I'd like to generate a light show with audio. Currently I have arrays of WS2812B LEDs for which I programed some effects, but I would like to accompany them with music. I was trying to generate music effects directly from the arduino, but so far they don't sound good. For instance, I'd like to replicate the sound of a laser (as portrayed in the movies), or a piano, etc. Then my other idea is to get an SD card with a shield to hook up to the arduino, where I save some fundamental notes/sounds as a .wav file, that I combine in different ways (adding linear combinations of them). The final goal is for the light and sound effects to match/have some joint "rhythm".
I would like to hear people's opinions on the viability of this project. If they think of other (better) ways to do it. Again, currently I don't like any of the sounds I have generated with the arduino using the tone() function or some other custom sounds. So, the problem is how to get cool sounds to play in conjunction with light effects.
I agree... There are various audio boards/shields that have a slot for an SD card to store the files and a DAC and everything else that's required to play sound. The Arduino just acts as a "controller" that determines what file is played, when it's played, and the volume, etc.
The basic Arduino doesn't have a DAC and most of the processing power is used-up driving your LEDs.
You can also make it react to the sound. For example, usually dance lighting is sound-activated whereas lighting for a musical stage performance is usually hard-programmed.
An Arduino itself is pretty useless for audio.
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