Mel Spectrum LEDs
An LED display designed to make an engaging sound responsive experience by placing sounds in the frequency spectrum in a way that makes sense spatially. That is, notes that sound a certain “distance” apart also have a sensible distance apart spatially.
This was done on a Teensy 4.1 microcontroller by analyzing sound over usb in the frequency domain using an FFT then converting it to the Mel Scale, which was designed to mimic the note “spacing” of the human ear.
Linear Testing
These two songs feature a 144 LED 1 meter WS2812B LED Strip so one can see the spacing of the whole frequency range. Note the spacing of the notes at the beginning of Big (by Young MA) on the right.
Full Room Install
This is what the Mel Spectrum display looks like over ~250 LEDs installed in my MIT Dorm room.