Band lighting - small but functional

[tonyclaret]

Hi,

Anyone any recommendations on band lighting for pub gigs. Don't want to spend a fortune, poss 150-200 max.

The easier it is to set up and pack down the better. Not sure what the best approach is in terms giving an equal spead across stage. We're a 4 pc band, so initially thought about 4 separate led lamps on the floor. Do they need to be on a T-bar? What's best bang for buck?

Cheers

Tony

[itu]

I think, that our band has four LEDs that are somewhat similar to these: https://www.thomann.de/gb/eurolite_led_sls_7_hcl_floor.htm

Just put them to the floor and let them blink (you may try different programs they have). Then in the middle of a gig the singer kicks one pointing at you and you have no chance to see any notes or anything else. Their power (excluding electric and heating power) is incredible and it does not matter, whether they are on the floor or somewhere else. You have the sound, you have the lights, let the show begin.

[Mudpup]

These are very good value at £113 a pair...metal casings, you get 2 in a pack with a remote control and a carry bag. We use them either on the floor in front of us and angled towards us a bit  or more recently clamped on the speaker poles facing inwards (doesn't blind you so much when you're shoegazing). They have multiple autorun programs including sound sensitive and fades. A mains plug in each unit and link them with a dmx cable - its honestly a 2 minute setup.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/American-1226100281-VBAR-PAK-Effect/dp/B00N5770Q2

And heres a bit of video - ignore all the swively stuff and lasers....all the face on lighting (mainly red, blue and purple) is from the V Bars stuck on the speaker stands.

 

Edited November 28, 2018 by Mudpup

[Rik (ESA)]

11 hours ago, Mudpup said:

These are very good value at £13 a pair...metal casings, you get 2 in a pack with a remote control and a carry bag. We use them either on the floor in front of us and angled towards us a bit  or more recently clamped on the speaker poles facing inwards (doesn't blind you so much when you're shoegazing). They have multiple autorun programs including sound sensitive and fades. A mains plug in each unit and link them with a dmx cable - its honestly a 2 minute setup.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/American-1226100281-VBAR-PAK-Effect/dp/B00N5770Q2

And heres a bit of video - ignore all the swively stuff and lasers....all the face on lighting (mainly red, blue and purple) is from the V Bars stuck on the speaker stands.

 

Hi - what do you use to clamp the lights to your speaker stands?

Thanks

Rick

[Mudpup]

1 hour ago, Rik (ESA) said:

Hi - what do you use to clamp the lights to your speaker stands?

Thanks

Rick

We use these x 4 https://www.amazon.co.uk/CHAUVET-DJ-CLP35HC-EUCH05-Half-Coupler/dp/B00IEAVYQC - they fit a standard 35mm speaker pole - you have to change the wingnuts to nuts to get them in the gap between the bracket and light body.

One of our poles needs a 38mm bottom one so we use these https://www.amazon.co.uk/CHAUVET-DJ-CLP10-Pro-Clamp/dp/B0002D035C/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1543320755&sr=8-3&keywords=chauvet+clamps

But we have used reuseable zip ties in the past with no problems - the lights aren't heavy at all.

You can see them in this clip - they're set to a mild sound to light using red, blue and purple. Try and ignore the moving heads and you'll see all the front lighting on the band  is from the VBars.

 

Edited November 27, 2018 by Mudpup

[Rik (ESA)]

2 hours ago, Mudpup said:

We use these x 4 https://www.amazon.co.uk/CHAUVET-DJ-CLP35HC-EUCH05-Half-Coupler/dp/B00IEAVYQC - they fit a standard 35mm speaker pole - you have to change the wingnuts to nuts to get them in the gap between the bracket and light body.

One of our poles needs a 38mm bottom one so we use these https://www.amazon.co.uk/CHAUVET-DJ-CLP10-Pro-Clamp/dp/B0002D035C/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1543320755&sr=8-3&keywords=chauvet+clamps

But we have used reuseable zip ties in the past with no problems - the lights aren't heavy at all.

You can see them in this clip - they're set to a mild sound to light using red, blue and purple. Try and ignore the moving heads and you'll see all the front lighting on the band  is from the VBars.

 

That’s fab and really helpful, thanks!

[RichardH]

I bought one of the KAM ParBar sets with 4 PAR56 lights all built onto a block with DMX etc - £99 inc remote, footswitch and stand (a second from Gear4Music).

Great bit of kit, but the only issue I had with it is that the lights were quite a narrow angle, so they didn't really flood the stage. I found for small venues you need something you can have attached to your speaker stands or similar (so people don't trip over them) and that are more of a flood - those bars above look just the ticket.

[Japhet]

On 26/11/2018 at 23:34, Mudpup said:

These are very good value at £13 a pair...metal casings, you get 2 in a pack with a remote control and a carry bag. We use them either on the floor in front of us and angled towards us a bit  or more recently clamped on the speaker poles facing inwards (doesn't blind you so much when you're shoegazing). They have multiple autorun programs including sound sensitive and fades. A mains plug in each unit and link them with a dmx cable - its honestly a 2 minute setup.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/American-1226100281-VBAR-PAK-Effect/dp/B00N5770Q2

And heres a bit of video - ignore all the swively stuff and lasers....all the face on lighting (mainly red, blue and purple) is from the V Bars stuck on the speaker stands.

 

Bargain!!

[RichardH]

...except they seem to be around £145, not £13.....

[Mudpup]

2 hours ago, RichardH said:

...except they seem to be around £145, not £13.....

small typo - they were £113 a few days ago.....

here you go - £112 
https://www.bax-shop.co.uk/led-bar/american-dj-vbar-pak-led-bar-kit?gclid=CjwKCAiAlvnfBRA1EiwAVOEgfPKVR3L1gWgdTQY7LmPcuRW8wlTkci_6mzuATsKcJ8YlzY-c0r8ObxoCRo8QAvD_BwE

Edited November 28, 2018 by Mudpup

[colleya]

Hi Tony,

I bought six individual LED PAR lights from Amazon for about £25 each. Not the super cheapest on there. Then got two O clamps that screw into the ceiling mount holes on our page tops. Two 1m speaker poles into the O clamps and I can hang two lights off each speaker. The other two lights go on the floor to uplight drums and pull up banners etc.

 

 

[EBS_freak]

On 26/11/2018 at 23:34, Mudpup said:

These are very good value at £113 a pair...metal casings, you get 2 in a pack with a remote control and a carry bag. We use them either on the floor in front of us and angled towards us a bit  or more recently clamped on the speaker poles facing inwards (doesn't blind you so much when you're shoegazing). They have multiple autorun programs including sound sensitive and fades. A mains plug in each unit and link them with a dmx cable - its honestly a 2 minute setup.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/American-1226100281-VBAR-PAK-Effect/dp/B00N5770Q2

And heres a bit of video - ignore all the swively stuff and lasers....all the face on lighting (mainly red, blue and purple) is from the V Bars stuck on the speaker stands.

 

Ooh drum screen user - sight off topic - are they worth lugging around in your opinion, given the weight of them?

[Mudpup]

6 hours ago, EBS_freak said:

Ooh drum screen user - sight off topic - are they worth lugging around in your opinion, given the weight of them?

Yes - especially if you can dodge carrying the bloody thing during load in/out as its in a flightcase too 😉
The shed builder bought it mainly to use at smaller gigs to limit the volume a bit but we've ended up using it all the time now because it tightens the sound up nicely.

Gonna get some stick on Garfields to put on the outside where he can't reach them.......

[Phil Starr]

I'd absolutely go for those bars rather than the party light T-bars, I have both but the T-bars are cumbersome space guzzlers best used for blinding musicians and I only use them for lighting the audience nowadays, I have a 12 way 1metre strip which goes behind the drummer as an uplighter and some of the round PAR lights but I'm going to get a couple of those short bars for the speaker poles.

[bonzodog]

On 26/11/2018 at 23:34, Mudpup said:

These are very good value at £113 a pair...metal casings, you get 2 in a pack with a remote control and a carry bag. We use them either on the floor in front of us and angled towards us a bit  or more recently clamped on the speaker poles facing inwards (doesn't blind you so much when you're shoegazing). They have multiple autorun programs including sound sensitive and fades. A mains plug in each unit and link them with a dmx cable - its honestly a 2 minute setup.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/American-1226100281-VBAR-PAK-Effect/dp/B00N5770Q2

And heres a bit of video - ignore all the swively stuff and lasers....all the face on lighting (mainly red, blue and purple) is from the V Bars stuck on the speaker stands.

 

I've just ordered a pair of these following this thread as I like the idea of attaching to speaker poles. We already have 2 x  t bars of par cans but a lot of places we play don't have room for them. Hoping these will be fine for small venues and in big venues we can use them along with the par cans behind us.

Thanks