creating strobes/pulses with the 555 timer?

Hey,

Is it possible to create the pulses needed to run the MSGEQ7 (https://www.sparkfun.com/datasheets/Components/General/MSGEQ7.pdf) with a 555 timer (or some other IC or circuit) without connecting strobe or reset to the Arduino?

You could use a 555 to generate the strobe and a divide-by-eight counter and gating to generate the reset pulse. But the device that reads the output would also have to monitor strobe and reset so that it knows which channel is appearing on the output. Why don't you want to generate the pulses from the Arduino?

Is it possible

Possible but probably not desirable: what if the latch pulse arrives in the middle of a transmission?