Advice for first project using LEDs and sound.

Development Boards Arduino
1

Hi all,

I’m seeking some advice on hardware for a project. This will be my first time using arduino and when I took on the project and accepted the brife I knew I would be using one and I have a keen interest in what can be achieved.

The project involves using a 2m RGB digitaly assignable led strip which will be attached to the edge of a 10cm thick circle donut Perspex sheet, which will be attracted to a Mythophone. The idea is to have a single led illuminate in white and chase around the circle Perspex at the speed of 33rpm like a vinyl record spinning. The Led also need to hear the music coming from the Mythophone and as music hits different frequencies the led changes colour.

It would be great to get some advice on which arduino to purchase and what other bits of hardware I would need. Ideally it would be good to run the power from batteries but also have an option to use mains power. What hardware would I need to pick up audio.

Also I’d like some advice on the programming side of things. Can anyone point me in the right Direction as to what scripts I should be looking at so I can program the arduino.

Many thank in advance.

2

A link to the LED strip would be nice. Otherwise people are left guessing as to what protocol it uses. Any sort of diagram or explanation of a “Mythophone” would be nice too. I had (?have?) no good idea of what it is and so I think you need some device that does the following functions;

  • hears the music (a microphone, stereo or mono or ?)

  • analyses the music and computes the “level” in each of some TBD frequency bands (how many bands ? what range of loudness ?)

  • turns on a single LED in the string of X LEDs at some rate, changing the LED (sequentially) at LED/Y msecs

  • changes the color of that LED based on the frequency analysis (according to what algorithm ?)

An Uno or Redboard

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12757

plus a spectrum shield

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10306

might, maybe do the analysis.

I’m not sure what you need for a mic but either of the above Arduino’s should be able to drive your LED string.

As for power … I need more info on said string.

The idea is to have a single led illuminate in white and chase around the circle Perspex at the speed of 33rpm like a vinyl record spinning. The Led also need to hear the music coming from the Mythophone and as music hits different frequencies the led changes colour.

So it's really not white is it ? Or is it ? What do you want ?
3

My guess is that you are going to be using a neopixel strip for the addressable LEDs. If that is the case, I’m going to suggest any of the 5v Arduinos versus the 3.3v models. I am using a 3.3v model because all of the sensors I am using for my project are 3.3v only. This proposed a problem for my ability to drive the SINGLE 5mm neopixel I want to use. I may have to use a logic level converter to get 5v out to the neopixel. That’s pretty disappointing. If you are going to be using sensors or breakout boards, check the voltage requirements for each and choose the right Arduino based on that. When choosing my components I had many options. I elected to go with the 3.3v because I could get everything in that voltage except the neopixel. Many of the components did not have 5v counter parts and I didn’t want to have a mixture.

Good luck. If you want better advice, we need better details.