Lights on State Street
The Family
From left to right: Me (Jake Tornholm), my son (Lee Tornholm), my daughter (Gillian Tornholm), and my wife (Erin Nicholson)
How it began and where it's at now
In early 2020 I began to think about how I could turn up the geek level on my Christmas lights. I decided to buy a small controller and make an LED matrix out of some pixel lights to test with. I had a little experience with building some LED panels on a smaller scale and had even set some to music before using a different type of controller. After running this for the season I was happy with how the LED matrix worked and how the controllers withstood the harsh Iowa winter, and decided to continue.
In 2021 I bought some more pixel lights and added a second controller and FM transmitter and began creating musical sequences, and for the first time ever had a fully custom musical lightshow!
For 2022 I have continued to build upon what I had started. Due to the chip shortage and supply chain issues I was not able to buy another controller to expand or add more lights, so I decided to work on making the show interactive. Thus the “Control the Lights” feature was created, allowing viewers to pick what song/sequence is playing live from the website!
In 2023 I purchased a Kulp K16A-B controller in order to expand the amount of pixel strings I could use. I also made some “leaping arches” and reprogramed the sequences in order to use these props. Last but not least I added an interactive feature that would allow passers by to push a button and hear the music without a radio.
How it's done and the technology that makes it possible!
Overall I like to take a less is more approach to the display, free from any seizure inducing flashy sequences or props. All of the music is selected by me, or my family, and usually consists of some sort of movie or television theme.
The lights I use are LED pixel lights, more specifically WS2811 pixel strings. With these lights each pixel can be controlled individually within the string and set to any color and intensity. This means I have the ability to create many more effects than what can be done with standard Christmas light strings! The lights are controlled with a small Raspberry Pi single board computer with a Falcon PiCap pixel controller attached, and a Kulp K16A-B running on a BeagleBone Black .
The Raspberry Pi and BeagleBone run an open source software called Falcon Pi Player which is responsible for playing the sequences and outputting the music to a small FM transmitter. This software also handles the scheduling of when and how long the show will play.
I program the sequences with the help of another free and open source program called xLights, which simplifies the process of mapping out the pixels greatly. This software allows me to precisely time the lights with the music and make all sorts of effects. All of the sequences are then saved and uploaded to the Falcon Pi Player.
And all of this runs on a few meager 12V power supplies, making for a very cost effective setup.
I try to add something new each year, whether it be just a new sequence or more lights. So be sure to check back and see what’s new this year!