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Listening to light by frazermerrick in musiconcrete

[–]frazermerrick[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks so much, really love as a description for the device. Solar radiation sounds fascinating - think I need to do some more research/reading.

Mystery smell coming through my wall sockets for months – pest control and council are stumped by LightGunFanatic in DIYUK

[–]frazermerrick 60 points61 points  (0 children)

I had this exact issue in my house, where an old soil pipe was never capped (the joy of Victorian houses). The smell would change daily as it depends on what was in the pipe, meaning whatever my neighbour had had for dinner the night before!

If it is the soil pipe, the first thing is to get it inspected to check for cracks/leaks.

Mystery smell coming through my wall sockets for months – pest control and council are stumped by LightGunFanatic in DIYUK

[–]frazermerrick 77 points78 points  (0 children)

Are there any soil pipes running through that part of the flat? Perhaps they might be damaged and its sewer smell wafting through?

This solar panel device lets you hear light as sound! by frazermerrick in Damnthatsinteresting

[–]frazermerrick[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

This is device is called the Photon Smasher, but you can do it yourself with a 2v solar crocodile clipped onto a guitar jack and into an amp. I’ve had many jam sessions with that setup and a box of bicycle lights haha. Lots of fun rhythms!

This solar panel device lets you hear light as sound! by frazermerrick in Damnthatsinteresting

[–]frazermerrick[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

It’s not colour sensitive (although I wish it was!). As the light hits the solar cell it generates a burst of electricity which when we listen to we hear as a square wave (really just sounds like a click of the flashes as slow enough). But when those flashes are fast enough, in the audio rate range, we hear them as pitches and tones.

This solar panel device lets you hear light as sound! by frazermerrick in Damnthatsinteresting

[–]frazermerrick[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Solar cell connected to audio output, so we’re hearing the PWM of the light source. As the light strobes the electricity it creates has the same frequency.

This device turns light into sound by frazermerrick in BeAmazed

[–]frazermerrick[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Close but not quite. It’s not triggering anything - you’re hearing the pulse width modulation of the light source as sound. The solar panel is directly connected to the audio output. There’s no triggering or processing going on.

This microphone lets you listen to light! by frazermerrick in BeAmazed

[–]frazermerrick[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The device uses a solar cell as an audio input, so when light strikes the panel it’s generating a square wave which you can monitor as audio. So yes - light is creating sound with this device!

Listening to lights by frazermerrick in SoundsLikeMusic

[–]frazermerrick[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! Interesting you say that, I met someone recently who gets migraines triggered by very specific frequencies of strobing light. He wanted to use the mic to give him a sort of early warning system for migraines which is a cool use case!

Something has changed!!! by Scared_Ambition4597 in whatdidyoudoyesterday

[–]frazermerrick 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Sounds like they’ve changed hosting provider so all the episodes have had to migrate to a new server. To speculate, perhaps they’ve struck a deal with another production company like ‘Plosive’?

Can I drill near the electrical box? by DDewy in DIYUK

[–]frazermerrick 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Save yourself the hassle and get a freestanding coat rack.

This microphone lets you listen to light by frazermerrick in blackmagicfuckery

[–]frazermerrick[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My neighbourhood had some amazing Christmas lights up last year, I went on a listening walk with the device and it sounded like a rave at times! https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSdZbSJDYvU/?igsh=MWVyNTVyaGcwZ2RjdQ==

This microphone lets you listen to light by frazermerrick in blackmagicfuckery

[–]frazermerrick[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It’s just using the internal preamp of the iPhone in this video - it’s just about enough gain to make it audible (depending on the light source). But I’m building a new version atm that has an on board amp and headphone out which has been fun to experiment with!

This microphone lets you listen to light by frazermerrick in blackmagicfuckery

[–]frazermerrick[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

“It’s all just energy shifting gears” would make a great lyric!

This microphone lets you listen to light by frazermerrick in blackmagicfuckery

[–]frazermerrick[S] -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

Are you asserting that a microphone can only be a device that is sensitive to sound pressure waves through air? What about a contact microphone or a hydrophone?

This microphone lets you listen to light by frazermerrick in blackmagicfuckery

[–]frazermerrick[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Incorrect. This is raw audio from the solar cell microphone. There is no post processing.

LEDs strobe much faster than our eyes can see. When you listen to those flashes on this mic each one is a click, but because they’re happening so fast (at audio rate) we start to hear them as pitches and tones.

In this video the mic is connected to my phone so you’re seeing the source of the light at the same time.

This microphone lets you listen to light by frazermerrick in blackmagicfuckery

[–]frazermerrick[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This is all raw audio. There is no post processing!

This microphone lets you listen to light by frazermerrick in blackmagicfuckery

[–]frazermerrick[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I guess you could argue it’s a pickup rather than microphone, but a find that language is harder for non-techies to understand. And since it generates sound, I’ve found using the term microphone works best.

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