Need 2 songs..

On my mega tree, I have 32 string of 70 lights. They are on 16 channels so 2 set share a channel. On 16 channels, I would dedicate maybe 6 channels and put 12 strings of lights. I know it won't be a big mega more like a mini mega but you can achieve good results.

Like Jon said, to give the illusion of spinning, you program it so one channel at a time is lit up. You can do it 2 ways: light one channel at a time or turn on all you lights and then turn one channel at a time.

If this is your first time sequencing, don't be afraid to experiment. With 6 channels in a mega tree (I did one with 9 sets of 100 mini-lights one year and people were impressed at the look. It's not the size that counts but how you use it.) and then 10 channels for other flashing lights, you can have a decent lightshow. If you use LED instead of normal lights, you can have just as many lights as you wish since they barely take any juice at all. 15000 lights all on, will be only 498watts. My Halloween display has 150 feet of rope light the normal incandescent type, 40 mini sets of 35 normal lights, 4- 50 watt floodlight  and when all turned on, they take 1255watts!!!! Let me tell you we are NOT going that route next year. LED it will be for HAlloween as well.

To recap, don't be afraid to try anything. It is by trial and error that you will learn. We all went through that phase, trust me. And one thing that I noticed, every hobbyist that shares our passion, will be more than happy to help you if you need help. It is a family like no others.

Sandstorm is a good song to sequence I will be doing it this year myself.

I had done DJ Santa from scratch and it always is a crowd favorite. Right now this year, I'm adding Santa Claus is Back in Town by Elvis. It has a few booms and bams here and there and should prove to be interesting.

Basically, it all comes down to this: Create a sequence that will have lots of flashes, beats, twirls and so on. That's what people like. Last year, people just loved seeing the way the mega trees gave the impression they were turning on the spot.

  I had done White Christmas from Bing one year and never put in on ever after. It was a slow death just to sequence and worst in looking/listening to it.

One more thing: Try to get a song that no one has ever done. Yes it is a lot of work to sequence from scratch since you have no idea where the beats are but the originality of your song will prove to be something out of this world. Nobody had ever heard the song "Wouldn't it be fun to be Santa Claus's Son" from Spike Jones. I never saw it done until I did it myself. This year, if time permits, I'd like to do "The Sombrero that I got for Christmas is too beeeg" from Mel Blanc...

I also like Music Box Dancer. Lots of action.

I think I put a high channel count WIW on the swapping forum some years ago (if it is not there then PM me and I will send it to you).  Although it is set up for 200+ channels, it was originally written for 64 and expanded throughout the years.  In reality the essential elements (tree sweep - 5 channels, house drum line - 4 channels, most mini effects are in groups of 6) could easily be reduced to 16 channels.  You could just about renumber the useful channels to your controller ID and ignore the rest.  The rest is just icing on the cake (nonessential fluff that looks cool).

I'm mixed in opinion of WIW.  It has been done so much that it really feels unoriginal, but it is the one song everyone looks forward to in the display every year and cheers on.  People come just to see that one song!  So, I leave it in there every year.

Michael