[sdiy] Vactrols and contact mics

[Aaron Lanterman]

On Oct 14, 2009, at 5:12 PM, aghostAGHOSTaghost wrote:

> I'm curious if anyone has experience with driving the LED of a vactrol
> with a contact mic.  The contact mic would be attached to a drum so
> I'm guessing the voltage would be high enough to light the LED but
> would it be very instantaneous or perhaps it needs to be amplified?
> Would it be simple to create some sort of decay?  Ultimately I would
> like to be able to trigger a voltage controlled dimmer connected to an
> incandescent bulb with a drum.

I'd be surprised if you could get enough current out of the mic itself  
to turn the LED on. You'd need to amplify it.

- Aaron