Every piece of lighting seen in this image is connected to a software that makes them part of a Christmas music light show. (Photo by Peter Currier)
WESTFIELD- A local household’s Christmas light display drew some attention during the holiday season.
The house at 86 Pine St., owned by Dan Whalen, was given extra holiday flair, especially for those who took the time to sit in their car and take in the show while the lights are on.
Whalen, who has been putting up progressively more elaborate Christmas light displays for about three years, paired Christmas music to his lights so that the lights would “dance” in sync with the music.
Rather than simply playing music outside through a speaker, Whalen took it to another level. Part of the display was a scrolling LED sign that encouraged onlookers to tune their car’s radio to 92.7 FM, which would play Christmas music in sync with the lights.
“I have my own FM transmitter inside the house,” said Whalen, “The whole thing runs through a software called xLights.”
xLights is a free software that Whalen used to sync the audio file that was also being transmitted over the FM radio with the lights themselves, creating an audio and visual light show for the neighborhood.
Whalen said that he started doing these light shows three or four years ago, and that they had been adding different aspects to the display each year.
While he has not been able to keep a head count each night as he often works in the evening, Whalen said that he estimates that about 10 to 15 people would be driving by or stopping in front of the house each hour.
“Some would stop for just a few seconds, some for a lot longer,” said Whalen.
He noted that the display will remain on the house until Jan. 2.
