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amplifier electronics woodworking

Making a Darth Vader voice changer, part 3

I finally finished the Darth Vader voice changer this weekend. I took a belt with two snap hooks from an old bag. Next I fitted the box with the voice changer with two black screw eyes that were large enough for the snap hooks. The enclosure is now comfortable around the neck of a child. In a local electronics shop I bought a case for a 9V battery that fitted nicely in the box. Finally I taped the mic into the Darth Vader mask and the fun could begin.

My two boys both volunteered and got dressed as Darth Vader.  We still have a dark cloak that goes well with the mask. Unfortunately we sold the light-sabres a couple of years ago. The Darth Vader voice is surprisingly convincing but only if you play around with the settings. Even funnier, you can make Darth Vader sound like a robot or as someone that has just inhaled helium (a very high pitched voice). I can imagine children having a lot of fun with the voice changer at a party or at Halloween.

Is there something left to be desired? Yes, the voice changer has four buttons for robot voice, vibrato, higher or lower pitch. As mentioned before I somehow couldn’t get the external red push buttons functioning that were placed on the enclosure. So I used the push-buttons on the MK171 board instead. To access the four push-buttons on the MK171 board I need to open the enclosure. This is far from ideal and something that needs to be fixed in my next version of the voice changer.

Darth Vader complete with mask and cloak. Unfortunately the light-sabre is missing.
A Belt with two snap hooks, screw eyes and battery holder for a 9V battery complete the Darth Vader voice changer.
Enclosure, now with screw eyes.
Inside of the enclosure with battery holder.

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