Audio Reactive LED Strips Are Diabolically Hard

Heh, I did a similar project for my EE degree ~15 years ago, but with individual LEDs. I quickly learned that this was actually easier with analog components than with a DSP, and like this post suggests, I quickly realized that you need an adaptive threshold almost immediately because even within one song or genre, the volume level will vary. I also played around with pulling different frequency bands out into differently colored LEDs. It was a fun project, but the part I miss the least was dealing with the breadboard, jumper cables, and eventually soldering into a board to put into a project box. I wish I had taken a class on industrial design or whatever the discipline is that teaches you how to actually think about the physical structure of your product.