Methods and systems for synchronizing lighting to music in real-time

A method for synchronizing lighting to music in real-time, the method comprising:

• detecting beats in an audio stream by, for each of a plurality of audio samples:
• determining a loudness of the audio sample;
• comparing the loudness of the audio sample with an average loudness of a previous predetermined number of audio samples;
• and
• detecting a beat when the loudness of the audio sample is at least 1.05 standard deviation above the average loudness of the previous predetermined number of audio samples;
• and
• triggering a lighting action in response to the detected beats.

A system for synchronizing lighting to music in real-time, the system comprising:

• a plurality of lights;
• a controller configured to control operation of each of the plurality of lights, wherein the controller is configured to cause each of the plurality of lights to individually perform a lighting action;
• a beat detection engine configured to detect beats in music being played;
• and
• a tempo estimation engine configured to estimate a tempo of the music being played,
• wherein the controller is configured to receive input from the beat detection engine and the tempo estimation engine and trigger one or more lighting actions in the plurality of lights in response to detected beats based on the estimated tempo, and wherein the controller is configured to transition between activity periods and lockout periods, a length of the activity periods and lockout periods defined based on the estimated tempo.