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Hey, is there any way, to do it without the fadecandy? maybe with a arduino nano, or just the pi alone?
Hi @jettoki welcome to the community - it’s totally possible to drive these LEDs directly with a Pi or Arduino and there are software libraries to do this, but they can be very particular about timing, and this problem only gets worse as you try to drive more and more LEDs. For something like a Christmas tree or festive light setup you might be fine doing it this way 
Alternatively there are other hardware products that support more channels and more LEDs - take a look at Light-o-rama or xLights.
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