How do musical holiday light displays work? A Walker resident explains how he syncs his lights with the radio

You’ve surely seen them during the holidays: Those light displays that at first glance seem to be blinking randomly with no order.

That’s when you notice the sign: “Tune in to 100.1 FM,” or some other obscure radio channel. It’s not long before you realize the lights outside are synchronized with the sounds coming into your car.

This is what people experience when they pass homes like Shawn Duet’s at 28820 Danielle Ben Drive in Walker. Three holiday seasons ago, Duet was just like any other homeowner—sure, he put up a few lights but nothing special. But everything changed after he watched an episode of The Great Christmas Light Fight, a holiday-themed competition TV show showcasing elaborate light displays. He was mesmerized by the movement and colors.

He decided to try and mimic a similar display at his house. But he quickly realized synced lighting was going to be more of an endeavor than he anticipated. So, he ensured he had everything right for his first try.

“I pretty much made all the props where everything’s as modular as possible,” Duet says. “That way I just had to build it once. I have like six arches—two sets of three—and the way I have them wired, it’s made with PVC pipe. You can fold them and put them together and put them in the attic.”

Shawn Duet’s trees have their own segments in the light show.

Once he had the pieces in place, there was one last thing to take care of: synchronization. He learned everything he could from forums online and discovered he could program the lights himself instead of spending money on a sequence that didn’t fit his setup.

“First, you get the sound. Then, you can break down the lyrics. Syllables and sounds are dependent,” Duet says. “You’ve got to do it by hand. Last year, a guy came out with a program where you can put a song in it and it’ll break down the time and tracks for you.”

Three years in, he says that he still gets traffic in front of his house. He plans on adding more pieces to his setup each season—but refrains from going on the roof, at risk of looking like Clark Griswold.

His lights dance from 5:30-9:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday, with an extra hour added on Fridays and Saturdays. It all stays up past Christmas until New Year’s Eve, when the trees count down to midnight.

“By Jan. 2, there’s no trace of it in the yard,” Duet says.

Until next year.