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all circuits are built according to the same principle, which is recommended to be understood so that the assembly no longer represents something impracticable and very complex.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 capacitance capacitor to smoothly dim the LEDs. Suitable, for example, KT470;
• 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.

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.

A very simple three-channel RGB color music on LEDs does not contain scarce or expensive components. All elements can be found in anyone, even the youngest radio amateur.
The operating principle of color music is classic and has truly become the most popular. It is based on dividing the sound range into three sections: high frequencies, mid frequencies and low frequencies. Since color music is three-channel, each channel monitors its frequency limit and when its level reaches the threshold value, the LED lights up. As a result, when playing music, a beautiful lighting effect is created when LEDs of different colors blink.

Simple color music scheme

Three transistors - three channels. Each transistor will act as a threshold comparator and when the level exceeds 0.6 Volts, the transistor opens. The transistor load is an LED. Each channel has its own color.
In front of each transistor there is an RC circuit that plays the role of a filter. Visually, the circuit consists of three independent parts: the upper part is the high-frequency channel. The middle part is the mid frequency channel. Well, the lowest channel in the diagram is the low-frequency channel.
The circuit is powered by 9 Volts. The input receives a signal from headphones or speakers. If the sensitivity is not enough, then you will need to assemble an amplifier stage on one transistor. And if the sensitivity is high, then you can put a variable resistor at the input and use it to regulate the input level.
You can take any transistors, not necessarily KT805, here you can even install low-power ones like TK315 if the load is only one LED. In general, it is better to use a composite transistor like KT829.

You can also take all the other components of the circuit there.

Assembly of color music

You can assemble the color music using wall-mounted mounting or on a circuit board, as I did.
No setup is needed, it’s assembled, and if all the parts are suitable, everything works and blinks without problems.

Is it possible to connect an RGB LED strip to the input?

Of course you can, to do this we connect the entire circuit not to 9 V, but to 12. In this case, we throw out the 150 Ohm quenching resistor from the circuit. We connect the common wire of the tape to plus 12 V, and distribute the RGB channels among the transistors. And, if the length of your LED strip exceeds one meter, then you will need to install transistors on radiators so that they do not fail due to overheating.

Color music at work

Looks quite beautiful. Unfortunately, this cannot be conveyed through pictures, so watch the video.

Structurally, any color and music (light and music) installation consists of three elements. Control unit, power amplification unit and optical output device.

As an output optical device, you can use garlands, you can design it in the form of a screen (classic version) or use electric directional lamps - spotlights, headlights.
That is, any means are suitable that allow you to create a certain set of colorful lighting effects.

The power amplification unit is an amplifier(s) using transistors with thyristor regulators at the output. The voltage and power of the light sources of the output optical device depend on the parameters of the elements used in it.

The control unit controls the intensity of light and the alternation of colors. In complex special installations designed to decorate the stage during various types of shows - circus, theatrical and variety performances, this block is controlled manually.
Accordingly, the participation of at least one, and at most, a group of lighting operators is required.

If the control unit is controlled directly by music and works according to any given program, then the color and music installation is considered automatic.
It is precisely this kind of “color music” that novice designers - radio amateurs - have usually assembled with their own hands over the past 50 years.

The simplest (and most popular) “color music” circuit using KU202N thyristors.

This is the simplest and perhaps the most popular scheme for a color and music console based on thyristors.
Thirty years ago I first saw a full-fledged, working “light music” up close. My classmate put it together with the help of my older brother. It was exactly this scheme. Its undoubted advantage is its simplicity, with a fairly clear separation of the operating modes of all three channels. The lamps do not flash at the same time, the red low-frequency channel blinks steadily in rhythm with the drums, the middle-green channel responds in the range of the human voice, the high-frequency blue reacts to everything else subtle - ringing and squeaking.

There is only one drawback - a 1-2 watt pre-amplifier is required. My friend had to turn his “Electronics” almost “all the way” in order to achieve fairly stable operation of the device. A step-down transformer from a radio point was used as an input transformer. Instead, you can use any small-sized step-down network trans. For example, from 220 to 12 volts. You just need to connect it the other way around - with a low-voltage winding to the amplifier input. Any resistors, with a power of 0.5 watts. Capacitors are also any, instead of KU202N thyristors you can take KU202M.

"Color music" circuit using KU202N thyristors, with active frequency filters and a current amplifier.

The circuit is designed to operate from a linear audio output (the brightness of the lamps does not depend on the volume level).
Let's take a closer look at how it works.
The audio signal is supplied from the linear output to the primary winding of the isolation transformer. From the secondary winding of the transformer, the signal is supplied to active filters, through resistors R1, R2, R3 regulating its level.
Separate adjustment is necessary to configure the high-quality operation of the device by equalizing the brightness level of each of the three channels.

Using filters, signals are divided by frequency into three channels. The first channel carries the lowest frequency component of the signal - the filter cuts off all frequencies above 800 Hz. The filter is adjusted using trimming resistor R9. The values ​​of capacitors C2 and C4 in the diagram are indicated as 1 µF, but as practice has shown, their capacity should be increased to at least 5 µF.

The filter of the second channel is set to medium frequency - from approximately 500 to 2000 Hz. The filter is adjusted using trimming resistor R15. The values ​​of capacitors C5 and C7 in the diagram are indicated as 0.015 μF, but their capacity should be increased to 0.33 - 0.47 μF.

The third, high-frequency channel carries everything above 1500 (up to 5000) Hz. The filter is adjusted using trimming resistor R22. The values ​​of capacitors C8 and C10 in the circuit are indicated as 1000 pF, but their capacitance should be increased to 0.01 µF.

Next, the signals of each channel are individually detected (germanium transistors of the D9 series are used), amplified and fed to the final stage.
The final stage is performed using powerful transistors or thyristors. In this case, these are KU202N thyristors.

Next comes the optical device, the design and external design of which depends on the imagination of the designer, and the filling (lamps, LEDs) depends on the operating voltage and maximum power of the output stage.
In our case, these are 220V, 60W incandescent lamps (if you install thyristors on radiators - up to 10 pcs per channel).

The order of assembling the circuit.

About the details of the console.
KT315 transistors can be replaced with other silicon n-p-n transistors with a static gain of at least 50. Fixed resistors - MLT-0.5, variable and trimmers - SP-1, SPO-0.5. Capacitors - any type.
Transformer T1 with a ratio of 1:1, so you can use any one with a suitable number of turns. When making it yourself, you can use a Sh10x10 magnetic circuit, and wind the windings with PEV-1 wire 0.1-0.15, 150-300 turns each.

The diode bridge for powering thyristors (220V) is selected based on the expected load power, minimum 2A. If the number of lamps per channel is increased, the current consumption will increase accordingly.
To power transistors (12V), you can use any stabilized power supply designed for an operating current of at least 250 mA (or better, more).

First, each color music channel is assembled separately on a breadboard.
Moreover, the assembly begins with the output stage. Having assembled the output stage, check its functionality by applying a sufficient level signal to its input.
If this cascade works normally, an active filter is assembled. Next, they check again the functionality of what happened.
As a result, after testing we have a really working channel.

In a similar way, it is necessary to collect and rebuild all three channels. Such tediousness guarantees the unconditional functionality of the device after “fine” assembly on the circuit board, if the work is carried out without errors and using “tested” parts.

Possible printed circuit mounting option (for textolite with one-sided foil coating). If you use a larger capacitor in the lowest frequency channel, the distances between the holes and conductors will have to be changed. The use of PCB with double-sided foil may be a more technologically advanced option - it will help get rid of hanging jumper wires.

Use of any materials from this page is permitted provided there is a link to the site

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, 4,026 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.