# Need Electronic Noisemaking Help **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 23, 2013, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-electronic-noisemaking-help/674586 "2013-11-23T01:54:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-electronic-noisemaking-help/674586/1 "2013-11-23T01:54:24Z")
I am currently making retro (NOT Steampunk) Sonic Screwdrivers. Getting them to light up has been both fun and easy. But, I am having trouble figuring out a cheap, small, lightweight way to get them to make noise. A buzz, a beep, etc would be great. Here are pictures of the first Screwdriver, in a late stage of construction. [One side](http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a151/doccathode/picture001.jpg) [The other side](http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a151/doccathode/picture000.jpg) Thanks in advance for your help. ---
**Author:** ![RearEchelon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b4bc9f/32.png) [@RearEchelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RearEchelon)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2013, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-electronic-noisemaking-help/674586/2 "2013-11-24T05:25:48Z")
What about a [piezoelectric buzzer?](http://www.adafruit.com/products/160?gclid=COen7pTX_LoCFeUDOgodemQA3A) ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2013, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-electronic-noisemaking-help/674586/3 "2013-11-24T05:37:08Z")
Certainly seems like you could rob a chip and tiny speaker out of a toy or greeting card or something. But maybe a more honest approach would be to rotate against a piece of stiff but thin plastic, like putting a baseball card in the spokes, so to speak. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2013, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-electronic-noisemaking-help/674586/4 "2013-11-24T07:22:32Z")
Speaker out of a dead mobile phone? Any phone with a handsfree capability has an astonishingly loud for its size loudspeaker. Usually it is a tiny plastic box that acts as part of the acoustic system, and is plumbed to the outside world through a hole a few mm in diameter. You could drive it from any manner of devices, from a simple oscillator, a simple digital recorder say based on a apr9301, or a one chip synthesiser (SN76477N if you can find one.), to get all manner of neat and retro noises. Personally I might look at a handful of discrete component in a hardwired (very very retro) unit. You could generate all manner of interesting noises with four or so transistors plus passives. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2013, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-electronic-noisemaking-help/674586/5 "2013-11-24T11:11:29Z")
if you prefer analog, You’d be able to make some weird sounds with a 555 timer ? ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2013, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-electronic-noisemaking-help/674586/6 "2013-11-24T14:02:44Z")
As mentioned by **Isilder** , there are a number of sound effect circuits based on one or more 555s. However, the best and simplest solution is to use a dedicated sound effect chip like the Holtek HT2884 or Bowin UM3561. The biggest problem with going this route, though, is _ **finding** _ these chips. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2013, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-electronic-noisemaking-help/674586/7 "2013-11-24T17:24:40Z")
How about one of those hy-larious noisemaker keychains from 1990? Once you take it apart, remove the housing and reposition the batteries and buttons, it probably is only a small circuit board to try to fit in the screwdriver. They’re a couple bucks [(echokeyller, ages 3 months and up(?))](http://www.amazon.com/Sound-Electronic-Key-Chain-Noisemaker/dp/B0089F9ZKE) and one or two of the sounds might work OK. Here’s a kid [running through all the sounds](http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ucApRDXiAzU#t=105) of what appears to be a similar device. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2013, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-electronic-noisemaking-help/674586/8 "2013-11-24T20:34:17Z")
First- Thanks for all the suggestions! I really do appreciate it. Second- It seems you think I have much more knowledge of the mastery of the electron than I do. Pretend I am just a kid who knows how to work a soldering iron. I know what a piezo buzzer is, but I have no idea how to get it to make noise. One of the reasons I adore LED’s so much is that you just have to connect the leads to the right ends of a battery and voila, they work. Third- I’ve considered just stealing the guts of a sound effects key chain or similar device. But, I want something that makes a continuous sound so long as the button is depressed and only when the button is depressed. Fourth- So far, the most expensive thing in the sonics is the battery. The vacuum tubes were bought at a flea market for less than a buck each. The wooden housing is part of a spinning wheel or something and was a dollar each. The wires are recycled from the junked pinball machine that I made into a coffee table. The LED’s were a gift from a friend. I’d like to keep the budget as low as possible. Again thank you very much! ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2013, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-electronic-noisemaking-help/674586/9 "2013-11-24T20:45:08Z")
I can’t view the pictures on this computer, but sometimes you can find small motors with offset weights in them in the surplus places like American Science and Surplus and All Electronics and those sorts of places. They are used in pagers and cell phones to make them vibrate, so they are small, cheap, and fairly powerful. Mount it so that the weight hits against something and it will make a much more audible noise using the same principle as sticking a playing card against your bike frame so that it gets whacked by the wheel spokes. I don’t know if a piece of playing card would make enough noise in a much smaller application like that, but you could probably find a small, flexible piece of metal for it to whack against. Very simple, cheap, and all you need to do is solder the motor wires to a switch and a battery holder. ---
**Author:** ![breezman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@breezman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/breezman)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-electronic-noisemaking-help/674586/10 "2013-11-26T03:10:09Z")
You could do what [this guy](http://hackaday.com/2011/11/22/musical-greeting-card-with-minimal-parts/) did to make his own musical greeting cards. You’d need a programmer (or an arduino to use as a programmer) to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Shadowfyre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfyre/32/9972_2.png) [@Shadowfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shadowfyre)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-electronic-noisemaking-help/674586/11 "2013-11-26T17:22:06Z")
I’m not sure what you’re using for power. I assume a AA battery? Google for the voltage you are using and “buzzer”, like “1.5 volt buzzer”. I was able to find some small buzzers for around $4. You would just wire these up to your LED, either in series or in parallel. They’ll make a noise whenever and for how ever long the button is pushed. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2013, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-electronic-noisemaking-help/674586/12 "2013-11-27T02:25:42Z")
I think that the keychain noisemakers do sound as long as the button is held but can’t be sure. The video seems to suggest that they do, though. I wouldn’t use a basic buzzer since I’ve never heard one that didn’t sound cheap and awful. And that is cheap and awful even compared to the 1990 sound effects keychain: Pew! Pew! ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2013, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-electronic-noisemaking-help/674586/13 "2013-11-27T03:16:25Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > It seems you think I have much more knowledge of the mastery of the electron than I do. Well, **DocCathode** , what do you think gave us that impression? 😉 > [@Shadowfyre](#): > > I’m not sure what you’re using for power. I assume a AA battery? Google for the voltage you are using and “buzzer”, like “1.5 volt buzzer”. I was able to find some small buzzers for around $4. > > You would just wire these up to your LED, either in series or in parallel. They’ll make a noise whenever and for how ever long the button is pushed. This would be the easiest solution. You can find piezo buzzers that undulate like a siren. ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2013, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-electronic-noisemaking-help/674586/14 "2013-11-27T03:26:00Z")
I have my students use [this](http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102855) in audio electronics lab. Might be just the thing for you. ETA: it’s quite tiny, the speaker is ~ 1.5" dia.