Sometimes you really want to create a bright light show at home, invite friends, turn up the music louder and plunge into the atmosphere of a disco. There are usually no problems with music and friends, but organizing color music can be quite problematic. Even the simplest lighting effects sometimes cost a lot of money, and besides, they are not sold in all stores. What to do if the desire to enjoy the lights blinking to the beat of the music does not fade away? There is a way out - to assemble the color music yourself.

Color music scheme

The circuit is as simple as boots, it contains only three transistors and a handful of resistors with capacitors. It contains three filters for low, medium and high frequencies, so this color music can be called three-channel. The red LED lights up when the audio signal is dominated by low frequencies, the blue LED responds to mid frequencies, and the green LED responds to high frequencies. Trimmer resistors R4 - R6 regulate the sensitivity of each channel, with their help the required brightness is set. Transistors VT1 – VT3 switch LEDs; here you can use any low-power n-p-n transistors, for example, BC547, BC337, KT3102. Instead of individual LEDs, you can use sections of LED strip to increase brightness; in this case, transistors should be installed with higher power, for example, BD139, 2N4923, KT961. An audio signal can be supplied to the input of the circuit, for example, from a player, telephone or computer. However, it may turn out that the sound signal level is not enough to open the transistors of this circuit and the LEDs will glow dimly. To prevent this from happening, the signal must be amplified, for example, using a simple amplifier with one transistor, the circuit of which is shown below.

Amplifier circuit

Any low-power transistor can be used; the domestic KT3102 has proven itself well in this circuit. Using tuning resistor R1, you can adjust the level of the signal supplied to the color music circuit. The amplifier is powered by the same 9 - 12 volts. You can even send a weak signal from your phone to its input, because it will be amplified to the desired level.

Assembling a simple color music

After analyzing the diagrams, you can proceed directly to assembling the structure. Both circuits can be assembled on one board, which is what I did. The printed circuit board has dimensions of 35x55 mm and is made using the LUT method. A few photos of the process:

Download the board:

(downloads: 602)

After the excess copper has been removed, the holes have been drilled, and the tracks have been tinned, you can begin to solder the parts. Small parts - resistors - are soldered in first, followed by capacitors and transistors. Lastly, massive trimming resistors are installed on the board. To connect the power and sound signal wires, you can use terminal blocks, then connecting the wires will be much more convenient. After all the parts are sealed, it is necessary to wash the board from flux and test the adjacent tracks for short circuits.

First startup and setup

It is worth applying voltage to the board by connecting an ammeter to the gap in one of the power wires. When there is no signal at the input, the circuit consumes approximately 1-2 mA. All trimming resistors need to be turned to the middle position, after which a sound signal can be applied to the input of the circuit. To do this, you should use a splitter that plugs into the socket of your phone or player. In this case, the signal will simultaneously be sent to both the speakers and the color music board. Using R1, you need to ensure that the brightness of the LEDs is sufficient. Then, using resistors R4 - R6, each channel is adjusted separately so that the brightness of all LEDs is the same. After the circuit is configured, you can connect bright LED strips instead of individual LEDs, turn on the music louder and enjoy the work done. Happy building!

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.

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 blink 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, there is an 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. If you make 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

I have always been attracted to lighting effects, color music, strobes and the like, but for some reason I was too lazy to make a similar toy for myself. The time for this came when, on one of the boring evenings, I needed to entertain myself with something. I dug up a dozen and a half LEDs in my supplies - white, red and blue, then found a simple version of a three-channel color music circuit online and got to work. Having soldered a simple LED matrix, I moved on to “designing” the LED control circuit.

To power the color music I used an old mobile phone charger.

After playing a little with the capacitor values, I got this circuit:

Capacitors C1-C5 play the role of frequency filters that transmit an electrical signal of the desired frequency; they can be replaced with others, thereby changing the operating mode of the color music. Transistors and LEDs can also be replaced with more powerful ones.

Full Parts List

Capacitors:

C2 – 33mFx16V

C3 – 4.7mFx16V

C4 – 5mFx16V

C5 – 1mFx16V

Resistors:

Transistors:

VT1-VT3 – KT315B

LEDs:

HL1-HL3 – HL 5V transparent (15 pieces: 5 red, 5 blue, 5 white)

Type of finished structure:

The installation is a little rough, but it works. The brightness of the LEDs depends on the power of the incoming signal. If desired, all this can be beautifully designed and make a good modding of your computer.

Video demonstration of color music operation:

In this article we will talk about color music. Probably every beginning radio amateur, and not only others, at one time or another had the desire to assemble color music. What this is, I think, is known to everyone - to put it simply, it is the creation of visual effects that change to the beat of the music.

That part of color music that emits light can be performed using powerful lamps, for example, in a concert setup; if color music is needed for home discos, it can be done using ordinary 220 volt incandescent lamps, and if color music is planned, for example, as computer modding, for everyday use, it can be done with LEDs.

Recently, with the advent of LED strips on sale, color and music consoles using such LED strips are increasingly used. In any case, to assemble Color Musical Installations (CMUs for short) a signal source is required, which can be a microphone with several amplifier stages assembled.

Also, the signal can be taken from the linear output of a device, a computer sound card, from the output of an mp3 player, etc., in this case an amplifier will also be required, for example, two stages on transistors; for this purpose I used KT3102 transistors. The preamplifier circuit is shown in the following figure:

Preamplifier - circuit

The following is a diagram of a single-channel color music with a filter, working in conjunction with a preamplifier (above). In this circuit, the LED flashes along with the bass (low frequencies). To match the signal level, a variable resistor R6 is provided in the color music circuit.

There are also simpler color music circuits that any beginner can assemble, using 1 transistor, and also not requiring a preamplifier; one of these circuits is shown in the picture below:

Color music on a transistor

The pinout diagram for the Jack 3.5 plug is shown in the following figure:

If for some reason it is not possible to assemble a pre-amplifier using transistors, you can replace it with a transformer turned on as a step-up. Such a transformer must produce voltage on the windings of 220/5 Volts. The transformer winding with a smaller number of turns is connected to a sound source, for example, a radio tape recorder, parallel to the speaker, and the amplifier must produce a power of at least 3-5 watts. A winding with a large number of turns is connected to the color music input.

Of course, color music is not only single-channel, it can be 3, 5 or more multi-channel, when each LED or incandescent lamp blinks while reproducing the frequencies of its range. In this case, the frequency range is set by using filters. In the following circuit, a three-channel color music system (which I recently assembled myself), there are capacitors as filters:

If we wanted to use not individual LEDs in the last circuit, but an LED strip, then the current-limiting resistors R1, R2, R3 should be removed from the circuit. If the strip or LED is used RGB, it must be made with a common anode. If you plan to connect long LED strips, then to control the strip you should use powerful transistors installed on radiators.

Since LED strips are designed for 12 Volt power supply, we should accordingly raise the power supply in the circuit to 12 Volts, and the power supply should be stabilized.

Thyristors in color music

Until now, the article has only talked about color and music devices using LEDs. If there is a need to assemble a digital control unit using incandescent lamps, then thyristors will need to be used to control the brightness of the lamps. What is a thyristor anyway? This is a three-electrode semiconductor device, which accordingly has Anode, Cathode And Control electrode.

KU202 Thyristor

The figure above shows the Soviet thyristor KU202. Thyristors, if you plan to use them with a powerful load, also need to be mounted on a heat sink (radiator). As we see in the figure, the thyristor has a thread with a nut and is attached similarly to powerful diodes. Modern imported ones are simply equipped with a flange with a hole.

One of these thyristor circuits is shown above. This is a three-channel color music circuit with a step-up transformer at the input. When selecting analogue thyristors, you should look at the maximum permissible voltage of the thyristors, in our case for the KU202N it is 400 volts.

The figure shows a similar color music circuit to the one shown above, the main difference in the lower circuit is that there is no diode bridge. Also, LED color music can be built into the system unit. I assembled such a three-channel color music with a preamplifier in a casing from a cider. In this case, the signal was taken from the computer’s sound card using a signal divider, the outputs of which connected active acoustics and color music. It is possible to adjust the signal level, both overall and separately by channel. The preamplifier and color music were powered from a 12 Volt Molex connector (yellow and black wires). The preamplifier and three-channel color music circuits for which they were assembled are shown above. There are other LED color music schemes, for example this one, also three-channel:

Color music on 3 LEDs - diagram

In this circuit, unlike the one I assembled, inductance is used in the mid-frequency channel. For those who want to first assemble something simpler, here is the following diagram for 2 channels:

If you collect color music using lamps, you will have to use light filters, which in turn can be either homemade or purchased. The figure below shows the filters that are commercially available:

Some fans of color and musical effects assemble devices based on microcontrollers. Below is a diagram of four-channel color music on the AVR tiny 15 MK:

The Tiny 15 microcontroller in this circuit can be replaced with tiny 13V, tiny 25V. And at the end of the review, I would like to say on my own that color music using lamps is inferior in terms of entertainment to color music using LEDs, since lamps are more inertial than LEDs. And for self-repetition, I can recommend this one: