The Light Show

[Geddyfleaharris]

My day gig is with a lighting company (we do installs mostly churches & schools).
The thing to remember about LEDs is that often times you need fewer of them.
2 LED PARs on each side if the stage can give you a lot of light and a lot of color choices. Add something like the 4bar for backlighting (Don't forget backlighting, its really important to give depth) and you can have some pretty decent looks on a 15 - 20' wide stage. The tricky part is controlling them. Even the cheapest RGB (red/green/blue) color-mixing PAR uses 3 DMX channels for control. (DMX is kind of like midi for lights). So 2 on the left, 2 on the right, and 4 in the back means you need at least a 24 channel controller if you want separate control over each light. That's kind of hard to do with a foot controller and if you just set them all to change with the music you don't really know what you're going to get for any given song.

Cool post. Good info. I have 2 banks of 4 regular PAR lights that I have a foot controller for. I now have a line on 4 LED 64 lights for a very reasonable price. I was thinking of picking them up for front lighting and using the 2 x 4s as back light. As you say though the issue is control.

 

[troy mcclure]

I bought 2 led bars that have built in programming..not super bright but ina dark bar they look great , weigh nothing and throw no heat.


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[Medford Bassman]

We're pretty basic. 2 light stands. 4 PARs each. WE don't use the chase on it, doesn't work too well.

We throw some mini lights on the dance floor for the crowd.

That's it for us.

 

[MNAirHead]

My setup is kind of ghetto cause I'm lazy.


Don't forget you're cheap also. Seriously you could buy some lights that don't scream ghetto for a couple of hundred bucks.

I have full tree lights.. we're running a trio or duos.. Not really necessary to pull out all of the stops for most venues.. .. unless we're taking pix -- having a bunch of folks sit in etc.. not really necessary.. ... side washing tons of light works.. all the gear fits in a small case...

I stumbled accross one hollywood par on a mike stand.. it's kind of funky .. points directly to the singer's face..

 

[DarkShadesBill]

Just picked up a Chauvet 4Bar for a great deal
Love it!
Can't wait to use it on stage.

 

[eow]

I've used my 4Bar for 3 shows now. Def getting another one.
By far the easiest lights to use and set up that I have ever dealt with!