diff --git a/src/config.rs b/src/config.rs
index bb7da1c..be9da5c 100644
--- a/src/config.rs
+++ b/src/config.rs
@@ -4,3 +4,9 @@ pub const SAMP_RATE: f32   = 48000.0;
 
 // samples read from stdin per update
 pub const SAMPLES_PER_UPDATE: usize = BLOCK_LEN/2;
+
+// LED configuration
+pub const NUM_STRIPS:         usize =  8;
+pub const NUM_LEDS_PER_STRIP: usize = 16;
+
+pub const NUM_LEDS_TOTAL: usize = NUM_STRIPS * NUM_LEDS_PER_STRIP;
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 2632fd3..9772e51 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -5,30 +5,30 @@ use std::collections::VecDeque;
 
 use byteorder::{NativeEndian, ReadBytesExt};
 
-use mlua::Lua;
-
 mod signal_processing;
 mod config;
+mod userscript;
 
 use crate::signal_processing::SignalProcessing;
+use crate::userscript::UserScript;
 
 fn main()
 {
 	let mut stdin = std::io::stdin();
 
-	// test the mlua crate
-	let lua_state = Lua::new();
+	// set up Lua environment
 
-	lua_state.globals().set("get_rust_value", lua_state.create_function(|_, ()| {
-		Ok(3)
-	}).unwrap()).unwrap();
+	println!("Loading user script...");
 
-	let user_script = std::fs::read_to_string("test.lua").unwrap();
-	lua_state.load(&user_script).exec().unwrap();
+	let script = UserScript::new("test.lua").unwrap();
 
-	let lua_func_test : mlua::Function = lua_state.globals().get("test").unwrap();
+	println!("Calling init()...");
 
-	println!("{}", lua_func_test.call::<_, u32>(123).unwrap());
+	script.init().unwrap();
+
+	// set up signal processing
+
+	println!("Initializing signal processing...");
 
 	let mut sigproc = SignalProcessing::new(config::BLOCK_LEN, config::SAMP_RATE).unwrap();
 
@@ -75,7 +75,10 @@ fn main()
 		let energy_treble = sigproc.get_energy_in_band(4000.0, config::SAMP_RATE/2.0);
 
 		// dump the output
-		println!("Bass: {:8.2} – Mid: {:8.2} – Treble: {:8.2}", energy_bass, energy_mid, energy_treble);
+		println!("Bass: {:11.2} – Mid: {:11.2} – Treble: {:11.2}", energy_bass, energy_mid, energy_treble);
+
+		// call the periodic function in the user script
+		script.periodic().unwrap();
 	}
 
 }
diff --git a/src/userscript.rs b/src/userscript.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7603b8b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/userscript.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+// vim: noet
+
+/*
+ * Module for the Lua scripting interface of Musiclight.
+ */
+
+/* Test code for reference
+	// test the mlua crate
+	let lua_state = Lua::new();
+
+	lua_state.globals().set("get_rust_value", lua_state.create_function(|_, ()| {
+		Ok(3)
+	}).unwrap()).unwrap();
+
+	let user_script = std::fs::read_to_string("test.lua").unwrap();
+	lua_state.load(&user_script).exec().unwrap();
+
+	let lua_func_test : mlua::Function = lua_state.globals().get("test").unwrap();
+
+	println!("{}", lua_func_test.call::<_, u32>(123).unwrap());
+*/
+
+use crate::config;
+
+use mlua::Lua;
+use mlua::FromLua;
+use mlua::Error;
+
+pub struct UserScript
+{
+	lua_state: Lua,
+}
+
+impl UserScript
+{
+	pub fn new(user_script_path: &str) -> std::result::Result<UserScript, mlua::Error>
+	{
+		let s = UserScript {
+			lua_state: Lua::new(),
+		};
+
+		// load the user script and execute it to make variables and functions available
+		let user_script = std::fs::read_to_string(user_script_path)?;
+		s.lua_state.load(&user_script).exec()?;
+
+		Ok(s)
+	}
+
+	pub fn init(&self) -> std::result::Result<(), mlua::Error>
+	{
+		// find the init functions
+		let lua_init_func: mlua::Function = self.lua_state.globals().get("init")?;
+
+		lua_init_func.call( (config::NUM_STRIPS, config::NUM_LEDS_PER_STRIP) )?;
+
+		Ok(())
+	}
+
+	pub fn periodic(&self) -> std::result::Result<(), mlua::Error>
+	{
+		// find the init functions
+		let lua_periodic_func: mlua::Function = self.lua_state.globals().get("periodic")?;
+
+		// call the script's periodic() function, which (hopefully) returns four Tables with color
+		// values
+		let rvals = lua_periodic_func.call::<_, mlua::MultiValue>( () )?;
+
+		// check the number of returned values
+		if rvals.len() != 4 {
+			return Err(Error::RuntimeError("Wrong number of return values from 'periodic'. Expected 4.".to_string()));
+		}
+
+		// convert the Lua Tables to normal vectors
+		let mut colorlists = Vec::<Vec<f32>>::new();
+
+		for rval in rvals {
+			let table = mlua::Table::from_lua(rval, &self.lua_state)?;
+
+			let v = table.sequence_values()
+			             .map(|x| x.unwrap())
+			             .collect::<Vec<f32>>();
+
+			// check the length of the color array
+			if v.len() != config::NUM_LEDS_TOTAL {
+				return Err(Error::RuntimeError("Number of color values returned from 'periodic' must match number of LEDs given in 'init'.".to_string()));
+			}
+
+			colorlists.push(v);
+		}
+
+		println!("{:?}", colorlists[0][0]);
+
+		Ok(())
+	}
+}
diff --git a/test.lua b/test.lua
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c486336
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+function init(nstrip, nmod)
+	print("Initializing with "..nstrip.." strips with "..nmod.." modules each.")
+
+	local nled = nstrip * nmod
+
+	red = {}
+	green = {}
+	blue = {}
+	white = {}
+
+
+	for i = 1,nled do
+		red[i] = 0.8
+		green[i] = 0.1
+		blue[i] = 0.2
+		white[i] = 0.1
+	end
+
+	return 0
+end
+
+function periodic()
+	print("Going round and round...")
+	return red, green, blue, white
+end