Sync Philips Hue lights to music with your microphone

What music sync does

Music sync turns a room of Philips Hue color lights into a simple light show that follows whatever is playing nearby. There is nothing to set up on the Hue Bridge and no entertainment area to create. You choose a room in HueCommand and the app does the rest.

It works with any sound the microphone can hear: a speaker, a TV, a record player or someone playing an instrument. HueCommand doesn't need to know what song it is or which app is playing it.

Music sync is free. It doesn't require Pro.

How it works

HueCommand measures how loud the sound is in three frequency ranges, many times a second:

• Bass, below 250 Hz: kick drums and bass lines.
• Mids, 250 Hz to 4 kHz: vocals, guitars, keys.
• Highs, above 4 kHz: cymbals and hi-hats.

The lights in the room take turns following those ranges. The first light follows the bass and shifts toward red, the next follows the mids and shifts toward green, the next follows the highs and shifts toward blue, and the pattern repeats across the room. The stronger the band, the deeper the color. Brightness follows whichever band is loudest and never drops below 20 percent.

HueCommand sends these changes to your lights up to about ten times a second, combining color and brightness in one command per light so the bridge isn't flooded.

Adjust the sensitivity

Once music sync is running, a Sensitivity slider appears under the button. Turn it down for quiet background music so the lights stay calm. Turn it up for a party, or when the speaker is across the room, so smaller sounds still move the lights. The change applies straight away without restarting.

How to sync your lights to music

1. Open HueCommand and go to the Effects tab.
2. Under Target room, choose a room that has color lights.
3. Scroll to Music Sync and tap Music Reactive.
4. Allow microphone access the first time you're asked.
5. Play music, then use the Sensitivity slider until the lights react the way you like.
6. Tap Music Reactive again, or the stop button at the top, to stop.

Good to know

• Keep the app open. Music sync listens live, so it stops when HueCommand goes to the background.
• Color lights only. White-only or dimmable-only lights in the room are skipped. A room with no color lights can't use music sync.
• One thing per room. Starting music sync stops any animation effect running in that room, and the other way round.
• Where it's available. iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Vision Pro. Not on Apple TV, which has no microphone.
• Local control. You need a Philips Hue Bridge. Light commands go to it the same way as when you tap a light in the app.

Privacy

The microphone is used only to measure sound levels while music sync is running. The audio is analyzed on your device as it comes in. HueCommand does not record it, save it or identify songs. Read the privacy policy for details.

Want more control?

If you have an entertainment area set up in the official Hue app, entertainment streaming (Pro) splits the sound into five bands, gives each of five lights its own band, and streams over Hue's faster entertainment connection.