Thread: lights with music?

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Hey there,

You guys probably get this all the time but im curious how does one begin attempting to time music with lights. Its seems very complicated is there anyone to can simplify it for an amature lol.

thanks

There are two systems mainly used by Christmas light enthusiasts -- Light-O-Rama and Animated Lighting. Both make it relatively easy to synchronize lighting with music, and give a great deal of control over timing.

I personally use Light-O-Rama (LOR) to "animate" my Xmas lights. Each AC controller gives you the ability to control 16 channels of lighting (on/off/fade up/fade down). A separate DC controller is available that makes it a snap to control RGB led lighting or individual LEDs. Another board is available for controlling servos (perfect for animated skulls where the mouth is timed with music), and yet another add-on allows DMX control. The thing is, the setup offers very limited input control, or triggers. The system does an excellent job of outbound control, however. So, you'd still want stand-alone control for animated props that are triggered by light or sound.

Currently my Halloween display is static, so I am unaware of what's available in this realm for animated/synchronized control.

Cray

If you wish to go with a simplified yet expensive commercial route go with Light-O-Rama system, if you wish to save money and completely build the controller from scratch checkout http://computerchristmas.com and http://www.doityourselfchristmas.com for guides.

oh terrific! wow light o-rama is pretty costly huh..well least that's a back up plan. Thanks for the help i really appreciate it!

there's a gemmy light show that right now a halloween version is 149.00 at walmart and other stores, i have one and got it after a christmas sale at walmart for 40, easy to use, just plug in your lights and turn it on.

Dont forget about a true DIY system. A Kit74 Relay Board, about $45, and something like Vixen Light Software, which is FREE!

Obviously there are several approaches to timing lights with music (skinning a cat, as it were). There are advantages and caveats to each approach. Personally, I didn't want to invest the extra time in a DIY system. AND, I had a little extra $$$ to spend. For me, the turnkey approach of LOR was the right answer.

Whatever route you go (if you go), you'll find this can be a very time-consuming endeavor. The head banging you'll do isn't usually in getting up and going, though the DIY route will have some of this, depending on your knowledge and comfort levels. Getting the timing right between the lights and the music takes a bit of effort. Many Christmas-light nuts average around 4 solid hours of sequencing for each minute of music. Some of the things people have sequenced have averaged between 10 and 12 hours per minute. The bottom line is, it can take a good bit of time to make it look good. Still, it's worth every minute.

I am not all that familiar with the Kit 74, scratch or Gemmy routes. But if you decide to persue this, I'll help any way I can.

Luck!

DMX. Get lightbars and play music. My Chauvets have an internal sensor, or if you want. Get a controller and play with it. Used this approach last year and it rocked

I saw a Gemmy system at Target for $80 bucks. It only has 4 songs on it but you are supposed to be able to plug an MP3 player into it. I didnt get to examine it very well because if I did I probably would have bought it. Need to research it first

Found this website with one on it. Its got me wondering if I read the price right at target.

http://www.themesnthings.com/catalog...81/7702135.htm