I picked up an electronic kit at Fry’s. Most of the kits seemed pretty useless, but I thought that the “Sound-to-light” kit could have some utility. I was thinking it could be used as a sound-sensitive alarm or a music-to-light device. But even as it is, the kit is pretty amusing—you clap your hands or snap your fingers and the LEDs light up. If you play some music next to its small mic, the lights “dance” to the rythm of the music.

The kit basically consists of a small microphone, a potentiometer which acts as a dimmer, four LEDs, a battery holder, and various capacitors, resistors, and transistors. The kit is by Velleman, which sells many other products including other kits. The instructions are easy to follow. You basically match a component to a label on the circuit board and then solder its leads on the back.

This was my first attempt at soldering, which I found is like a craft. It requires a steady hand and developing a good technique. You can find many soldering tutorials online, but ladyada.net has useful links to tutorials and videos. My first solders were pretty bad and I was afraid I was going to short the circuit by creating a path between two unrelated holes. But after a few dozen holes I think I could solder more precisely than an SMT machine

The last picture is blurry as I couldn’t use the flash in order to showcase the lighted LEDs.