Stage Lighting For The Band

[FuNkShUi]

So we are looking to get a little bit of lighting sorted for the band.
Problem being, none of us hve any experience whatsoever with lighting!
This just came up on Gumtree, and as its reatively local thought it could be a good solution for us:

[url="http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/stage-and-band-lighting-equipment-bargain/1076747770"]http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/stage-and-band-lighting-equipment-bargain/1076747770[/url]

Does this seem like a good deal?
I think its pretty much what we need.
Cheers

[skidder652003]

Don't think those are LED's are they? If not I wouldnt even look at them. LED lights last much longer, don't chuck out any heat and for pub gigs are more than powerful enough. Add a decent little haze machine and you'll be sorted with something like this
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ProLight-Equinox-Maxi-Bar-System-LED-Stagelighting-/380965202285?pt=UK_ConElec_LightingLEDsStrobes_RL&hash=item58b34ba96d

You probably woud be better with 2 of these so look around for a better price for a package

[Happy Jack]

Skidder's link is spot on (see what I did there?) and those units are excellent. Don't expect to get much use out of the foot controller though ... much easier to set them as fire & forget.

BUT.

That's an extra tripod pole to take up space, extra cables to plug in and trip over, extra stuff to be set up and then broken down later, another large box to fit in the car.

All good if you want that stuff, you play venues with enough space, and the band can deal with the hassle. The Junkyard Dogs uses loads of lighting and we're very happy with what we do, but YMMV.

If you're just dipping your toes in the water, a good place to start is these:

http://www.thomann.de/gb/cameo_flat_par_can_rgb_10.htm

You can mount one each onto your PA poles using:

http://www.electricalcounter.co.uk/products/Lighting/Indoor+Lighting/Intalite+Indoor+Lighting/Track+Lighting/Track+Lighting+Accessories/C-Hook+Clamp+for+SFL+Track+Lighting+Range,+3.5cm+Maximum/3642515555?gclid=Cj0KEQjwyMafBRCU7OCRyc2vitsBEiQAKV4H9ChLw_cJ6FuEXzI7zwxYQWBRaKCzmmMSFQIqeHi6vZsaAu4A8P8HAQ

The whole lot will fit in a small hold-all, you use your existing poles, and the two extra power cables will be in existing cable runs where your speaker cables are running anyway.

By no means the whole solution, but a good start place and also something that extra lighting in the future will complement rather than have to replace.

[Paul S]

HJ those are very good, thanks for the link. I have a single bar set which I would like to augment but hesitated because of the extra tripod - your very workable idea has solved that! I wonder if the lights can all be connected to work in unison, even though different manufacturers?

Edited August 18, 2014 by Paul S

[Dad3353]

[quote name='FuNkShUi' timestamp='1408341613' post='2529061']...Does this seem like a good deal?...[/quote]

Be aware that, on full beam, two of these units will draw 4 kW; this will trip any ordinary mains socket (3 kW max...). They will also put out 4 kW of heat (think power station melt-down...) and strip the paint off any guitar/bass body left in the vicinity on a stand.
These are, in fact, excellent lighting units, and very much 'flavour of the month' a few years ago, but have been superseded by the LED units now available. Yes, I know that more modern LED cans are more expensive. Be patient for a LED bargain (they do come up at around the same price, but you may have to travel to collect, or pay postage...). The ad you've linked would be a good 'deal' for someone already equipped with these, looking for spares, or a pub/club able to integrate them with dedicated cabling etc. Not superb for a pub/club touring band these days, I fear. Good price; wrong spec.
Just my tuppence-worth; hope this helps.

[FuNkShUi]

Very useful info.
HJ think i will probably go with your suggestion. Two of those will hopefully suffice.
If we want/need to add more, we can always do so later on down the line.
Thanks gents

[JTUK]

Leds are lighter and probably cheaper to run over a period of time, plus you don't get into
power situations as they draw next to nothng. The downside, IMO is that they can be weak
in lighting and cameramen HATE them for this reason. No heat given off and that is a plus in confined
spaces. The gear up for sale may not be bad but bands that need a little lighting down want to carry that stuff anymore
and that is probably why it seems cheap.
We throw up a single tower of 4 LED's in 5 minutes and it doesn't much matter what you plug them into..any spare socket
will do, pretty much, whereas CANS may need a seperate power run on its own circuit which is not the thing pubs really
cater for..especially these days when pub music is provided by all and sundry on a whim.

When we get involved in outside gigs, the biggest factor/concern is the power run NOT for the P.A but for the lights as they
can't be LEDS for that sort of work, IMO.

[flyfisher]

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1408349331' post='2529118']
HJ those are very good, thanks for the link. I have a single bar set which I would like to augment but hesitated because of the extra tripod - your very workable idea has solved that! I wonder if the lights can all be connected to work in unison, even though different manufacturers?
[/quote]

In theory, any DMX lights should be able to be controlled together, regardless of manufacturer.

[FuNkShUi]

Thanks gents
Looks like LEDs are the wy forward.
We wont concern ourselves with outdoor gigs as we probably only do 2 maybe 3 a year.
Cheers

[Paul S]

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1408362310' post='2529322']
In theory, any DMX lights should be able to be controlled together, regardless of manufacturer.
[/quote]

Ta. Be nice to think it would be easy to set up, too - and have the sequences all the same. One way to find out, I guess.

[flyfisher]

TBH, I've not had much luck with creating a 'light show' as such, even though I have various DMX lights and a controller. It's probably because I have too little documentation and don't know enough about DMX! It's fun playing around with them at home but for gigs I just set them up to run in sound-to-light mode or just a simple sequence. I suspect it'll be a while before I can tailor anything to specific songs - in fact it seems more complicated than sound mixing!

[skidder652003]

sound to light mode.
NO!
School Disco!
set them to a slow fade every 30 seconds or so to a different single colour and use the foot controller for black out after each song,
makes me feel like Geddy Lee!

[Paul S]

Like you, FF, I don't even know how to spell DMX, let along set it up. Yes, I agree - one colour then another is certainly less frantic and easier on the eye. But, sad to say, however unsubtle it is I do find 'School Disco' look quite appealing, plus it doesn't require any kind of understanding on my part. But I think the main aim would be getting all of them to be the same colour whatever the settings of the controller.

[Dad3353]

[quote name='skidder652003' timestamp='1408365245' post='2529398']
sound to light mode.
NO!
School Disco!
set them to a slow fade every 30 seconds or so to a different single colour and use the foot controller for black out after each song,
makes me feel like Geddy Lee!
[/quote]

^^ This. With lights, as with many things, less is more. I did the lights for several years for a ska/punk group. Great fun,but one learns to either : 1 - do it right or : 2 - do nowt. Fixed medium colours (ie : not RGB...), or a slow cyclic fade will do fine for the whole show. If you want more, get a lightster.
Just my tuppence-worth.

Edited August 18, 2014 by Dad3353

[davehux]

We do 'School Disco' for the first and last numbers of each set, to put some energy into it - then slow fades for the rest

[flyfisher]

[quote name='skidder652003' timestamp='1408365245' post='2529398']
sound to light mode.
NO!
School Disco!
set them to a slow fade every 30 seconds or so to a different single colour and use the foot controller for black out after each song,
makes me feel like Geddy Lee!
[/quote]

Actually, I didn't really mean sound-to-light in the school disco sense (though I think that would work ok for some songs), I really meant 'sound operated mode' where the lights change colours or 'chase' in response to sound rather than modulate their brightness.

The lights I have have this 'auto' switch on them and because of the complexity of DMX control I confess to taking the easy option and just using that!

[Dad3353]

Does this fit your bill..?

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/242598-equinox-micro-bar-system-band-lighting-package/page__view__findpost__p__2518964"]Equinox LED light system in BC Marketplace...[/url]

No relation with the seller, but it looks like what you're after, at least.

[redbandit599]

[url="http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/equinox-maxi-bar-led-parcan-system/1030997560"]http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/equinox-maxi-bar-led-parcan-system/1030997560[/url]

I've been looking at exactly the same stuff recently, won't need it until the winter but I found the above. Looks like a decent little set if you can make a trip up.

[moonbass]

I've got icolor 4s (bulbs) and an Equinox Mega Bar (LEDs). Of the two I much prefer the icolors. The LEDs give a very piercing light, and it's hard to set them so they don't blind everyone. Bulbs still give much warmer colours than LEDs, but it looks like LED technology is improving rapidly. Still worry about blowing bulbs, but haven't so far in 2 years. However, using LEDs and bulbs in combination is great; general washes with the icolor, and a bit of flashing with the LEDs. Both have sound to light, but you can vary the sensitivity and patterns to make it less school disco, and both have simple foot controllers for blackouts, holds and pattern changes.