This DIY Dub Siren Uses a Pair of 555 Timers to Produce Novel Beats
Inspired by the original dub sirens from Jamaica, one maker had the idea to create one of his own with readily-available parts.
What is a dub siren?
Synthesizers have been used for decades to create uniquely electronic sounds and melodies. And from this large family of instruments is one that is less well-known: the dub siren. It is a type of synthesizer that is used predominantly in the Dub genre of music which was popular in reggae throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The dub siren is essentially an oscillator within a box that can produce many different types of waveforms based on certain inputs, including pitch, speed, and modulation, which is all activated by pressing a single button. Instructables user lonesoulsurfer wanted to create the next iteration in his series of DIY dub sirens by designing and building version three with some extra features compared to the previous attempts.
Gathering components
This DIY dub siren is quite simple as it is based around a pair of 555 timers and an LM741 op-amp. Apart from the ICs, the circuit also contains plenty of passive components, such as resistors and capacitors, that change how the 555 timers generate a waveform. Five potentiometers are used to adjust the speed, amplitude, and frequency, among other characteristics. Finally, a reverb module was included to enable the user to add small amounts of echo.
Putting it all together
Once the schematic and board had been designed, the files were sent off to create a PCB, onto which nearly every component was attached. To power the dub siren, a voltage-boosting module was connected to an old phone's lithium polymer battery that can bring the nominal 3.6v all the way up to 9v. Charging the battery is handled by a USB charge controller.
All of this circuitry was placed into a custom enclosure that features an acrylic panel on the top with plenty of decals to know which potentiometer controls a given aspect of the sound's profile. The case was fashioned from four slats of wood that had grooves cut in them for easy gluing.
How does it sound?
Version three of the DIY dub siren has a very unique sound, and as seen in lonesoulsurfer's video, it adds something new to an otherwise ordinary beat.
You can read more about how this project was built here on Instructables.