembled according to an identical circuit using transistors VT1-VT3, which differ only in capacitor values. The meaning of these filters is that they pass through only a strictly defined band of the audio signal, cutting off the unnecessary frequency range of the audio signal from above and below. The upper (according to the diagram) filter passes the band 100-800 Hz, the middle one – 500-2000 Hz and the lower one – 1500-5000 Hz. Using trimming resistors R5, R12 and R16, you can shift the transmitted band in any direction. If you want to obtain other signal bandwidths of the filters, you can experiment with the values ​​of the capacitors included in the filters. Next, the signals from the filters are sent to microcircuits A1-A3 - LM3915. What kind of microcircuits are these?

LM3914, LM3915 and LM3916 chips from National Semiconductors allow you to build LED indicators with various characteristics - linear, stretched linear, logarithmic, special for monitoring an audio signal. In this case, LM3914 is for a linear scale, LM3915 is for a logarithmic scale, and LM3916 is for a special scale. We use LM3915 chips - with a logarithmic scale for monitoring the audio signal.

The initial page of the microcircuit datasheet:

(327.0 KiB, 4,279 hits)

In general, I advise you that when faced with a new, unknown radio component, look for its datasheet on the Internet and study it, especially since there are also datasheets translated into Russian.

For example, what can we glean from the first sheet of the LM3915 datasheet (even with minimal knowledge of English, and in extreme cases, using a dictionary):
- this microcircuit is an analog signal level indicator with a logarithmic display scale and a step of 3 dB;
– you can connect both LEDs and LCD indicators;
– indication can be carried out in two modes: “dot” and “column”;
– maximum output current for each LED – 30 mA;
- and so on…

By the way, what is the difference between a “dot” and a “column”. In the “dot” mode, when the next LED is turned on, the previous one goes out, and in the “column” mode, the previous LEDs do not go out. To switch to the “point” mode, just disconnect pin 9 of the microcircuit from the “+” power source, or connect it to “ground”. By the way, these microcircuits can be used to assemble very useful and interesting circuits.

Let's continue. Since alternating voltage is supplied to the inputs of the microcircuits, the glowing column of LEDs will have uneven brightness, i.e. As the input signal level increases, not only will successive LEDs light up, but their brightness will also change. Below is a table of the threshold activation of each LED for different microcircuits in volts and decibels:

Characteristics and pinout of transistor KT315:

This concludes the first part of the lesson on assembling LED light music and begins to assemble the parts. In the next part of the lesson, we will study the PCB design program “Cadsoft Eagle” and make a printed circuit board for our device using film photoresist.

With coming! The New Year is approaching, which means it’s time to urgently create the mood! Well, as always, at this time of year, dozens of electronic circuits of various color and music installations are born.

What unique masters can’t come up with. From three-color blinkers to multi-beam laser systems controlled via a MIDI interface.

As a big fan of the so-called addressable LEDs, I want to show you a very simple and amazing color music. I've never seen anything like this before. Until I assembled it in one evening. So, sound visualizer!

Instructions

The scheme is very simple!


You will need an Arduino Nano, or Uno. Or which one do you have? Two potentiometers, five resistors, a pair of capacitors and a line (strip) of 180 WS2812b LEDs. All! There can be 60, 120 or 180 LEDs in the line.

In the visualizer, using the fast Fourier transform algorithm, 8 frequencies are selected (the sensitivity threshold for each frequency is different, decreasing from 1 to 8), converted to color and displayed on a line of LEDs using one of eight algorithms. The sketch was written by Michael Krampas, the guys from Chip and Deep added functionality, and the library for LEDs and fast Fourier transform (FFT) was written in Adafruit for the Piccolo project. The FFT library for 128 points, adapted for AVR microcontrollers, is written in assembler.

The sketch itself and the FFT library need to be downloaded and .

Don't waste time analyzing algorithms, just assemble, upload a sketch and enjoy the show.
It's just entertainment!

When you turn it on for the first time, you need to do a couple of settings:

Brightness: hold color button when power on. The first 8 LEDs will display a rainbow of LEDs. Use the param knob to change the brightness. When finished, press the color button again and your configuration will be saved into memory.

LED strip length: hold down the pattern button when turning on the power. One, two or three red LEDs will be displayed. Use the param knob to select the length of the LED strip depending on the number of red LEDs:

1=60 LEDs
2=120 LEDs
3=180 LEDs

When finished, press the pattern button again and your configuration will be saved into memory.

Algorithms

Dancing plus: audio peaks are emitted from the center of the strip and disappear as they approach the ends. The speed of the peak is proportional to the magnitude of the audio signal of that peak.

Dancing minus: same as Dance Party, but the signal spikes are emitted from one end.
Pulse: Signal peaks appear as bright pulses that come from the center of the strip. The pulse width depends on the signal level.

Light strip: the entire strip is illuminated in peaks.

Color stripes: Signal peaks appear as colored bars that disappear.

Color stripes 2: similar to colored stripes, but each stripe shrinks and disappears.

Flashes: Signal peaks are displayed as an LED flash at a random location. The initial color is white and then fades through another color.

Fireflies: signal peaks appear as single LEDs in a random location, and they move left or right and disappear. Their speed depends on the size of the signal.

Color schemes

Random two-color scheme: two random colors are selected and only these are used to display signal peaks. Over time, new colors will be selected. Use param to adjust how quickly the color scheme changes. If the "parameters" potentiometer knob is in the up position, the colors will change frequently and each signal peak will have a new color. I recommend installing the handle in the middle.

Rainbow: All signal peaks appear as the same color (with a small amount of random variation) and this color changes like a rainbow over time. The speed of color change is set by the param potentiometer.

Colored Frequencies: In this mode, each signal peak is colored depending on the frequency band where it is located. The lowest band is red, and further up the spectrum. There are 8 frequency bands: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, indigo, violet, white. This color mode is most interesting when the frequency response is set to all frequency bands.

Frequency range: you can control the frequency range to which color music responds. To set the range, press and hold both buttons. Use the param knob to select how many of the eight frequency ranges will be shown. If you want to highlight the bass and rhythm of the music, set the frequency response to only the lowest 2 or 3 bands. If you want to show all frequencies in the music (such as vocals and higher instruments), select all frequency bands.

This is a video instruction for setting up and also a demonstration of the visualizer in operation. There are two musical compositions at the end with different algorithms.

One more composition

Guys! And ladies of course. I really want you to have time to make this simple design for the New Year holiday. You will not regret! Guests will be shocked!

Happy New Year 2018!

Added 12/15/2017 Epilogue or debriefing
1. How to change the backlight during pauses?
2. Is it possible to change the dynamics?
3. How to connect a strip with a number of LEDs other than 60/120/180?
Plus an updated scheme has been published. Don't worry, we only added one resistor.
There are two weeks left until the New Year. Will you have time to collect?

Added 06/09/2018
Made the backlight settings:
sketch and diagram.
Let's use it like this.
Background lighting:
During pauses, the background lighting is turned on, i.e. the entire line will glow in the color you choose and with the selected brightness.
Color: Set the PARAM2 potentiometer to the middle position and press the Background button once. The LED bar will light up. Rotate the PARAM2 potentiometer, the color of the ruler will change from red to purple. Select a color and click the Background button again.
Brightness: Set the potentiometer to the minimum position (knob all the way clockwise) and press the Background button. The line will go out. Slowly rotate the PARAM2 potentiometer knob to select the desired backlight brightness and press the Background button again. The brightness values ​​will be written to the microcontroller memory.

Beginner Radio Amateur Competition
“My amateur radio design”

Competition design for a beginner radio amateur
“Five-channel LED color music”

Hello dear friends and site guests!
I present to your attention the third competition work (second competition of the site) of a novice radio amateur. Author of the design: Morozas Igor Anatolievich:

Five-channel LED color music

Hello radio amateurs!

Like many beginners, the main problem was where to start, what my first product would be. Started with what I wanted to purchase a home first. The first is color music, the second is a high-quality headphone amplifier. I started from the first one. Color music using thyristors seems to be a hackneyed option, so I decided to put together color music for LED RGB strips. I present you with my first job.

The color music scheme was taken from the Internet. Color music is simple, with 5 channels (one channel is white background). You can connect an LED strip to each channel, but for it to work at the input you need a low-power signal amplifier. The author suggests using an amplifier from computer speakers. I went from a complicated point, to assemble an amplifier circuit according to the datasheet on a TDA2005 2x10 W microcircuit. This power seems to me to be enough, even with a reserve. I diligently redraw all the diagrams in the sPLAN 7.0 program

Fig. 1 Color music circuit with an input signal amplifier.

In the color music circuit, all capacitors are electrolytic, with a voltage of 16-25v. Where it is necessary to observe polarity, there is a “+” sign; in other cases, changing the polarity does not affect the blinking of the LEDs. At least I didn't notice it. KT819 transistors can be replaced with KT815. Resistors with a power of 0.25 W.

In the amplifier circuit, the microcircuit must be placed on a radiator of at least 100 cm2. Electrolytic capacitors with voltage 16-25v. Film capacitors C8, C9, C12, voltage 63v. Resistors R6, R7 with a power of 1 W, the rest 0.25 W. Variable resistor R0 - double, with a resistance of 10-50 kohms.

I took a factory switching power supply with a power of 100W, 2x12v, 7A

On a day off, as expected, a trip to the radio market to purchase radio parts. The next task is to draw a printed circuit board. For this I chose the Sprint-Layout 6.0 program. It is recommended by radio specialists for beginners. It is easy to study, I am convinced of this.

Fig 2. Color music board.

Fig 3. Power amplifier board.

The boards were manufactured using LUT technology. There is a lot of information about this technology on the Internet. I like it when it looks factory, so LUT did the parts too.

Fig 3.4 Assembling radio components on a board

Fig 5. Checking functionality after assembly

As always, the most “difficult” thing when assembling a radio circuit is to assemble everything into a housing. I bought the case ready-made at a radio store.

I made the front panel this way. In the Photoshop program, I drew the appearance of the front panel where variable resistors, a switch and LEDs should be installed, one from each channel. The finished drawing was printed with an inkjet printer on thin glossy photo paper.

I glue photo paper onto a degreased prepared panel with holes using wood glue:

Then I place the panels under the so-called press. For a day. As a press, I have a 15 kg barbell plate:

Final assembly:

Here's what happened:

Attachments to the article:

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Dear friends and site guests!

Don’t forget to express your opinion on the competition entries and take part in voting for your favorite design on the site’s forum. Thank you.

Some suggestions for those who will repeat the design:
1. You can connect speakers to such a powerful stereo amplifier, then you get two devices in one - color music and a high-quality low-frequency amplifier.
2. Even if the polarity of connecting electrolytic capacitors in a color music circuit does not affect its operation, it is probably better to observe the polarity.
3. At the color music input, it is probably better to install an input node for summing signals from the left and right channels (). According to the author, judging by the diagram, the high-frequency color music channel (blue) is supplied with a signal from the right channel of the amplifier, and the remaining color music channels are supplied with a signal from the left channel of the amplifier, but it is probably better to supply a signal to all channels from the audio signal adder.
4. Replacing the KT819 transistor with KT815 implies a reduction in the number of possible LED connections.

Homemade color music

Homemade color music in the interior of your own car will be of interest to all lovers of beautiful disco music. Making it with your own hands is absolutely easy.
Color music at home can be quickly and easily assembled if you know some of the nuances of the circuit and its correct installation.

Color music schemes in cars

A large number of homemade color music schemes are published on amateur radio forums. Some of them are intended only for experienced, others for beginners.
In principle, all circuits are built according to the same principle, which is recommended to be understood so that the assembly no longer represents something impracticable and very complex.

Simple scheme

Even a schoolchild can assemble color music using this scheme, because it consists of only one transistor. Its name is KT815G.
This color music can be assembled using diodes borrowed from a simple flashlight.
Everything is done as follows:

• We divide the LEDs that we removed from the flashlight in half;
• We find a suitable box in which we will assemble our circuit. In this case, instead of a box, a rectangular plastic box from used shoe polish is ideal;
• We take out the switch. It will change the light-music mode to simple lighting.

Note. The LEDs will flash with bass and the higher the volume, the brighter they glow. As for the channels, two are enough, not connected to the speaker.

• The power source in our case will be three AA batteries;
• All that remains is to put the homemade color music in the trunk and enjoy the effect.

Complex circuits

They will allow you to create more professional schemes from the user's point of view.

First version of the scheme

It is assembled on five diodes. All of them are five millimeter and 3 V, have clear lenses. The transistor used is KT815 or KT972. Its task is to strengthen and act as a key.
Everything is done like this:

• Power is supplied from 2 1.5-volt batteries;
• There are respectively two inputs for music: X1 and X2;
• In place of LED3 we install a red diode, the remaining remaining pairs will be blue and green;

Note. As a result, we get a very successful color and music scheme. The LEDs glow very effectively to the beat of the music, the circuit consumes little current, and low frequencies are reproduced simply superb. You just need to be careful: the LEDs may not be able to withstand loud music and burn out.

Second version of the scheme

We find the KT817 transistor, wires, headphone plug and SD tape.
Started:

• We solder the transistor according to the following scheme;
• Then the CD tape is added and everything is moved to the luggage compartment of the car.

Light music from garlands

A completely successful solution that will require the use of light bulbs from New Year's garlands:

• Garlands (see) need to be collected together in several pieces and secured with electrical tape;
• Make an adapter to connect to the head unit and connect the wire.

Note. The circuit in this case will involve eight twisted pair conductors, which transmit the signal from the contacts of the control unit to the color music control unit.

Color music from LEDs

An original scheme for making beautiful color music. In this case, you need a housing made of plexiglass.
Let's get started:

• We select two plates measuring 5x15 cm and two square plates 5x5 cm;
• A couple of holes are made in one of the parts (for power supply and headphones);
• We mat and sand all the plates;
• We find LEDs that we also matte for a better effect;
• We assemble the body using a heat gun, which is ideal for working with plexiglass;
• Now we assemble the electrical circuit for color music according to this diagram:

• We connect the wire from the headphones with the corresponding connector to the car radio and enjoy the effect.

The plexiglass case can be installed in the car interior, anywhere. Everything will depend on individual preferences, wire length, etc.
During the work process, the following must be taken into account:

• The output voltage of the adapter and the rated voltage of each diode must be interconnected. In other words, the total number of diodes involved in the circuit must equal the ratio of the adapter's output voltage.

Note. As an example, if the adapter is 12V, and the voltage for each diode is 3V, then the total number of LEDs should be 4.

• It is advisable to use a 3-core wire, one of the wires of which should be left unused.

Circuit with signal from speaker

Another popular scheme for creating color music.
We do the following:

• We take the signal from the speakers (see).

Note. In this case, it is very important not to short-circuit the output of the SPD*. For this purpose, we solder only one wire.

UZP* - Sound card amplifier

• Arranges the switch so that it turns on the LEDs based on music;
• We select the resistance according to the diagram below, where the rating for turning on one diode is indicated;

Note. If the color music will be assembled from 4 LEDs, then the R value should be equal to 820 Ohms.

Popular multi-color scheme

Another common scheme involves the possibility of increasing nutrition. This will be especially true if a chain of many LEDs is used.
The scheme is like this:

• There should be two frequency filters. They allow HF and LF to pass through at the input;
• The signal then goes to the amplifier stages, and then to the LEDs;
• It is recommended to connect inputs 1 and 2 to the source speaker.

Advice. If you want to make color music brighter, then you just need to reduce the resistor values ​​to a couple of hundred, and change the transistors to KT817.

This scheme has one advantage that no other has: the ability to use LEDs of any color.
So, when playing low-frequency bass, the red LED will blink, while playing midrange and high-frequency – green. As for setting the brightness, it is regulated by the sound volume rotary: the higher the sound, the brighter the glow.

Car ceiling in LEDs

If you wish, you can not only arrange something similar to a disco in the car, but also build a backlight that would either turn on separately or be associated with music playback. This operation also involves the use of LEDs.
“Starry sky” on the ceiling of the car will look wonderful. This type of lighting, it turns out, has been practiced for a long time, and not only in cars, but also in our own apartments.
This scheme can be used in different ways:

• Place the LEDs evenly, in any shape or like a certain figure;
• Use light bulbs of different power, simulating the glow of stars (bright/not bright);
• Use different ceiling backgrounds. For example, you can drag it black.

Creation instructions:

• We drag the ceiling of the car;
• We assemble or purchase a current stabilizer.

Note. It is very important at this stage to do everything correctly. Otherwise, you will have to dismantle the assembled ceiling if the diodes burn out. To avoid this situation, you need to check the circuit after assembly (find out how many volts and how much current the circuit has). An old power supply from a computer is suitable as a test unit.

• We use a large capacitor to smoothly dim the LEDs. For example, KT470 is suitable;
• Place the diagram in a matchbox;
• We check the operation by connecting three LEDs and one resistor in series;
• On the ceiling, we insert LEDs into the holes, which are fixed on the back side with glue;
• We also attach the switch and stabilizer.

Note. The LEDs can be grouped in groups of 3 and connected to a resistor, and then the groups can be routed to the stabilizer in parallel.

That's it. We hope that the reader will be able to choose something for himself from the given diagrams. Just remember to take care not to turn on beautiful color music while the car is moving. This greatly distracts you from the road and can cause an accident.
In the process of working with your own hands, a video review on the topic, photos - materials, diagrams, etc. will be useful. Instructions similar to those given above can be found in other articles on our site. The price of independently creating and installing color music is considered the lowest in the world of auto tuning, because consumables can also be made by yourself.

Do-it-yourself color music - what could be more pleasant and interesting for a radio amateur, because it is not difficult to assemble if you have a good circuit.

In modern radio engineering there is a huge variety of radio elements and LEDs, the advantages of which are difficult to doubt. A wide range of colors, bright and rich light, high speed of response of various elements, low energy consumption. This list of advantages can be continued endlessly.

The principle of operation of color music: LEDs assembled according to the circuit blink from an existing sound source (this can be a player or a radio and speakers) at a certain frequency.

Advantages of using LEDs over those previously used in CMU:

• luminous saturation of light and a wide color range;
• good speed;
• low energy consumption.

The simplest schemes

A simple color music that can be assembled has one LED and is powered by a 6–12 V DC source.

You can assemble the above circuit using an LED strip and selecting the necessary transistor. The disadvantage is that there is a dependence of the LED blinking frequency on the sound level. In other words, the full effect can be observed only at one sound level. If you lower the volume, there will be a rare blinking, and if you increase the volume, a constant glow will remain.

This drawback can be eliminated using a three-channel sound converter. Below is a simple circuit; it is not difficult to assemble it with your own hands using transistors.

Color music circuit with three-channel sound converter

This circuit requires a 9-volt power supply, which will allow the LEDs in the channels to light. To assemble three amplification stages, you will need KT315 transistors (analogous to KT3102). Multi-colored LEDs are used as a load. A step-down transformer is used for amplification. Resistors perform the function of adjusting LED flashes. The circuit contains filters for passing frequencies.

The scheme can be improved. To do this, you need to add brightness with 12 V incandescent light bulbs. You will need control thyristors. The entire device must be powered from a transformer. You can already work according to this simplest scheme. Color music using thyristors can be assembled even by a novice radio technician.

How to make color music using LEDs with your own hands? The first thing you need to do is select an electrical circuit.

Below is a diagram of a light and music system with an RGB strip. For such an installation, a 12 volt power supply is required. It can work in two modes: as a lamp and as a color music. The mode is selected by a switch installed on the board.

Manufacturing stages

It is necessary to make a printed circuit board. To do this, you need to take foil fiberglass with dimensions of 50 x 90 mm and a thickness of 0.5 mm. The board manufacturing process consists of several stages:

• preparation of foil PCB;
• drilling holes for parts;
• drawing paths;
• etching.

The board is ready, components have been purchased. Now begins the most crucial moment - the wiring of radio elements. The final result will depend on how carefully they are installed and sealed.

We assemble our printed circuit board with the components soldered on it into such an accessible lampshade.

Brief description of radioelements

Radioelements for an electrical circuit are quite affordable; purchasing them at your nearest electrical goods store will not be difficult.

For color and musical accompaniment, wirewound resistors with a power of 0.25–0.125 W are suitable. The amount of resistance can always be determined by the colored stripes on the body, knowing the order in which they are applied. Trimmer resistors can be both domestic and imported.

Capacitors produced by industry are divided into oxide and electrolytic. It won’t be difficult to select the ones you need by doing basic calculations. Some oxide capacitors may have a polarity that must be observed during installation.

You can take a ready-made diode bridge, but if you don’t have it, then a rectifier bridge can be easily assembled using diodes of the KD or 1N4007 series. LEDs are taken as usual, with a multi-colored glow. The use of LED RGB strips is a promising direction in radio electronics.

LED RGB strip

Possibility of assembling a color and music console for a car

If you manage to please with color music from an LED strip made by yourself, then a similar installation with a built-in radio can be made for a car. It is easy to assemble and quick to set up. It is proposed to place the set-top box in a plastic case, which can be purchased in the electrical and radio engineering department. The installation is reliably protected from moisture and dust. It is easy to install behind the dashboard of your car.

You can also make a similar case yourself using plexiglass.

The plates of the required dimensions are selected, two holes are made in the first part (for power supply), and all parts are sanded. We assemble everything using a heat gun.

An excellent lighting effect is achieved if you use multi-colored (RGB) tape.

Conclusion

The well-known saying “it is not the gods who burn the pots” remains relevant today. A diverse range of electronic components gives craftsmen wide scope for imagination. DIY color music on LEDs is one of the manifestations of limitless creativity.