How to Make Your Own LED Music Spectrum

In this blog, we will show you how to make your own LED music spectrum. You will need an LED strip, a microcontroller, and some basic electronics knowledge.

Introduction

In this project, we will be making a DIY LED music spectrum using an Arduino Uno. We’ll be using an LED strip that is addressable, meaning that each individual LED can be lit up at a different brightness and color. This type of LED strip is often used in computer cases to add some flashy lighting, but it can also be used to create an awesome visualizer of the music that you’re playing!

This project is perfect for anyone who wants to get started with Arduino programming and making LEDs do cool things. This project requires no soldering, and can be completed in an afternoon. Let’s get started!

What You’ll Need

-An RGB LED strip
-Arduino UNO
-Proposition 65 warning compliant power supply
-Jumper wires
-Spectrum shield from Adafruit
-Music of your choice!

Assemble the LED Strip

Now that you have your LED strip, it’s time to assemble it! You will need:

– An LED strip (we used a 30 LED/m addressable WS2812B strip)
– A power supply (we used a 5V/10A power supply)
– A controller board (we used an Arduino UNO)
– Jumper wires

First, cut your LED strip to length. Make sure to leave enough spare wire at the end so that you can connect it to your controller board.

Next, solder the positive (red) and negative (black) wires from your power supply to the appropriate pads on your LED strip. Make sure that the wires are long enough to reach your controller board.

Now, connect the data wire from your LED strip to the controller board. We used pin 6 on our Arduino UNO. If you are using a different controller board, check the documentation to see which pin you should use. Again, make sure that the wire is long enough to reach your controller board.

Finally, connect the ground wire from your power supply to one of the ground pins on your controller board.

Solder the LED Strip

Solder the LED strip to the amplifier board. Make sure that the ground (shorter) lead of each LED is soldered to the ground rail on the board, and that the power (longer) lead of each LED is soldered to one of the output pins. If you have a lot of LEDs, you may need to use multiple pins. If your amplifier board has a +5 V output, you can use that instead of soldering to the output pins.

Attach the LED Strip to the Amplifier

Now that you have your LED strip prepared, it’s time to connect it to the stereo amplifier. Begin by stripping about a half-inch of insulation off the end of the red and black wires. Do this for both Positive (red) and Negative (black) wires. Once you have exposed the copper wire, twist each around a small connector screw on the back of the amplifier. The left and right audio channels are usually color-coded red and white, so make sure you connect the red wire to the red output and black to black. If your ground wire is bare copper, you can also connect this to one of the ground terminals (usually marked with a “GND” or “ground” label) on the back of the amplifier.

Power On the Amplifier

1. Find a spot to place your amplifier. It should be close to an AC outlet and out of the way of foot traffic.

2. Place your speakers on either side of the amplifier, facing outwards.

3. Plug one end of your speaker wire into the back of the amplifier in the “output” section.

4. Plug the other end of the speaker wire into each of your speakers in the “input” section.

5. Plug in your AC adapter to the amplifer and into an outlet.

6. Turn on your amplifier by pressing the power button.

Calibrate the Spectrum

In order to ensure that your LED music spectrum is functioning properly, you will need to calibrate it. This is a relatively simple process that only requires a few steps.

First, you will need to gather your materials. For this project, you will need an LED light strip, a power supply, a sound source, and a piece of white foam board.

Next, you will need to attach the LED light strip to the foam board. Be sure to leave enough slack in the strip so that you can easily adjust the position of the foam board as needed.

Now, you will need to position the foam board so that it is in line with the sound source. Once you have done this, you will need to turn on the sound source and slowly increase the volume until the LEDs begin to react.

As you increase the volume, you may find that some of the LEDs begin to flicker or turn off completely. This is normal and simply means that they are not receiving enough power. You can remedy this by moving the power supply closer to the affected LEDs or by increasing the voltage output of the power supply.

Once all of the LEDs are reacting properly, you can begin fine-tuning their positions so that they create a spectrum that is pleasing to look at. Once you are satisfied with the results, you can enjoy your very own LED music spectrum!

Conclusion

Now that you know how to make your own LED music spectrum, you can create one that is tailored to your specific musical taste. You can use any type of LEDs that you want, so be creative and have fun with it. Be sure to follow the safety precautions listed in the beginning of this article, and you should have no problem making a safe and fun LED music spectrum of your own.