A Holly Jolly Christmas · Tesla Light Show
by Burl Ives
Burl Ives recorded it for the 1964 Rudolph television special, and it has sounded like a cheerful December ever since. The show keeps the same easy bounce: the signature bar and running lights carry the melody while the side markers skip along beside them, never in a hurry. It peaks through the middle, where the band is fullest, and eases out gently at the end. Two minutes eighteen, mid-brightness, and short enough to loop all evening while the street wanders past with its dogs.
How this one is choreographed
The lights re-fire about 0.7 times a second, a middle pace that tracks the beat without crowding it. The peak is in the middle third, where roughly 33% of the car is lit against 26% at the top, then it eases back for the finish. Most of the work falls on the signature light bar and daytime running lights, re-firing about 0.8 times a second, with the side markers answering back at 0.8. It runs 2:18 and averages 68 of 255 across the light channels, a mid-brightness show, with real headroom kept in reserve for the peaks. About 15% of the light values sit at a partial level, so hits are punctuated by fades rather than being pure on and off.
Measured from the exported light sequence for this show, not estimated from the song.
Get it for your Tesla
This show downloads for every Tesla: Model 3, Model Y, Model S, Model X, and Cybertruck. Preview it on your model with the View-on picker above, add it to your library, and it re-tailors to your car's lights automatically.
How to play it on your car
- Open the show above and add it to your library (remix it in the builder first if you want).
- Add your own copy of the song: an MP3/WAV you own. We distribute only the light pattern, never audio.
- Export the
.fseqbuilt for your model, then place your song next to it (or let the one-click USB writer do both). - Put both files in a
LightShowfolder on a USB drive. Or skip the manual steps: in Chrome/Edge, click 🔌 Write it to my USB drive for me right after exporting and we do it all, verified byte-for-byte. Then plug in and start it from Toybox → Light Show. Full walkthrough in the setup guide.
Car says Light Show instead of Custom Light Show, or the drive is not detected at all? That is the USB format, the folder name, or filenames that do not match. If it plays but drifts out of time, that is the audio sample rate. Fix both here.
Setting up for Christmas? The Christmas guide walks through the whole evening, from picking the show to parking the car so the neighbours can actually see it. Read the Christmas guide.
