# scottlawsonbc/audio-reactive-led-strip

:musical_note: :rainbow: Real-time LED strip music visualization using Python and the ESP8266 or Raspberry Pi

Repository: https://github.com/scottlawsonbc/audio-reactive-led-strip
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/audio-reactive-led-strip
Language: Python
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: raspberry-pi, music-visualizer, python, esp8266, arduino, signal-processing, audio-processing
Last push: 2026-01-06T18:09:14+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 60/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 61, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3612, "days_push": 239, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2987, forks 643 (observed 2026-08-28T04:07:34.405699+00:00)

## What it is
A real-time music visualizer that drives WS2812B LED strips using Python for audio capture and FFT-based signal processing, with an ESP8266 over WiFi or a standalone Raspberry Pi as the LED controller. It includes Python visualization code and Arduino firmware for the ESP8266.

## Use cases
- visualize music on an LED strip in real time
- build a DIY audio-reactive ambient light
- run a standalone Raspberry Pi music visualizer
- drive WS2812B neopixels from a computer over WiFi
- learn real-time audio signal processing with FFT
- sync room lighting to beats and bass

## When to choose
- you want a proven, popular open-source LED music visualizer with hardware setup guides
- you have WS2812B strips and an ESP8266 or Raspberry Pi
- you want Python-based DSP code you can customize

## When to avoid
- you need more than 256 LEDs with the computer + ESP8266 setup
- you need high color depth on Raspberry Pi (no temporal dithering)
- you want a plug-and-play commercial product without hardware assembly
- you need actively developed features or modern Python support guarantees

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: maintenance
- function: audio-processing, graphics, streaming
- domain: hardware, iot, embedded-systems
- platform: python, iot, cross-platform
- tags: led-strip, ws2812b, music-visualizer, fft, real-time, arduino, esp8266, audio

## Member repositories
- scottlawsonbc/audio-reactive-led-strip (main) score 60

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:34.405699+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T07:31:25.104309+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/scottlawsonbc/audio-reactive-led-strip (fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:34.405699+00:00, sha 7c667061472d)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.