Ollies Loop Lights FAQ Page

Your Electricity Bill Must Be High?

This is the question/comment I see most asked of people that perform these shows on their homes.  Ollies Loop Lights use almost 3500 bulbs to ligtht up to the music.  In years past, when the technology was stuck with incandescent  lights, this would be an overly expensive hobby.  But we have come a long way from the stone age of expensive, energy ineffecient lighting with the technology of LED lights.

Ollies Loop Lights (bulbs alone) consumes 520 Watts (or 4.34 Amps of current). That is when all the lights light up at the same time, which is only during rare sections of the music, and only for breif moments.  LED's also do not have the same in-rush currect that old incadescent lamp suffered from.  So tack on an extra 2 amps for the electronics (power supplies, Raspberry Pi computer, controllers, radio transmitter), the total draw is around 850W (again, remember, that is when all lights are lit up).

Compare that to a hair dryer that is typically 1900W, or the ammount of energy consumed by all the electronics in ones home running  and consuming standby, or phantom power.  The light show isn't that bad at all, especially for only a couple months out of the year.

Now compare that to individuals that have a static display, maybe a yard of lights, throw in a blowup prop or two...Ollies Loop Lights are actually very energy effecient.

How do you select the songs for the playlist?

Song selection is based on how I think it will interact with the lights.  I start to invision the sequence and think of interesting patterns for the song.  Knowing how the lights behave plays a large part in the song selection.  This show, since the lights have basic funstionality of turning on and off, and can get a shuttering affect in, limits the song selection to quick uptempo music with defined beats.  Since I haven't done too many slow transistions, and fades (outside of the floods/spots), I typically avoid ballads, and slow songs.

The unfortunate downside of all this is that I've now trained my brain into thinking of nifty ways to control lights when I should be just enjoying/listening to music.

How long does it take to sequence a song?

For this show, a typical song took from 10hrs to upto 30hrs to sequence.  Part of that is the learning curve of understanding xLights, but also I'm attempting to come up with nifty patterns to attract the attention of the listener, as opposed to just turning on/off lights.  It also helps how much I actually enjoy the song as well.  For example, I'm a big Foo Fighters fan, so I wanted to do "Times Like These" some justice, so a song like that took alot of time to sequence, to get it to a point that I can appreciate it.

AC/DC Thunderstruck is another example of a song that took a while to sequence...just because it is an anthem of rock and roll.

This has also gained my respect of the people with the larger shows that sequence upwards of 20,000 to 30,000 pixels.  Koodos to them.

What were your favorite songs that you have sequenced so far?

I enjoyed all of them, and hope that has been expressed in the show, but I do have a few that stand out for myself, and in no particular order:

Shake it Off (Taylor Swift) - no particular reason other than it was my first song I sequenced.  Family are "Swiftie" fans, so I figured if I can do this, I could get them more onboard with the project.  The original sequence was actually terrible, and I did update it since the initial introduction of the show, so what is now shown is (I think) better. Regardless, it was the first, it holds a place here.

Times Like These (Foo Fighters) - as already mentioned, I'm a fan of the Foo's, dispite the current controversies around a particular band memeber, so this is one of the given songs to do.

Dueling Banjo's (Arthur Smith) - I watched a YouTube video of a house that did this song and it was absolutely tremendous.  I tried to emulate it with my setup.  Though not as polished, I think I did a decent job with the transistions between the guitar and banjo.  It was a fun song to do. It was also my second song that I sequenced.

Light of Christmas (Toby Mac) - Just an absolutely fantastic song, and I really enjoyed sequencing it.  It was my first sequecne that took around 20hrs to to as I wanted to get it right.  I think I did ok, I'll let the viewers decide.

Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (Cole Rolland) - This was just an absolute hoot of a sequence to do, as in all the crazinest of the lights flashing, there still is a pattern in there.  It's just an absolute blitz of music and lights.

Satisfaction (Benny Benassi) - I watched a 30 clip of the GOAT of home light shows, Tom BetGeorge, who put up a teaser video using the song in his show (now has the full length video of the song sequence on his 2024 playlist).  Though Ollies Loop Lights doesn't come close in comparison to that, I just wanted to see what I could accomplish. This song with a powerful intro, and a really strong beat was fun to do.

Thunderstruck (AC/DC) - as already mentioned, this is the classic Anthem of Rock.  Just a blast to sequence.

Let's Go Crazy (Prince) - Enjoyed sequencing this song from an epcic master in the music industry.  I did everything to portray his guitar picks, and finale blitz.  Another song I put alot of time into to try and get it right in respect to the artist.

Do you take requests?

At this moment, I do not.  I don't put priority on songs.  You can suggest a song to sequence, BUT if it doesn't meet a certain criteria, I won't even give it a listen, right off the bat.  It must have a good beat...some sort of rythem.  I won't even bother with slow ballads, or even most country.  Most songs, if they don't catch my attention right away, I usually don't give them a second chance.  I also have a pretty full plate of songs to sequence for the next year's show(s), so there isn't a gurantee that I would even get to a requested song, unless it really catches my attention.

Where do you take the show from the point your at right now?  Are you planning on making it bigger?

The first task for this year was to revamp the old LightshowPi show I used to do and come up with a new layout with some old props, but some new ones as well.  I think I accomplished that.  The second task was to learn how to sequence in xLights..check.  Third task was to put it all together for 2024, which has been accomplished.  For 2025, I'm looking at expanding the repetroire of music, so I have a multiple selection of songs to pick and choose.  I'm not sure right now how or what I will do in expanding the show lights and props.  I have some things and could go in different directions.  That's the joy of this system, there is so much room to expand.  The limiting factor is budget.

How come you don't use Pixel LED lights like alot of the other shows?

Cost and complexity...and in that order.  Pixel lights are coming down to more reasonable prices, but add in additional power supplys, controllers and other electronics and props, the cost starts to skyrocket.  And from a complexity aspect, to sequence and control so many pixel LED's, I think would be a daunting task.  Don't get me wrong, there are some thoughts in introducing Pixels in Ollies Loop Lights, to some degree (mega-tree or talking trees), but I doubt the entire house will be covered in pixels.  I'm actually looking at expanding in the DMX relm more, but that too is a pretty expensive direction.

How does one hear the music in the show?

The show is broadcasted on an FM 90.9.  You can pick it up in the comfort/safety of your own vehicle.  I do not broadcast the music out in the yard (other than if testing or filming) out of respect for the neighbors. It's also for the reason that with all the cords and equipment strewn over the yard, it is to keep everyone safe from tripping hazards, and from damaging equipment.

Wait is broadcasting on radio frequencies legal?

This is a grey zone, as there are many factors in the legalities of broadcasting within the FM frequency in Canada.  Two main factors is transmitting power and what frequency is used.  Basically an amature station shouldn't use the same frequency as a properly licensed station, nor should the amature station wipe out an adjacent station within the frequency spectrum.  But outside of simple respect for actual liscencsed stations, there are no specific laws or regulations that ban broadcasting Christmas shows on the FM radio.