Description
My project was to create an image for sound by creating a mini laser light show synchronized to the music. It uses a mirror attached to a speaker and a laser pointer, seemingly simple components, to create a complex visualization for the sound, similar to computer sound visualizations. However, my visualization is directly linked to the sound waves and vibrations from the speaker.
Theoretical Grounding
For this project, I was really interested in taking sound out of its original context of only being a hearing experience and producing something visual that was directly linked to the hearing experience of sound. I originally was going to make a Ruben’s tube (which is essentially fire controlled by sound waves), but I thought it may be a little dangerous. Therefore, I started experimenting with a laser pointer to create some kind of light show linked with the music, and my final product was a mini laser light show using a laser pointer.
How It was Made
After many different experimentations using different sized and numbers of mirrors and different angles of reflection, I decided that the simplest design actually looked the best. I put a balloon on top of the speaker for the vibrations. I then glued a mirror to the balloon and reflected a laser pointer off the mirror onto a nearby wall and turned on the music. And voila!! You’ve got your own laser light show.
My thoughts
After a panicky and confusion-filled start, the project actually became really enjoyable. My biggest problem was coming up with an idea for the project and then figuring out how to implement it. Once I figured out all of that, I think that my project turned out reasonably well, but I could have made it bigger. My presentation leaved something to be desired, and next time, I need to make sure to think about how my project will look in the classroom ahead of time. Now that my first project is done, it is on to bigger and better things…Project 2!
