Palomaglade Christmas Lights Show

A synchronized Christmas lights and audio streaming solution for neighborhood light shows. Visitors can tune in via their smartphones at palomaglade.com to hear music perfectly synced with the light display.

Architecture

┌─────────────────────┐     ┌──────────────────────┐     ┌─────────────────────┐
│   Windows PC        │     │    Ubuntu Server     │     │   Visitors' Phones  │
│   (Light Control)   │     │                      │     │                     │
│                     │     │  ┌────────────────┐  │     │  ┌───────────────┐  │
│  LightORama +       │────▶│  │  Snapserver    │──│────▶│  │   Snapweb     │  │
│  FFmpeg             │ TCP │  │  (Audio Sync)  │  │HTTPS│  │   Player      │  │
│                     │     │  └────────────────┘  │     │  └───────────────┘  │
│  Stereo Mix ──────────────▶     Port 4953       │     │                     │
│                     │     │  ┌────────────────┐  │     │  Browser-based     │
└─────────────────────┘     │  │    Nginx       │  │     │  synchronized      │
                            │  │  (Reverse Proxy│  │     │  audio playback    │
                            │  └────────────────┘  │     └─────────────────────┘
                            └──────────────────────┘

Features

• Sub-second audio synchronization - Uses Snapcast for precise multi-device sync (~400ms latency)
• Web-based player - No app installation required, works on any smartphone browser
• Christmas-themed UI - Festive design with falling snowflakes animation
• Auto-recovery monitoring - Health check script with automatic restart on failure
• HTTPS support - Secure connections via Let's Encrypt

Components

Component	Purpose
snapserver.conf	Snapcast server configuration with optimized buffer settings
nginx-palomaglade.conf	Nginx reverse proxy with WebSocket support
web/index.html	Christmas-themed landing page with embedded Snapweb player
WINDOWS_SENDER.bat	Windows batch script for FFmpeg audio streaming
snapserver-health.sh	Health monitoring and auto-restart script
snapserver-override.conf	Systemd service improvements for faster restarts

Quick Start

1. Server Setup (Ubuntu)

# Install dependencies
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y snapserver nginx certbot python3-certbot-nginx

# Copy configuration files
sudo cp snapserver.conf /etc/snapserver.conf
sudo cp nginx-palomaglade.conf /etc/nginx/sites-available/palomaglade
sudo ln -sf /etc/nginx/sites-available/palomaglade /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

# Deploy web interface
sudo cp -r web/* /var/www/html/
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/

# Start services
sudo systemctl enable snapserver nginx
sudo systemctl restart snapserver nginx

# Set up SSL (replace with your domain)
sudo certbot --nginx -d yourdomain.com

2. Windows Audio Sender

Copy WINDOWS_SENDER.bat to the PC running your light show software and run it. Make sure "Stereo Mix" is enabled in Windows sound settings.

3. Enable Monitoring (Recommended)

# Install systemd override for faster restarts
sudo mkdir -p /etc/systemd/system/snapserver.service.d
sudo cp snapserver-override.conf /etc/systemd/system/snapserver.service.d/override.conf
sudo systemctl daemon-reload

# Set up health check cron job
sudo touch /var/log/snapserver-health.log
sudo chown $USER:$USER /var/log/snapserver-health.log
(crontab -l 2>/dev/null; echo "* * * * * $(pwd)/snapserver-health.sh") | crontab -

Technical Details

Why Snapcast?

Traditional FM transmitters have limitations:

• FCC limits transmission to 200 feet
• Requires listeners to tune their car radio
• No way to reach people with phones

Snapcast provides:

• Internet-based streaming with precise synchronization
• Works on any device with a web browser
• No geographic limitations

Buffer Optimization

After extensive testing, we settled on 400ms buffer:

• Lower (200ms): Audio artifacts and dropouts
• Higher (1000ms): Noticeable delay vs lights
• 400ms: Sweet spot for quality and sync

Auto-Recovery System

The health monitoring system addresses a known Snapcast issue where the server becomes unresponsive under heavy WebSocket session load:

1. Problem: WebSocket sessions from mobile browsers don't close cleanly
2. Symptom: Server stops accepting new audio input
3. Solution: Health script detects unresponsive JSON-RPC and force-restarts

Ports

Port	Service	Description
80	HTTP	Redirects to HTTPS
443	HTTPS	Web interface
1704	Snapcast TCP	Native client streaming
1780	Snapcast HTTP	WebSocket for Snapweb
4953	Audio Input	Receives FFmpeg TCP stream

License

MIT License - Feel free to use this for your own neighborhood light show!

Acknowledgments

• Snapcast - Synchronous multiroom audio player
• LightORama - Light show sequencing software
• Built with love in Tampa, FL