Lighting? what lighting?

Pbassred · #1 08-23-2006, 12:11 PM

I'm the bass player and I also own/run sound for a new band. We have a wedding to play soon. I just visited the venue. Cramped stage and no lights. I'm averse to spending much more money but we need something, or else we have a choise of;- house lights or darkness.

What's going to work well in disco town on a minimal budget?

hartke20g · #2 08-23-2006, 07:52 PM

strobe lights.

and maybe just a bunch of random flashlights set up on the stage. or you could go conventional and buy some stage lights.

edit: example: in my band, i'm going to put a strobe ligt in the kick drum, and i have one of those footswitches for christmas tree lights to turn it on and off so it doesn't look cheesy.

Peter Squire · #3 08-23-2006, 08:28 PM

You're probably best off phoning around to audio visual hire companies, or music gear hire companies and asking if they have any second hand cans for sale. You can often pick them up fairly cheap. Cans have lamps like the headlamps in a car and are encased in a tin, with a bracket to put coloured gels into.

Try to get a can tree if possible. This is like 3 cans on a t-bar that you can put on a stand. To start with, you will probably just hook them up to power, but if you can afford it, try to get a cheap chaser panel, which makes them flash in sequence or to the music with some of them.

Other option is to try to find old traffic lights.

Good luck

Gord · #4 08-23-2006, 10:43 PM

I have no idea what they're called, but one time I played a show with no interior lighting. They used these littlle lights in yellow casing (I often see them at construction sites, etc) - They were EXTREMELY bright, they lit up the stage perfectly (they were on the floor, clamped on the stage, pointing up) and made for a pretty cool atmosphere.

I'm thinking any hardware store would have what I'm thinking of. Unfortunetly it's hard for me to describe exactly what they are. Very powerful lights, yellow casing, sort of a grill ontop to protect the light. Good luck, and remember that lights do add alot to the atmosphere!

Peter Squire · #5 08-24-2006, 02:27 AM

Halogen work lights.

Diggler · #6 08-24-2006, 05:41 AM

If you own/run sound, pick up a basic lighting system of your own as part of your system. Lights are stupid cheap now compared to 15 years ago, unless you're looking at higher end stuff.

Dkerwood · #7 08-24-2006, 07:58 AM

If you're really looking for cheap lighting, I saw one band that picked up a few of those clamp lights from WalMart. They take normal light bulbs, and this band had one for each band member. They could clamp to speaker stands, mic stands, edges of monitors, amps, the stage... whatever they needed to shine on the performers.

The best part? They're like 5-8 bucks apiece.

As far as colors go, I may or may not be in the minority here, but I HATE watching a band that has no "real" lighting and only colored lights. Why on earth would I want to see the entire band bathed in green (then red, then blue, etc)? IMHO, it looks a lot more professional to have a good spectrum of light across the front and leave the colored stuff in the back pointing forward. Add a little fog and you've got instant rock show.

The other plus is that instead of 4 red, 4 blue, 4 yellow, 4 green cans to try to light up the whole stage, you get 4 white/beige lights for the front, then you can get away with any combination of colored lights behind you. We use blue and red behind us - 2 on each pole in the back of the stage, and four cans in the front. It looks better with only half the cans (and half the wattage drain)!

Diggler · #8 08-24-2006, 08:05 AM

Dkerwood

Do you have any pics of the lighting scheme you describe?

Vandelay · #9 08-24-2006, 08:18 AM

If you can do some simple wiring, you can build a set of cheap stage lights by using items found at the hardware store. We did this about 10 years ago, copying a design that we saw from another band, and we used it for several years.

We bought 6 empty (unused and unlabeled) paint cans to use for the cans, attached standard light bulb sockets to one end, and used standard floodlight bulbs (both white and colored) for the light itself. We wired all the light bulb sockets together using one continuous electrical cable, and used aluminum bars, wing nuts, and zip ties to hold it together. It sounds very MacGyver-ish, but it wasn't too difficult, and nobody could ever tell it was homemade. Yes, we were nuts, but no one died. Wish I could share a photo of it, but it's at our guitarist's house.

Later I bought something that looks a lot like this, but I didn't like it so well:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...4&src=3SOSWXXK

If you use their controller, only one lamp lights at any one time. We ended up bypassing their controller and plugging all 4 cans into an outlet strip so that they would all stay lit continuously.

Magical_Max · #10 08-24-2006, 04:31 PM

If you're going to be doing more gigs were you need lighting i'd suggest investing in some kit of your own. If this is a one-off go for hire kit.
I can PM you some hire companies if you like.

jonly · #11 08-24-2006, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vandelay

Later I bought something that looks a lot like this, but I didn't like it so well:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...4&src=3SOSWXXK

If you use their controller, only one lamp lights at any one time. We ended up bypassing their controller and plugging all 4 cans into an outlet strip so that they would all stay lit continuously.

We have two of those and they both broke (screws stripped, clamps broke). I would go halogen with some cellophane covers til you could afford a nice set.

Dkerwood · #12 08-24-2006, 11:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diggler

Dkerwood

Do you have any pics of the lighting scheme you describe?

http://www.leavethursday.com/images/...ery/442632.jpg
http://www.leavethursday.com/images/...ery/390182.jpg
http://www.leavethursday.com/images/...ery/390172.jpg
http://www.leavethursday.com/images/...ery/389626.jpg

The camera sometimes gets in the way with its flash and everything... but see how there's plenty of color but WE'RE not red/blue/green/whatever?

Red and blue in the back - 4 of em. 3 cans on the front, two white and one orange-ish. A bunch of these pics use different fronts (par 64s at about 20 feet), but for the most part, we just use par 38s for everything. We used them for an outdoor gig in June when we went on at about 9, and those "puny" 38s totally lit up the stage.

FWIW, we also have an American DJ Vertigo in the back behind the drummer. It adds some moving light to the stage. We'll also occasionally use a black light, a strobe, and a police beacon. We've got a mirrored ball or two, but they've sort of fallen into disuse over the years. Not a lot of ballads in our setlist these days.

For what it's worth, here's what I like the stage to look like:

http://www.mobro.net/lighting1.png
http://www.msmp.com/Pictures/viet1.bmp

And not:

http://www.concerttrade.com/images/c...0405124529.jpg
http://www.exotic-lighting.com/Mountain_Con_Cool.jpg
http://banjoteacher.com/_BanjoCruise/CruisePics/Faculty%20Concert/images/What%20Lights!_jpg.jpg

Yes, the latter can be cool as an effect, but I hate trying to struggle through the whole concert straining to see.

Just my two cents.

WOOFMAN · #13 08-24-2006, 11:36 PM

Get some of those colored rope lights from home depot. 100 feet of this rope should look cool.

Pbassred · #14 08-27-2006, 01:18 AM

My ears hurt, I think I'm dehydrated, and my arms ache ( did I mention I run the PA too?). I finally got my band on stage last night. It was my first gig in a year (shame).

The "lighting rig" was really effective for something so simple. I went for a disco Tee-bar http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...hting&doy=27m8 39GBP. Our drummer came up with 4 clip-on 100W spot lights in different colours. I offset the top bar to put it closer to the centre stage and lit the lead singer. It just worked! The bar is a good investment. As we grow, we can hang projectors and all sorts on it - up to 40Kg (90lb). Someone ELSE'S invesment!

Dkerwood · #15 08-27-2006, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pbassred

My ears hurt, I think I'm dehydrated, and my arms ache ( did I mention I run the PA too?). I finally got my band on stage last night. It was my first gig in a year (shame).

The "lighting rig" was really effective for something so simple. I went for a disco Tee-bar http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...hting&doy=27m8 39GBP. Our drummer came up with 4 clip-on 100W spot lights in different colours. I offset the top bar to put it closer to the centre stage and lit the lead singer. It just worked! The bar is a good investment. As we grow, we can hang projectors and all sorts on it - up to 40Kg (90lb). Someone ELSE'S invesment!

Where did you put the stand? In front of the stage? On the stage? In the back of the stage?

Pbassred · #16 08-29-2006, 03:27 PM

wedged between the left speaker and the Low) stage. The arm was across the front, so slightly in front. With such a tiny weight it was ok to offset the bar so that it reached out 2meters. The lights were 1 - 1 1/2meters above the singer's head.

ryla · #17 09-07-2006, 05:23 PM

i use two t-bars and six par cans operated by a home made foot switch board i made from a six plug powerboard connected to six metal footswitches i got from a electronic shop(exactly the same as those used on effects pedals), i cue the lights as i play,

Dkerwood · #18 09-08-2006, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ryla

i use two t-bars and six par cans operated by a home made foot switch board i made from a six plug powerboard connected to six metal footswitches i got from a electronic shop(exactly the same as those used on effects pedals), i cue the lights as i play,

I need to build one of these, even if it's just as a blackout switch. Any ideas on protecting the lights in the circuit? Usually, I have a member of the band flip a power strip on, or we've even stomped on the power strip in a pinch...

I would just wonder about dumping a bunch of wattage all at once... should there be a breaker? A fuse? Heck, just wire the bad boy to a power strip of its own?

ryla · #19 09-10-2006, 10:38 PM

just go to your local electrician, provide him with a good multi-powerboard and any footswitches (latched)that you will find in an electrical wholesales or surplus store, and ask him to connect it up for you. just plug your par cans (or whatever lights your using) straight into the multi board and activate each seperatly as you play, you could switch 2 on at once with adouble adapter etc etc, works well, if your guitar player has a solo, switch on the light thats trained on him (red), keyboard opens - all lights off and just stomp on the blue light youve allocated for him with a touch of fog......

ryla · #20 09-10-2006, 10:42 PM

ive used this home made lighting set up for two years now, - weekly, - no wattage probs, overloads etc, no blown bulbs, i use four par 53, one par 64, and a strobe.