Woodinblack Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 The stairvilles do give a pretty decent white light output Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeleigh Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 (edited) Ok, cheers. Do you find that two are enough to light up the band? Edited June 14, 2017 by weeleigh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 They are for our band, obviously the more the merrier, and how much light you get depends a lot on positioning, I just throw the lights under the PA speakers pointing up lighting the ceiling above us, and that does. THe drummer also does have a lit up kit, so that helps with a central focus. I think they would work better up higher pointing out, but we never get round to that, and frankly staring into them is very bright so we try and avoid having them pointing directly at us. I am certainly happy I got them, we didn't have anything before, and they were pretty cheap. I don't run them with any software at the moment, just sound to light, so looking into doing something a bit flashier later, but just getting something there is half the battle and it really does make a difference Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeleigh Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 Sounds good, thanks. Like you, I would just be looking to run them sound to light at first before getting into anything more complicated. I might pull the trigger on a couple of those! Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 Handy things and very cheap. So I just have one of those useful boxes that contains the two lights and their foam stuff, a mains lead to power the master, and a 5M DMX lead and 5M extension power lead - both of those are wound together, and means that the one plugged into the wall is the master, with sound to light, and the other one is a slave, so it mirrors exactly what the other one does, I didn't want them both just free running with different colours. I am jealous of some of the impressive lighting setups that some people here have, and in time maybe I will add some stuff, but for now it is good enough for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 Only just stumbled across this thread, and deeply puzzled at the enthusiasm for foot controllers, midi, and DMX. All these things will eat up your time like you wouldn't believe, cause endless frustration when they don't operate as planned, add to the complexity of your set-up and break-down, and distract you at critical moments when you're trying to play. For anything up to a large social club, you can put on a "light show" with five carefully-placed lights, or even fewer. You almost certainly have to have a couple of pole-mounted PA tops anyway, so mount a single LED flood on each of these firing across the band. Put an LED lightbar on the floor behind the drummer's throne shining straight up the wall. Put two more LED floods on the floor according to taste and thr requirements of the room, firing up into the dark places around the band. Don't try to connect the lights, don't try to control or synchronise them. Just set them to flash, either randomly or in a set repeating pattern. You really don't need any more than that. Job done. I've bought most of the band's lighting from Thomann and I'm very happy with their stuff. My favourite units are https://www.thomann.de/gb/stairville_led_flood_panel_150_40.htm (€38 each) https://www.thomann.de/gb/stairville_led_bar_2408_rgb_dmx_30.htm (€66 each) So buy four of the flood panels (€152) plus one of the bars (€66) and you've spent €218. You'll need a couple of clamp/brackets for the PA polemounts, which will take you over the limit for free delivery. I've also experimented with cheap lasers for pub bands. Surprisingly effective BUT only when used in conjunction with smoke ... and the smoke will set off the pub's fire alarm. If you think the landlord gets pissed off when you trip the noise limiter, wait until you see his response when the Fire Brigade turns up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 I think I might add the bar DMX lights, but I am a big fan of synchronising them - I wouldn't want the two side lights to run randomly on their own, especially as all it takes is one cable to sort it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeleigh Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 Very useful info, guys. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gottastopbuyinggear Posted June 15, 2017 Author Share Posted June 15, 2017 [quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1497448408' post='3318250'] Only just stumbled across this thread, and deeply puzzled at the enthusiasm for foot controllers, midi, and DMX. All these things will eat up your time like you wouldn't believe, cause endless frustration when they don't operate as planned, add to the complexity of your set-up and break-down, and distract you at critical moments when you're trying to play. [/quote] Ah, I've got an answer for all those:[list] [*]Enthusiasm for foot controllers, midi, and DMX - I'm a bit of a geek at heart, so this is my idea of a little bit of fun. [*]All these things will eat up your time like you wouldn't believe - I'm a bit of a geek at heart, so this is my idea of a little bit of fun ;-) [*]cause endless frustration when they don't operate as planned - True, and I had considered this. I'm pretty sure the TriPARs can be set to default to one of the built in autorun programs if the DMX signal disappears, but even if not then it won't take long to switch four lights to one of the autorun programmes. [*]add to the complexity of your set-up and break-down - it's only one more box for the controller, and the DMX and power cables will be cable tied or gaffer taped together and daisy chained. I'm powering the controller from the same USB battery pack that I power my pedalboard from, so little additional stuff to do. [*]and distract you at critical moments when you're trying to play - You've not seen me play! Root, root, root, fifth, root... Seriously, though, the thing is designed so that one stomp will set it running through a predefined sequence unless I do something to change it. And I figure if guitarists can do all that tap tempo nonsense for their effects then I should be able to do the same for the lights! [/list] Also, did I mention that I'm a bit of a geek at heart, so this is my idea of a little bit of fun? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 I'm now picturing your next gig ... http://youtu.be/vWT0Fi01DPA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gottastopbuyinggear Posted June 15, 2017 Author Share Posted June 15, 2017 [quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1497529029' post='3318883'] I'm now picturing your next gig ... [media]http://youtu.be/vWT0Fi01DPA[/media] [/quote] That gives me something to aim for! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gottastopbuyinggear Posted June 15, 2017 Author Share Posted June 15, 2017 [quote name='weeleigh' timestamp='1497353971' post='3317453'] Do the ADJ's give a good white light output? I'm looking for something that will light the band up from the front or the side, as well as giving a good colour lighting display. I was thinking of the Stairville's from Thomann, but I'm not convinced they would give a good white light output. [/quote] The TriPARs are okay. Perhaps not quite a true white, but I'd guess that if you were to run some as white with others running colours at the same time then nobody would be able to tell the difference due to the contrast between the two - the same thing as black on your computer's screen isn't really black at all, but next to other stuff the brain will perceive it as black. If you're looking for a true white then something with a "native" white capability would probably be better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazzbass Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 [quote name='moonbass' timestamp='1495501775' post='3304283'] I've often wondered about getting a couple of friends to 'vape' furiously during a set though [/quote] During our singer's monologue about the Vietnam war ,I'd grab one of our lights and crouch at the singer's feet whilst smoking a cigar, blowing the smoke thru the light's beam up at him. Yeah we were hi tech in the 90s hehe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenjames Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 (edited) I’ve been down this journey. I ended up an Obey 6 controller. It’s very simple as it assumes 6 fixtures, each with 6 channels. Works absolutely fine with 6 simple RGB LED Par cans. You just have to remember to set their base addresses to be at 1, 7, 13 etc. I have them on two T bars and just leave all the mains cables daisy chained. Works fine. Just add a disco ball and some smoke and you’re all set :-). I also have a 4 way 65W LED block that I put on the floor pointing up. For pubs, a 15W LED spot is -dazzling- The Obey 6 has sound to light, built in microphone. You can set the patterns to be whatever you want, walking colours, alternating fades, and it’s easy to set some lights to do different things to the others. You can also do strobes or vary the fade time, and there’s an overall dimmer as well. Cost me about 50 quid IIRC. The only thing to watch out for is that it has no memory when the power’s off, but with a bit of practice you can set it up quite easily in a couple of minutes. Edited November 5, 2017 by chickenjames Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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