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Smoke Machines

kyral210

kyral210

Sep 14, 2007
1,966
1,661
UK
#1
Ok, this isn't about sound, but it is about live, so that should be ok.

My band is thinking about investing in a smoke machine to make our live presence that little bit cooler. Can anyone give me any advice on what to go for, and/ or what to avoid. Im afraid i know very little about these things.
 
#3
Hi.

Haze machines are cool, but the plain old RedDevil we use hasn't let us down ever. Very economic and works with variety of fluids.

Stay away from the cheapos, not enough output and the heater element clogs up really easily. And then the pump dies. And then..., You'll get the picture ;).

Regards
Sam
 
#4
Ahh...the Smoker! Yeah they're cool. Along with some modest lights, they can turn your band into an act!

We have a standard 'smoke machine" but was schooled on the particle machines at last Friday's gig. The particles stay in the air longer, don't seem to cripple the audience or wait-staff and complement any club's lazer-light show.

But there's something delightfully cheezy about the smoke. Perhaps it's the low-ground fog look.
 
#5
I had a smoke machine for years.I still have all the lights and strobes and that sort of stuff,I got rid of the smoke machine because after using one for years (I live in Connecticut)they had that night club fire in Rhode Island where Great White was playing.After that every one who hired the band got nervous about the smoke machine so I stopped using it.Is it cool to get one now?It sure was a cool effect and Like I always say A gig should be a sight and sound treat right?
 
#6
Pretty new to using fog machines at shows and stuff, but I'd say definitely stay away from using Halloween smoke machines. My band bought a 40 dollar fog machine from Guitar Center. Pretty small, and the fluid that came with it wasn't that great but it's a good machine. Filled it up with Black Label Premium fog fluid and found that good fluid will make a world of difference. Filled the Metal Shaker in Chicago last night with fog so thick you could barely see 5 feet in front of you. And the stuff stays around a long time too. Metal Shaker has a good ventilation system, and as soon as we were done playing, they turned it back on, and the fog was gone by the time the next band was set up and ready to play.

l_937ffbd0b92e4c25b896b26f4b3cb086.png



We had a few white flood lights behind my wall of cabs (half of which can be seen in the pic), and a some blue and green floodlights in front of them. Drummer has lights in his drums too.
 
#7
Get something with a timer on it. Ours puts out smoke for a few seconds (variable), and then pauses for ten seconds before going again.

Otherwise you blast for 30 seconds, and play the next song without being able to see anything. Two songs later and there's no smoke left. Having something you can adjust to set a level, and then let the machine worry about topping up in small blasts is great.

The brand we use (I forget) referes to this as a hazer, as the intention is to create a haze in the air, rather than the blast of fog that is conspicuous in itself.

If you're carrying a small set of lights, then some haze REALLY makes it worthwhile.
 
#8
IanStephenson said:
Get something with a timer on it. Ours puts out smoke for a few seconds (variable), and then pauses for ten seconds before going again.

Otherwise you blast for 30 seconds, and play the next song without being able to see anything. Two songs later and there's no smoke left. Having something you can adjust to set a level, and then let the machine worry about topping up in small blasts is great.

The brand we use (I forget) referes to this as a hazer, as the intention is to create a haze in the air, rather than the blast of fog that is conspicuous in itself.

If you're carrying a small set of lights, then some haze REALLY makes it worthwhile.
Click to expand...


The small machine we use, blasts for about 3 minutes before recharging or whatever. We leave it running the duration of our set... Dense blinding fog is what we're after though. During a 40 minute set it only uses half a pint of fluid. Not that bad at all. The brand is Venue. I think it's a Guitar Center brand sort of deal, but it's a good machine.
 
#10
Here's another pic from a different angle, same show as the first pic I posted...

l_ac99593a07cd430189ea56ebe18a58a8.png



You can make out the rest of my rig, but just barely.

I'd like to maybe add some moving sound responsive lights, on the floor around us, but the same band that gave us the fog machine idea, Zoroaster, uses a large amount of moving lights on the floor around them, and I don't really want to go biting their style too much more. ha So we'll see about that idea.

I think at the next few shows, we're going to have nothing but red and yellow lights going instead of blue and green.
 

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