DIY: LED Light Cube Controlled by Music
Music pulses to the thumping beat of club music. This same effect can be re-created in your home without a lot of money or expensive equipment. A small LED light cube strobing to the bass of your favorite music can add a powerful, trendy club feel to your next party. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- 9-volt battery
- 3.5 headphone jack cable
- Tip 31 Transistor
- Three 5mm Blue LED bulbs
- 12-inch, A4 Acrylic Sheet
- Electrical wire
- Thin sand paper (400 grit)
- Jigsaw
- Hot glue gun
- Drill
- Marker
- Ruler
Instructions
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Cube Creation
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1
Measure out six, 4-inch by 4-inch squares of the acrylic sheet, using a marker and a ruler and a marker to trace.
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2
Cut out the squares with the jigsaw. Make sure to the sides are as even as possible so they fit together into a cohesive cube. Select a drill bit the size of your headphone jack cord. Drill a hole carefully into one of the squares.
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3
Sand both sides of each square in a circular motion using the sand paper to create a frosted box that will defuse the light within the cube. Do the same to the three LED bulbs.
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4
Hot-glue five squares together with the glue gun. Plan out which side of the box will be the top. The side that will not be glued will be the bottom. The square with the hole should be one of the sidewalls. Leave the sixth side off for now.
Creating a Light
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5
Slip the headphone jack into the hole of the sidewall making sure the plug is on the outside of the cube. Open the headphone jack cable a bit to see the three wires. Connect the red wire to one of the outside prongs of the tip 31 transistor. This will input the electrical impulse of the audio. Connect the yellow, or ground, wire to the opposite, outside prong of the tip 31 transistor. Connect a piece of electrical wire to the tip 31 prong where the ground wire is connected.
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6
Connect electrical wire from the middle prong to the shorter (negative) prong on an LED. Connect the longer (positive) LED prong to another negative prong of another LED. Connect the longer (positive) prong of this second LED to the shorter (negative) prong on the last LED.
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7
Connect the electrical wire, which is connected to the prong with the yellow ground wire, to the negative battery input. Connect the positive LED prong of the last LED to the positive battery input.
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8
Test out the connection by plugging it into your computer or stereo audio jack, and play a song. The lights should respond to the music. Glue down the components to the last square, and glue this last square to the cube, if it works. Check the connections again if it does not work.
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References
- Photo Credit John Rensten/Photodisc/Getty Images
