How to make LED Strip Control With Dimmer and Audio Pulsing Circuits

[peterang]

Hi, I would like to create a cove light for my room with RGB lighting. I would like to achieve the following functions in 2 different mode.

1. Turn on LED and control brightness.
2. Turn on LED and have it pulse to the music.

This is for my room and mode 1 is when I’m studying and mode 2 is when I’m ready to party.

For mode 2, I do not want streak but dim and plus according to the music. All these to be activated by a switch box with a dimmer.

When I turn on for the first time, it should be in regular mode where I can control the intensity via the dimmer.

When I off and on the switch again, it should activate the music effect and plus according to the music or sound on the room.

Do any one have any idea how I should go about doing it and do I need a Arduino at all?

[xfpd]

Why not add the LED pulse of your pulse?

Your Pulse Displayed with NeoPixels

[PaulRB]

You said RGB, but the functions you describe are only dimming and pulsing. How would colour be selected or controlled?

The most easy type of RGB LED for this project would probably be a ws2812 strip. You will need an external 5V power supply with sufficient current for your strip (around 50~60mA for each led on the strip). This power supply can also power the Arduino. I would recommend a Nano 3 as your first Arduino. You can use a potentiometer to control the brightness and you will need a sound sensor module for the party mode. This sounds sensor should not be a simple microphone, but a type of sound sensor called an "envelope follower" or a sound level or sound volume sensor. Some of these have only a digital output. For flexibility I would recommend a model which has an analog output.

For example:

[anago23]

Why not a digital output?
Looks quite simple to use it that way