Growing up, my father was always a fan of colorful lights at Christmas time, compared to simple white lights. Each year, my brother and I would help as he decorated the exterior of the house with these very colorful, very breakable lights a few weeks before the holidays. After witnessing some videos of other houses synchronizing their lights to music, we purchased a small control box that did this very thing, and projected the music out towards the street.
That almost feels like a decade now, and since then, much has changed. I should mention that we have seen the Trans-Siberian Orchestra perform 6 or 7 times now, and their light displays have certainly been a big inspiration for what we changed with our display. When I say “we”, I should really be saying “Cory”, my brother. Thousands upon thousands of lights have been added (all colored red, green, or blue), as well as a radio transmitting device so that those passing by need only to tune their radio to the correct station to hear the music. No longer are the lights pre-programmed at purchase; rather, each song is programmed by Cory himself.
The video above is indeed of our house. And as you watch, imagine the time it must take to tell every sequence of lights when to turn on, when to turn off, when to shimmer, when to dim, etc. This is why requests are not so easily taken. Cory really just synchronizes the music that interests him, which he enjoys doing more and, I believe, results in a very organic and pleasing performance for the audience as well.
Though my parents and I may help with some of the set up and break down, 85% of the work is by Cory, and 100% of the show. This year’s addition was another impressive accomplishment, the tree. If I am not mistaken, it has as many lights upon it as our roof (around 6,000).
Above is a video recording of one of the newest songs we (Cory) offered this year. Enjoy!