I'm completely new to Arduino, but it's a technology I've been wanting to incorporate into various maker projects for quite some time. Like many folks I'm not working right now and have pivoted to make use of new found free time to direct myself towards becoming a full-time maker. So, with that background out of the way, specifically what I'm wanting to do is take an old vintage-style VU meter (that measures recording sound level with a needle that moves), and have it be able to move the needle in response to sound picked up by a sound sensor - similar to what I've seen used for using an Arduino to measure decibels. The idea behind this is this - I have a arch-top hollow-body electric guitar kit (looks similar to a Washburn J7 if you want to Google to see exactly what I'm talking about), and I intend to make this guitar look like it's a prop from the Fallout video game franchise. I intend to install some fake vacuum tubes in the body that will be lit with LEDs so that they appear to glow like real vacuum tubes would. What I thought would be an especially cool touch and in keeping with the Fallout video game aesthetic would be to have one of these old analog dials on the guitar and have the needle respond to the sound being generated by the guitar. The needle would move just like the way a VU meter works when it's part of a recording or playback device, except in this case an Arduino would be making the dial move in response to the input from the sound sensor. As I am completely new to Arduino and programming, how would I go about this? I've watched a couple of videos where makers have done something similar, but not quite what I intend to do. Some of them have created the same effect, but have had the sound levels displayed with LED lights instead of repurposing a vintage-style analog VU meter as I would like to do. I have an Arduino clone project kit I bought a long time ago to begin learning the basics of wiring and programming, and I do own a soldering iron and know how to solder. I'm willing to purchase all the items I need as well, so any direction on what parts would be helpful as well.
Would it be possible to write a resonable, shorter description of the subject? I just don't take on Your "Novell".
Do you have the meter? Do you have a link to the specs?
Of course, you don't need a programmable microcontroller to make an analog VU meter. They were used long before computers or digital audio... If you have an actual VU meter all you need is an amplifier to bring the signal up to [u]line level[/u] (about 1 volt).
You can buy a "microphone board" which has a mic and a preamp but the output is normally DC biased (because the Arduino can't read negative voltages) and you'd need to add a series capacitor to block the constant-DC. And, you might need some additional amplification depending on the meter and the loudness of the sound, etc.
If you have a regular electro-mechanical meter movement they are usually DC, so you'd need a precision rectifier* or peak detector (which can be built with an op-amp).
If you want to use an Arduino you can drive an analog meter with PWM/analogWrite().
Depending on the full-scale meter voltage, you might need a series resistor to reduce the voltage or a transistor or MOSFET to boost the voltage.
- Wikipedia says VU meters had built-in copper oxide rectifiers which you probably can't find. Silicon diodes have a forward drop of about 0.7V and Schottky diodes have a forward drop of about 0.3V so they won't work well in this application.
DVDdoug - good idea on maybe just cannibalizing an existing VU monitor rather than creating something with Arduino. Another guy on a prop forum had suggested if I was doing Arduino already that it might be cool to make the gauge serve as a tuner as well. That led me to finding out that quartz analog tuners used to be thing back in the late 70s early 80s, so I just decided to go that route. Just bought an old tuner that I can cannibalize to fit into the guitar body. It'll not only function as an actual tuner but can be left on and set to one of the strings and it'll basically move the needle as long as I'm playing the guitar. I guess I had an interesting idea but one that doesn't seem like it would work nearly that well with Arduino.
My best advice is to get one project completed before beginning the next.
Paul
Paul_KD7HB:
My best advice is to get one project completed before beginning the next.Paul
What fun is that? I have at least a dozen projects around the house that haven't been finished.