DMX light show to music with an Android app

What you need

• An Android phone or tablet with USB host (OTG). Currently only Android is supported.
• A USB DMX cable with an FT232 chip (from about 15 €) or an Art-Net interface on your network.
• DMX fixtures: moving heads, PAR cans, LED bars, strobes or haze machines.
• DMX cables from fixture to fixture (3-pin XLR), with a terminator on the last one.

How it works

1. Install GrooveDMX from Google Play.
2. Plug the USB DMX cable into the phone and the first fixture, then daisy-chain the others.
3. Set each fixture to DMX mode and give it a start address so the addresses do not overlap.
4. Add the fixtures in the app: around 4,900 fixture profiles from 144 manufacturers are built in. Enter the start address and drag each fixture to its place on the floor plan.
5. Start the show. The app listens through the microphone, wherever the music is playing from.

What the automatic show does

The app splits a track into sections such as intro, groove, build-up, drop and break and picks matching looks: chases through the room, moving head movements, colour moods and strobes on the drop. How hard it hits depends on the genre, such as techno, house, pop, schlager or hip-hop.

Effects follow where the fixtures are in the room, not just their order. Everything is analysed on the phone; audio is never stored or transmitted.

What it costs

GrooveDMX is free and controls up to eight fixtures. Pro is a one-time purchase of $8.99 on Google Play and adds the built-in player, Planned Intelligence and any number of fixtures. Club for commercial use is a one-time $54.99. There is no subscription.

Limits

• Currently only Android is supported, no iPhone.
• USB DMX interfaces with an encrypted protocol are not supported; FT232 cables and Art-Net work.
• The show follows what the microphone hears. In very loud rooms, keep the phone away from the front of a speaker.