Rig Your Own Light Up LED Organ [Instructables How-To]

Don’t get us wrong, we’re total audiophiles, but even we can’t dispute the fact that colored lights and augmented visuals make any musical performance more appealing. Brazilian Creator and DJ Amon Tobin is the perfect example of an artist who gets that. For his latest album ISAM, he decided to create an spaceship-like installation for live performance. Dozens of white cubes and rectangles form the base of the structure, augmented by animations and video game elements programmed in time to the music.

We can imagine that most don’t have the budget for something as involved as all that, but this color organ from Instructables user ledartist—inspired by Collin Cunningham’s version—is a lower-brow (but still really cool) simulation of that sort of audio-visual spectacle.

This color organ works by emitting different colors of light based on sound frequency, and is made from only 29 components. The organ divides sound into three frequency bands and emits red, green and blue lights accordingly.

The photo above shows the stereo version of the color organ, which is basically two of the same circuits built next to each other. Ledartist simplified the circuit by designing the organ to connect to a headphone output of a piece of audio equipment (like an iPod), powered by a 9V battery.

You’ll need a wide variety of resistors, capacitors, diodes and transistors along with the LEDs. Find specific information and recommendations in Step 2.

Now you’ll need to build the circuit, easily constructed on a breadboard, according to the models above. Disassemble a stereo headphone cord to connect to the audio equipment. Out of the three conductor cords, two of them carry the audio signal and the shield/braid is for the ground connection. Solder a 3 pin header to make the connection to the breadboard easier, and download the Gerber files for the PCB (Printed Circuit Board) in Step 3. Watch how the frequency response works in the video below.

After you’ve built the PBC, put the color organ in a portable case so you can whip it out whenever it’s your turn to DJ.

Visit the Instructables How-To for further instruction, more detailed photographs, and tips on where to buy materials.