Wichita State University mechanical engineering major Joey Marshall and his family have created one of the largest, most elaborate Christmas displays in Wichita, from scratch.

The Marshalls have always had a large Christmas display, which grew each year. This is the third year the light display has been controlled by a computer and set to music on a radio station made for hobby use.

“And we really have exponentially increased the light count since (the first year),” Marshall said.

Marshall had seen a house with lights synced to music years ago.

“And I went, ‘Can you really do that?’” he said.

Price tags online for a complete system almost scared Marshall away from searching, but after he discovered low-cost, do-it-yourself electrical components to solder together and create “blinky-flashy magic,” the Marshall house became a light show.

After the first year, his family got involved, and the display was tripled. This year, the family added 12 trees with “gobs of lights” on them, extra lights to the rooftops and one giant tree with more than 30 strings.

While programming is not difficult, Marshall said it was time-consuming. Many hours go into timing the flashing of the lights to the music.

The most difficult and irritating aspects of the Marshall display are strings of lights that burn out.

“When you have over 45,000 little light bulbs that blink, they are going to go out periodically, and we have to keep on top of it,” he said.

The show is primarily made up of red, green, white and blue lights, but the Marshall house has a nativity scene and two angels standing on either side of the front walk, the only figures.

The display uses more than 450 light strings, which is more than two-and-a-half miles of lights. There is more than a mile of computer cable and more than 250 extension cords.

Marshall designed the display to use the house’s best attributes. Pillars turn into candy canes, rooflines are covered with icicles and a giant star sits on the roof.

The programming of when and where which lights blink is based musically. Bushes are piano keys, icicle lights blink the beat and trees light up on individual notes.

“I tried to make it to where the house is almost like an orchestra,” he said. “So you can almost imagine it making music, not just flashing lights.”

The decorations and lights flash to three songs. Marshall’s siblings are working on three more songs he hopes to add this year.

Marshall said his family doesn’t want to know how much it has cost to create the light display in the three years it’s been running.

“We do everything at as low of a cost as possible,” he said. “The lights are all bought on clearance and the parts are all homemade.”

The computer controls cost $500, but that is a fraction of the $4,000 it would cost to buy a commercially created system.

The electricity used is similar to running an air conditioner for several hours at night.

“We had to beef up the power capabilities of the house,” Marshall said. “But the amazing thing is that the lights are really not on that much. Most of the lights are off for 50 percent of the show.”

But the effort and money it takes to create the show is worth it to the Marshall family.

“We don’t just do it because it’s nerdy anymore,” Marshall said. “We did it for the happiness it brings to the people who come by to see the show.”

The Marshalls also support local charities by hanging a donation box in their yard. Last year, they collected more than $1,000 for the Lord’s Diner.

Their house is located in east Wichita, just north of Central on Stratford Street.