Slick Music Synchronized Light Show Uses UV LEDs And Water

music_synchronized_light_show

[mike6789k] wanted to spice up his dorm room, so he built a cool music synchronized light show that struck us as being very well thought out. We have seen similar music-based visualizations before, but they tend to be pretty basic, relying on volume more than actual audio frequencies to trigger the lighting.

[mike6789k] didn’t want to build “just another” synchronized light show, and his all-analog approach gives a true representation of the music being played instead of just flashing lights along with the beat. Using a trio of simple filters, he broke the audio signals down into three distinct frequency bands before being driven through a high gain transistor to power a set of LEDs.

We were pretty impressed at how bright the display was given that he is using UV LEDs, but the 1W diodes seem to have no problem lighting up the place when aimed through the UV-reactive water, as you can see in the video below.

If you’re looking to make something similar for your next party, the folks over at Buildlounge were able to wrangle a schematic out of [mike6789k], which you can find here.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd3hzYAJzOo&w&w=470]

20 thoughts on “Slick Music Synchronized Light Show Uses UV LEDs And Water

  1. I would minimize or mask off the air space above the water since I would be concerned about the UV light that escapes directly and doesn’t get converted into colored light by the UV-reactive water. I’ve read that UV light could be one reason for developing cataracts in your eyes. As someone who is currently getting cataract surgery (because of my age, 62, not because of any specific UV light exposure), I wonder whether cataracts will become more common in the population with the increase in use of CFL and LED based lighting.

    1. UV is a wide range of wavelengths.

      UVA (400-315nm) is the band nearest to visible light and is what is produced by these LEDs. UVA is purpleish to the eye and passes through glass and acrylic (PMMA) just like visible light, however is blocked by polycarbonate.

      UVB (315-280nm) is the next band further away from visible light. It is responsible for the tanning of skin, the development of skin cancer, and stimulating the production of Vitamin D in the skin. UVB is blocked by glass, acrylic (PMMA), and polycarbonate

      UVC (280-100nm) is the shortest common UV range. It is used in UV sterilizers to kill bacteria and break down organic chemicals. Often found in hospitals and water sterilizers. Even the Earth’s atmosphere blocks UVC (which is why microorganisms haven’t evolved to be immune to it)

  2. along with the schematic, there should have been a tutorial for us newbies… doesn’t even which resistors to get or anything.. i mean really now!

    @mike6789k, thanks for the video, but you should have done a full tutorial of parts and the assembly!

  3. Disregart that. I looked at the schematic before reading the post. I like that you left enough out so we can think for ourselves. I will be building this circuit just gotta figure out what to put the diodes in. Again sorry

  4. Hi, I’m not experienced in that kinda stuff, I’m only 16 and I will eventually study in that branch but for now can I have the values of the components so I can build that cool thing for now ? You can send them to me at dr.phil_beatbox@hotmail.com using the same names of the schematic.

    Thanks :D

    Phil

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