Dancing lights

[asorensen]

Okay I have been looking around for a while on the net and I cannot find a detailed enough answer or they're just pictures of what they made, basically I want to make a circuit where like a red light flashes to the beat, and a blue light flashes to vocals or higher pitched noises and green for middle somewhere:

Now the best I could come up with was my circuit diagram, now for example R1 would be more than R2 and R2 higher than R3:
R1Ω>R2Ω>R3Ω
or
R3Ω<R2Ω<R1Ω
and if the LED recieves enough power then it lights up.
thanks in advance for any help

 

[RadioRon]

You are looking for the classic "colour organ" or "color organ" circuit. We built these for small coloured lamps 30 years ago.

Here is a complicated one:
**broken link removed**

Here is a collection of circuits:
Color Organ Electronic Circuits


This is the type we built when we were kids:
Color Organ

If you are using LED's you need to make some changes. here is one example:

The Electronic Peasant's LED Color Organ Page

 

[Rippey574]

Just use band pass filters with the LED's.
This one uses coils to and capacitors to pass\restrict
**broken link removed**

I'm having a hard time finding the calculator that just uses capacitors and resisters (simplest to construct). I'll keep looking and post it if I find it. You can probably drop the resistors if you just using regular line level output. It will take away sound quality if you are amping the signal from the same line.

 

[Rippey574]

My other post hasn't made it yet, here is a good one to help make simple ones so you don't have to wind your own coil.
Sallen-Key Active Butterworth High Pass Filter Calculator
Where you see the op-amp just substitute it as a LED. The set up you have is a crude line level. If you wanted to make a line level go to radio shack and by a quad comparator IC.

 

[asorensen]

Ah thank you very much.

 

[Splicinglass]

LED Voltages

Maybe someone would be able to answer this question. Is it at all possible to use LED's when the voltage can vary from 1 Volt AC to 125 Volts AC? These LED's would not be specific to any one voltage, but able to handle all voltages in this realm? Realistic? If not, how can it become? Thanks, Carmine

 

[Rippey574]

Maybe someone would be able to answer this question. Is it at all possible to use LED's when the voltage can vary from 1 Volt AC to 125 Volts AC? These LED's would not be specific to any one voltage, but able to handle all voltages in this realm? Realistic? If not, how can it become? Thanks, Carmine

I don't think so, LED's on average cant take more then 23mA. resistors often are used to restrict current, but voltage surges will increase the amperage.

 

[Splicinglass]

LED substitute

Rip,
Thanks for the response. So given that an LED may not be the solution for the project, I am looking for some sort of alternative that would illuminate brightly, work on a multitude of unknown voltages, and have an exceptional life span. Is there such an animal? Thanks in advance. Carmine

 

[Rippey574]

Rip,
Thanks for the response. So given that an LED may not be the solution for the project, I am looking for some sort of alternative that would illuminate brightly, work on a multitude of unknown voltages, and have an exceptional life span. Is there such an animal? Thanks in advance. Carmine

Why wouldn't a standard multi-meter work? Their are some places that sell a tester with a neon that works from around 20v to 600v, you find them at a construction store, used to test wiring in houses and factories.

 

[PhillDubya]

Rip,
Thanks for the response. So given that an LED may not be the solution for the project, I am looking for some sort of alternative that would illuminate brightly, work on a multitude of unknown voltages, and have an exceptional life span. Is there such an animal? Thanks in advance. Carmine

IMHO, the best solution is not in the light source and adjusting it, but controlling the voltage and making that compatible with the LED's.

What source do you have that varies from 1V ac to 125V ac?

Is this in some way related to stained glass?

 

[audioguru]

Maybe someone would be able to answer this question. Is it at all possible to use LED's when the voltage can vary from 1 Volt AC to 125 Volts AC? These LED's would not be specific to any one voltage, but able to handle all voltages in this realm? Realistic? If not, how can it become? Thanks, Carmine

A VU meter circuit using an LM3915 has a range of 30dB which is 31.6 times. Each frequency band could have one.
Two LM3915 ICs can be cascaded to have a 60dB (1000 times) range.
three LM3015 ICs can be cascaded for a 90dB (31600 times) range.

 

[asorensen]

Also I was wanting the Circuit to light up LED's and LED's only.

 

[audioguru]

The LM3915 drives 10 LEDs.

 

[asorensen]

You are looking for the classic "colour organ" or "color organ" circuit. We built these for small coloured lamps 30 years ago.

Here is a complicated one:
**broken link removed**

Here is a collection of circuits:
Color Organ Electronic Circuits


This is the type we built when we were kids:
Color Organ


If you are using LED's you need to make some changes. here is one example:

The Electronic Peasant's LED Color Organ Page

So for that one you said you built as kids, do I connect the Speaker wires to the 8 ohm end of one transformer, but the other 170 V isolation transformer goes to nothing am I correct?