Tag: waynekremer

It's Christmastime again, and that means it's time to go out looking for Christmas displays. And you can find plenty of displays on the west side of town, and scattered around both the Carson and Eagle Valleys, but if you don't head out to the Johnson Lane area and see Wayne Kremer's display, your Christmas just isn't complete.

Wayne has not only put up lights, he's put up snowflakes, dogs, little mini Christmas trees, and a 20-foot megatree. But then he took the next step and programmed the whole display so it's choreographed to music, which he pumps out over his own radio transmitter. The whole system turns his yard (and part of his next-door neighbor's) into one big stage, where a 20-minute show comprised of nearly ten songs plays out for anyone willing to brave the crowds.

Here's a sample:

Last year I wrote about the display, but back then I didn't know too much about it or how it worked. A few days later I found out that the display has its own website, www.nevadachristmas.com. And this year I have an exclusive interview with the guy responsible for it all, Wayne Kremer. He was good enough to answer a few questions about how the lights work and where he got the idea to do it all.

How did you get started? Where did you get the idea to do a synchronized light display, and when was the first year you put it up?

I started computerized Christmas lights back in 2002 when I discovered a website called Planet Christmas run by Chuck Smith. This website had details of how he made his display computerized. I was amazed and ordered a kit (called Dasher at the time) from a hobbyist on that website. When the kit arrived, I quickly threw it together and tried it out. It worked! Back then, I had nothing more than 4 small trees that danced around without any music. I don't think anyone who came by and saw it was really amused...but I was.

The following year, I switched over to a new Christmas lighting control called "Light-o-rama". Light-o-rama added new features (dimming, shimmer, and twinkle effects). I continue to use their products today. The following years, I added a little more...and a little more, until I am where I'm at now. By the way, many think my electric bill is super high, but in reality, it is normally only $50 or $60 more. The reason for the low electric bill is that all of the lights are not normally on at the same time.

How does it work?

Simply, it works by sequencing a song (an *.mp3) on a PC using the software from Light-o-rama. Sequencing is nothing more than telling certain lights (channels) to turn on or off at a particular point (events) in the song. Once sequencing is complete, the PC will send out signals to controllers that tell them to turn certain channels on, off, dim up, dim down, twinkle, or shimmer. The PC speaker output is connected to a legal quarter watt FM transmitter that broadcasts the music out.

How long does it take to set up and program the display?

Our display takes about 5 days to setup...just for putting everything out. Prior to putting everything out, I need to put these displays together and sequence the music. Each song takes about 7 to 8 hours to sequence. It takes so long because I am programming each channel (160 of them) down to the tenth of a second. So for a 3 minute song, I can have up to 1800 events...with each event able to turn on/off 160 channels. Major time sucker! I only have 7 songs that I sequenced, but this year, I added a bunch of voiceovers that needed to be sequenced as well. The good news is that I can use the prior years sequences and add to them each year without starting over.

What kind of response do you get from your neighbors? Especially the ones next door, since you have lights in their yard?

The neighbors are just great! I speak to all of them about our display and tell them if they have any issues, to let me know. Yes, I have lights in their yard, but they requested it! There is nothing like a lit up dog peeing (yellow snow) in your neighbors yard. I think the biggest impact of response is from my family who has to endure countless hours of my sick hobby. I just finished a large 'Happy Holidays' sign that took me a couple months of wrapping lights to a wireframe, adding programming sequences, and installing it. The sign project was just too time consuming and I won't do projects like that in the future. Instead, I will buy unique pre-built items so it won't put such a strain on the family who graciously understand and appreciate what I am doing.

How did you get the idea to collect food for the Carson Valley Community Food Closet?

My wife, Lisa, came up with the idea. She saw how many came to our display and thought that it would be a great idea to collect food for our community's food closet. Our neighbor Liz Starkey became involved and helped us collect the food and deliver it to the CVCFC. This year, we are also collecting food, but in addition, we are also collecting monetary funds for the Rios children who were imprisoned and starved by their family. These funds are being made to their medical and education second chance fund. We post the fund total on our website (www.nevadachristmas.com) every night. The Rios kids came by our display last week and we were very happy they were there.

Tell me about yourself. What do you do for a living? What's the motivation behind putting up the display?

I work at GE Energy in Minden as the IT Site Lead where I take care of the servers, network, client machines, etc. My job is quite challenging at times, but I enjoy it. Our display is our gift to the community. It is special when you talk with everyone who has seen it and they tell you how much they enjoyed it. Everyone from kids to seniors can enjoy the display in their own way. I was told today by someone, "My husband hates going to look at Christmas lights, but when I took him by yours, he was thoroughly enjoying it". When we hear all the compliments and how it brightened their holiday season, it makes it worth all the work put into it.

What advice do you have for folks who want to put up their own display?
Where do they start?

For anyone who wants to put up their own display, I suggest first starting at Planet Christmas to get ideas and tips for their display. Start off small with a 8 or 16 channel controller and a mediocre PC running it. Light-o-rama has starter packages that include everything you need to get started. When starting, don't wait until November to begin...it will most likely be too late. It takes time to get the equipment, sequence your music, and setup your display, so give yourself plenty of time. Don't try to create a bunch of musical sequences by rushing...my motto is, "Quality over Quantity". While sequencing, use your imagination to dream up the way you would like the lights to dance. Finally, if you ever have any questions or problems, contact the Planet Christmas online community. They are very knowledgable and helpful.

Come on by and enjoy our display! Merry Christmas to everyone!

Thanks, Wayne, both for the interview and for putting together these lights every year.

If you want to check out the display, it can be found in the Johnson Lane area, in the Carson Valley. The address is 1176 Chaparral Court, and you can find directions here, or just look at the embedded map below.

The lights run until New Year's, so you better get out there and watch them! I'll see you there.

Okay, everyone reading this has to drive out to Johnson Lane tonight. No excuses, no shirking your duties. If you are in Northern Nevada, you need to hop in your car after sunset tonight and drive to the Carson Valley. If you are an expatriate living somewhere else, you need to hop on a plane and get here as soon as you can. If you’re in a hospital bed, get them to call an ambulance. Because out in Johnson Lane there is a Christmas light display that you’re not going to want to miss.

Last night we went out in search of awesome Christmas displays, and we spent the evening coming across display after display that were depressingly similar. Eveyone has the icicle lights, everyone has the wireframe reindeer, everyone has an inflatable Santa on the roof. After a couple of hours of this we decided to head home, and hit one last neighborhood on our way.

That’s when we had a revelation and realized what an awesome Christmas display truly could be.

Last year I wrote what I called “Radio Free Suburbia”, where I talked about how one of our neighbors was broadcasting Christmas songs over the radio with a low-wattage transmitter. I thought it was a pretty cool idea, but because we didn’t actually spend a lot of time in front of their house, it wasn’t until this year that we realized we were only seeing half of the puzzle, and we were missing how cool it actually was. Last night we drove by again, and found out that this year they were once again broadcasting over the air. But this time we spent a little more time parked in the street looking at their house, and we began to notice something: the lights on their house and in their yard were blinking, like so many other houses we had seen that night. But instead of blinking in a random pattern, they seemed to be programmed, like they were putting on a show.. And as we sat there longer, with their radio station tuned in the background, our brains put all the pieces together: this light show was actually synchronized to the music! They had turned their entire yard into a stage, playing out this spectacle that must have taken weeks or months of programming.

Click to view actual video of the lights.

Well, we sat there, transfixed. Song after song came on the radio, each one of them carefully choreographed in the lights. Other cars pulled up to the house and shut their engines off. And before we knew if, maybe 20 minutes later, we had sat through the entire loop and the songs started to repeat. We drove away and looked at some other houses, but everything was a disappointment after that.

I was sitting there watching this show, and wondering how it was done, when at one point Wayne Kremer, the owner, came on the radio explaining how he had set it up. It uses a software called Light-O-Rama, which coordinates the music with several controller boxes placed around the property. There are ten boxes controlling 134 channels and over 50,000 lights! After getting home and going a little digging online, I found the same setup used at a few other houses. Carson Williams in Ohio did one, and you’ve also got the Plymouth Lights, the Lindsay Lights, and Wonderland Christmas that are all based on the same concept. But being able to see it live beats watching a grainy video any day.

Speaking of which, here’s a grainy video of the show! I uploaded one song to Ourmedia for everyone who can’t make it out to see the lights, or who wants to sample the show before they go.

If you are in the area and you do want to go visit, the lights are in the Johnson Lane area of Douglas County. Drive Hwy 395 to Stephanie Way, turn east on Stephanie and drive about a mile and a half to Saratoga Springs. Turn left into Saratoga Springs, then take the second right onto Chaparral Court. The lights are at the end of the cul-de-sac, on the left. The address is 1176 Chaparral Court (here’s a map). If you go check out the lights, post a comment letting everyone know what you think!

Update, 12/24: I just found out that the lights have their own official website, www.NevadaChristmas.com. It includes, among other things, a complete video of the entire 19-minute show. Awesome!