Published December 7, 2022 © GPL3+

5 Minutes to Create a Sound Volume Reminder

Create a sound volume reminder with Grove Beginner Kit & Grove - WS2813 RGB LED Strip

BeginnerFull instructions provided1 hour159

5 Minutes to Create a Sound Volume Reminder

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Seeed Studio Grove Beginner Kit for Arduino - All-in-one Arduino Compatible Board with 10 Sensors

Seeed Studio Grove - WS2813 RGB LED Strip Waterproof - 60 LED/m - 1m

Software apps and online services

Arduino IDE

Story

I love music and I’ve been practicing playing drums since the time in university. The normal drum set may generate big sound so it is not suitable to use it at my apartment as it may disturb my neighbors. So generally I use the electronic drum when practicing at home, using a headset to hear the music & drum beats. However, after a long time in this way, I found I have hearing damage of my ears, not serious but I must make some changes.

Recently I started to connect a loudspeaker instead of the headset to the electronic drum set.

#Problem: Volume detection & control

I can control the basic sound volume through the drum control panel. However, the volume control on the panel makes sense only on the basic volume range, but when I make strong beat on drum the volume still goes higher. How can I know which drum hit volume step on the red line?

#Solution: Make a LED strip reminder

I came up with an idea, I want to build up a reminder using LED strip. It can display different color corresponding to the sound volume. I chose Grove Beginner Kit for Arduino which contains the sound sensor, for sound collection as input, and a Grove - WS2813 RGB LED strip as output.

-Step 1: Hardware connection:

Connect the 4-pin connector of the Grove - RGB LED Strip to the D6 socket of Grove Beginner Kit for Arduino, simple & easy. Then, use a USB cable to connect the Grove Beginner Kit for Arduino to the computer.

-Step 2: Arduino IDE programming:

The logic is: collect the basic sound from the environment and calculate the average value; Then put this value in different sound volume range with different colors.

2.1: Calculate the average sound value

2.2: Compare the value with different sound value range, and set up the corresponding colors.

For example, if the average sound value is below 300 & over 200, then set up the color value "Red" to 255 and "Green" 255. If the sound value reaches over 400, then the LED strip displays only "Red" color as warning.

Almost done!

2.3: Upload the program to the Grove Beginner Kit for Arduino, and disconnect the USB cable from the computer. Then I used a power bank as power supply.

Let's see how it works. When I play gently, it shows green color. If harder, the yellow color will show up. If the hit is too strong, I can see the red color as warning.

#Conclusion:

1. The sound value is only the calculated value, for the moment I did not figure out the relation between this value and decibel.

2. The reaction of the LED strip color is a bit slow when I play faster-- the delay from the program is 0.1s.

3. The Grove Beginner Kit for Arduino also contains other modules, I should do this project V2.0 next time! For example, the OLED display can show the real-time value, & button can be the power switch. Also I can use the temperature & humidity sensor to monitor my music room.

Code

Arduino_Sound Volume Reminder

// test code for Grove - Sound Sensor
// loovee @ 2016-8-30
#include "Adafruit_NeoPixel.h"
#ifdef __AVR__
  #include <avr/power.h>
#endif  
#define PIN    6  
#define NUMPIXELS 30
Adafruit_NeoPixel pixels = Adafruit_NeoPixel(NUMPIXELS, PIN, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800);
bool oldState = HIGH;
int showType = 0;
 
const int pinAdc = A2;
 
void setup()
{
  Serial.begin(115200);
    //Serial.println("Grove - Sound Sensor Test...");
#if defined (__AVR_ATtiny85__)
  if (F_CPU == 16000000) clock_prescale_set(clock_div_1);
#endif
  // End of trinket special code
  pixels.setBrightness(255);
  pixels.begin(); // This initializes the NeoPixel library.
}
 
void loop()
{
    long sum = 0;
    long f_sum = 0;
    for(int m=0; m<100; m++)
    {
        for(int i=0; i<32; i++)
        {
        sum += analogRead(pinAdc);
        }
      sum >>= 5;
      f_sum += sum;
      
      }
     sum = (f_sum/100);
    
     if ((sum < 110)) {
        for(int i=0;i<NUMPIXELS;i++){
 
        // pixels.Color takes RGB values, from 0,0,0 up to 255,255,255
        pixels.setPixelColor(i, pixels.Color(0,255,0)); // Moderately bright green color.
        pixels.show(); // This sends the updated pixel color to the hardware.

 
      }
  }    

if ((((sum < 200)) && ((100 < sum)))) {
    for(int i=0;i<NUMPIXELS;i++){
 
        // pixels.Color takes RGB values, from 0,0,0 up to 255,255,255
        pixels.setPixelColor(i, pixels.Color(128,255,0)); // Moderately bright green color.
        pixels.show(); // This sends the updated pixel color to the hardware.

      }
      delay(100);
  }

  if ((((sum < 300)) && ((200 < sum)))) {
    for(int i=0;i<NUMPIXELS;i++){
 
        // pixels.Color takes RGB values, from 0,0,0 up to 255,255,255
        pixels.setPixelColor(i, pixels.Color(255,255,0)); // Moderately bright green color.
        pixels.show(); // This sends the updated pixel color to the hardware.

      }
      delay(100);
  }

    if ((((sum < 400)) && ((300 < sum)))) {
    for(int i=0;i<NUMPIXELS;i++){
 
        // pixels.Color takes RGB values, from 0,0,0 up to 255,255,255
        pixels.setPixelColor(i, pixels.Color(255,128,0)); // Moderately bright green color.
        pixels.show(); // This sends the updated pixel color to the hardware.

      }
      delay(100);
  }
  
  if ((((sum < 500)) && ((400 < sum)))) {
    for(int i=0;i<NUMPIXELS;i++){
 
        // pixels.Color takes RGB values, from 0,0,0 up to 255,255,255
        pixels.setPixelColor(i, pixels.Color(255,0,0)); // Moderately bright green color.
        pixels.show(); // This sends the updated pixel color to the hardware.

      }
      delay(100);
  }
    
    Serial.println(sum);
    delay(100);
}

Credits

Sunny Zhao

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5 Minutes to Create a Sound Volume Reminder

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Story

#Problem: Volume detection & control

#Solution: Make a LED strip reminder

-Step 1: Hardware connection:

-Step 2: Arduino IDE programming:

#Conclusion:

Schematics

Sound Volume Reminder_Schematic

Code

Arduino_Sound Volume Reminder

Credits

Sunny Zhao

Comments

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5 Minutes to Create a Sound Volume Reminder

5 Minutes to Create a Sound Volume Reminder

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Story

#Problem: Volume detection & control

#Solution: Make a LED strip reminder

-Step 1: Hardware connection:

-Step 2: Arduino IDE programming:

#Conclusion:

Schematics

Sound Volume Reminder_Schematic

Code

Arduino_Sound Volume Reminder

Credits

Sunny Zhao

Comments

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