Basic Lighting

[Nagrom]

Who has some decent recommendations for basic low-key stage lighting suitable for a singer-songwriter + accompianists style show. Not real expensive, single circuit, easy set-up, compact.

[Jim Campbell]

Originally Posted by Nagrom

Who has some decent recommendations for basic low-key stage lighting suitable for a singer-songwriter + accompianists style show. Not real expensive, single circuit, easy set-up, compact.

i'd say make em up...... screw a fixture box or 2 or 3 to a 1x6 and make a frame of chicken wire so that it looks like a covered wagon and lay diffusion or gels over the chicken wire......remember it's about a one amp draw for every 100 watt incandescent...........you can add independent switches to a board or dimmers......leave enough air space inside the frame and access to the bulb(s)......they're also handy for backlighting for fotos

[JustDavid]

Other than as a rarely-used effect, I'm not a fan of lighting from below other than on Halloween. Getting lights hitting the performers at about 45 degrees horizontally & vertically from straight ahead can be pleasing & complimentary, but that can be difficult. Perhaps boxes secured to the top of your PA speakers?

[Jim Campbell]

Originally Posted by JustDavid

Other than as a rarely-used effect, I'm not a fan of lighting from below other than on Halloween. Getting lights hitting the performers at about 45 degrees horizontally & vertically from straight ahead can be pleasing & complimentary, but that can be difficult. Perhaps boxes secured to the top of your PA speakers?

im not sure if he's looking for spots or ambience.....the ones i described can be hung or sit on something and are good for ambience.......for something with more punch watch the kijiji ads for a deal on a few of par cans

[Stumbo]

You might want to check these out: http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com...ave?sku=810112

If already you have PA speakers on poles, maybe lights can be attached to the poles?

One thing to remember, bright lights are hot so be careful when tearing down after a gig.
You'll also have to protect the light bulbs when moving them.

[Nagrom]

No poles, Bose L1 system. So many places become dark little corners. GP mentioned fibre optics last night. Could always do the coffee can+socket on a board, but I'm wondering whats out there. ±300 watts, probably don't need a ton of lumen output.

[Rugaar]

Chauvet 4 Bar

Extremely cool new light system. LED's so there's no heat or massive power consumption. Comes with it's own case for the lights plus bag for the stand. It's got a footswitch or manual control or sound activated. I'm planning on grabbing one, possibly two, for our band.

Northern Sound & Light has the best price I've found but you've got to call them to find out how much. (I can't remember the price off hand--most other places sell it for $399 but Northern Light has it for a lot cheaper) It's a fairly new light so lots of places don't even have it in stock yet so you might have to wait, no matter where you order it from.

[JustDavid]

I was trying to convey better angles for the lighting.

I like the "covered wagon" idea. Nice & basic.

[Nagrom]

Thanks lads, for the good advice. The LED stage lighting is perfect. The covered wagon is a good one too.

[fishstix]

+1 to the LED lighting.

We are in the process of changing over most of our lighting to LED. They last forever, put out next to no heat, and are very versatile with colors/mixing/and dimming. For our basic lighting set up, we're using an led and a traditional par can on either side of the stage elevated at about 8 ft. It's super low amp draw and heat output. I've never had a problem with power for lighting even in the smallest of venues.

On the other hand, for larger stages, you need to dump A LOT of coin to properly light the stage with LED's. We are working to turn our larger par 64 trussing rig into a couple of high powered LED fixtures. It's not inexpensive but the time/labor/flexibility/and reliability will make it worth it.

Go with the LED set up. However, get a couple par 38's or something with some lavender gels to give decent lighting for the faces. I hate colored lighting for faces. Get something neutral, like lavender, to prevent it looking like everyone has some weird skin disease.

Here's just with LEDs (looking like a Smurf in this case)


Here's lavender cans up front with LED's for color/effect (no skin disease but plenty of color for effect)