Build  the 555 Slider Synth

Here's another fun project to make with the 555 chip. Here's how it works. When it's turned on  by pressing SW1, the 555 astable oscillator is activated. It will produce a tone through the speaker that can be varied in pitch by changing the distance between the LED and the photo cell. The photo cell is mounted at one end of a 1/4" diameter tube which shields it from 99% of the light. The LED is mounted on a piece of music wire and inserted into the tube. You change pitch by simply moving the wire in and out. Move it inwards and get a higher frequency tone. Move it outwards and the tone goes down in frequency. You can build the device as I have shown in the pictures and video, or get creative and come up with something new! I encourage you to try building other circuits with the 555. It's a very versatile chip with many applications. Have fun and keep on making stuff! Questions? Email me at: makerdino@gmail.com

Click the images for full size. Schematic:     Parts list: 2 - 100 Ohm ohm resistors 1 - Photo Cell also call Light Dependent Resistor (LDR) 1 - 2.2 mF Electrolytic capacitor 1 - 100 mF Electrolytic capacitor 1 - Bright white LED 1 - LM555 8 pin DIP timer chip 1 - Small speaker 1 - Momentary push button switch 1 - 9 volt battery 1 - 9 volt battery clip 1 - small perf board to mount components on Hook up wire 5" length of music wire or large paper clip. Links: 555 Contest. This is the official site with contest rules. http://www.555contest.com/ ExpressPCB. This site offers a free download of a schematic and PCB design tool that's easy to use. See screenshot above. They also offer fabrication of PCBs. http://www.expresspcb.com/index.htm Rob Paisley's 555 timer circuit page. This has a TON of great info on the 555 including a few timing calculators to aid in component selection. http://home.cogeco.ca/~rpaisley4/LM555.html Doctronics. Another great website with a lot of cool info and circuits for the 555. http://www.doctronics.co.uk/555.htm Octopart. This site offers up a search engine similar to Google but it's especially for electronic component part numbers. http://octopart.com/

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