Makers and hardware hackers have been collecting disposable vapes for some time now, usually to salvage their batteries or the unique displays many models now come with. But you can also repurpose them for other ends, such as playing music. [Becky Stern]’s vape synth is a perfect example of this.
The build started with an ElfBars BC5000 vape. [Becky] notes there may be similar models under different names out there that would work just as well. The vape is effectively gutted for parts, with the LiPo cell, USB charging board, and the low-pressure sensor the main things that remain. These parts are combined with a drop-in 555 synthesizer circuit complete with speaker, which has its pitch controlled by a series of six photoresistors. When the low pressure sensor is triggered by inhalation, the 555 circuit is triggered, and operates at a pitch depending on the resistance of the photoresistor stack.
The output of the vape synth is kind of shrill, and frankly a little bit annoying — which is somehow rather fitting for what it is. If you want to make a better-sounding synth at home, we’ve featured such projects, you’re just unlikely to fit them entirely within the housing of a disposable vape.
On a woodwind instrument, you would blow thru it to make sound. Sucking (inhaling) seems more difficult to me. I guess you could flip over the pressure sensor in the opposite direction and hot glue that? Maybe not, it senses low pressure, IDK if it would sense higher pressure.
I found that using the sensor alone resulted in a device that takes less effort to activate– not even a full breath, more like sucking on a drinking straw, whereas the original gasket with an air channel requires moving a lot of air (inhaling) to get going. So you have a degree of control over this. Kari says a workshop participant managed to make one work by blowing too. Some vapes are made with microphones as the sensor. More experimentation is required!