By day, Chad Boone enjoys seeing his customers get exactly what they want at Bass-X, an auto sound and accessories business.
By night, Boone transforms into a mythical holiday miracle-worker, capable of mixing music and Christmas lights into a holiday festival of delight.
Such classics at “Nutrocker,” “Sarejevo,” and “Wizards in Winter,” by the Trans Siberian Orchestra join Elvis Presley’s classic “Blue Christmas.”
Saturday night’s extravaganza will feature “Party Rock Anthem,” by LMFAO.
You just have to see Boone’s show to believe it in the 3100 block of 27th Street just east of Harrison in Great Bend.
To get the full sensory affect, drivers need to tune into 103.7 FM to hear Boone’s low frequency signal, which works for more than a block away.
The response has been universally positive. Some people are speechless while others can’t stop talking about it.
“Everybody has loved it and what’s fun is some of the same people come out every night,” he said.
The display is active from 6 to 10 p.m. on weekdays and 6 to 11 p.m. on weekends until after the New Year.
Boone saw similar music displays in Oklahoma City’s parks and decided to try his own neighborhood display.
“I did it because our children Jadin and Devin really enjoy the shows we’ve seen in Oklahoma and I knew people would love this,” he said.
His audio background at his business helped with his electronics and programming work, but he also had to invest time in the fine points of running everything through his laptop computer. A computer program on his laptop gives him an illustration of what the outdoor light show will look like.
His trickiest task was renting a 50-foot bucket truck to install 2,000 LED lights on a large tree in his front yard. More than 4,000 LED lights are efficient energy savers. Boone believes it probably costs more energy for the spotlights which illuminate two signs in his yard than the LED lighting.
“It takes about four hours of work to get each song programmed with the music like I want it,” he said. “But I’ve got 60 hours of work invested in the project.”
He could’ve chosen pre-selected music and lights, but opted to create his own musical masterpiece. That’s the way true artists think.
“It’s pretty tricky and precise work because there are 32 channels and sets of lights that flash on-and-off every tenth of a second,” Boone said. “You change the lights to the beat of the music.”
Boone’s process is to set up his lighting structure and choose the appropriate music to work with the lights, which twinkle or shimmer.
Boone has been asked to help set up similar displays for other home-owners. He will start marketing the Christmas light and sound systems through his business in the near future.
“I could see us creating a niche for this,” he said.
Artist mixes lights, music