Weekend Warrior Stage Lighting Discussion

[Mike7300]

Got it, so if I can afford it what would you recommend? The par56 slims?

 

[Mike7300]

Or if there’s some package that may be good since I have nothing right now.

 

[JPaulGeddy]

Or if there’s some package that may be good since I have nothing right now.

I'd recommend searching for Chauvet 4BAR and picking whichever fits your budget. You'll always have a use for it/them.

 

[Jason Stock]

as JPaulGeddy said the Chauvet 4BAR is an excellent option and also reduces set up time. I personally like the SlimPar 56 from chauvet cause I like to change my lighting configuration and design from time to time and have each one independent works better for me (like I said, I bought copies for now)
Look online for packages.

 

[AEVAREX]

I use a DMX board a lot, but for PC control look into Dmxis. I have one and it's awesome. With Dmxis and the program show buddy you can do really good shows all hands free once your all set up. Absolutely love mine, best purchase for lighting I've ever used, and pretty simple to figure out.

 

[Mike7300]

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro...em/l55108000000000?rNtt=Chauvet 4bar&index=5

I found this, maybe get a couple of those? Is there anything higher budget recommended or this is tops?

 

[fivestringgecko]

Just saw this thread, will have to scroll back through and read!

I'd love to get into Show Buddy someday. I sit in with a band that has a pretty amazing light show that's completely automated in SB with their backing tracks.

At the moment though, I just have two Chauvet 4-Bar Tri USB sets, and they work out pretty great. Light, quick/easy to set up. Since I'm the one controlling them, I have the footswitch by my board... I keep them in Sound mode most of the time, but do do some key lighting hits/strobes/fades. They've been a pretty slick setup that didn't break the bank.

And when I recently quit a band (bull-headed band leader had become too much of a bully), the reply wasn't "why are you quitting?" It was... "can we buy your lights?" LOL

5sg.

 

[JPaulGeddy]

I think a couple of those would be great. RGBA is great vs RGB. Not a dealbreaker, but imo, it's a worthy bonus. By looking at them, I'm guessing Chauvet made the fixtures a bit smaller to accommodate the extra cost, to keep them within the usual RGB 4Bar USB bars.

 

[GlassToMouth]

I went with a pair of the Chavet 4 Bar Bluetooth versions and couldn't be happier. I haven't gotten into DMX yet, but in the same band I play bass, run sound, record audio/video, and run lights. The basic Bluetooth app is more than sufficient for me. At least for now until I decide to complicate my life further.

 

[Mike7300]

ADJ COB Cannon Wash 150W RGBA COB Wide Angle Par

How does this compare? Besides the fact that it’s one light for 500 bucks.

 

[SuperK]

As others have said, the Chauvet 4Bar system is a great intro package. We use 2 of them (one on each side of the stage) and it works for most gigs. We play in some pretty small places and the 4Bars can be placed almost anywhere. What I like best is the simple setup. One power cable, one DMX input. Done. You can add individual SlimPAR fixtures as needed. You can even attach SlimPARS to the tops of the 4Bars. We have 6 extra fixtures that we can use if the venue has room for it. These are good for front lighting in Amber and for uplighting the back wall.

I use wireless DMX transmitter/receivers that I purchased on Amazon. So far they've worked flawlessly. I didn't have any luck with the Chauvet D-Fi USB receivers. There was too much lag time. I love not having to deal with DMX cables.

I use the Chauvet ShowXpress software with a ShowXpress 100 adapter. 100 channels is plenty for me. The software is free and there is a mountain of tutorials on YouTube that show you how to use it. I run the software on a laptop and connect my Behringer FCB1010 MIDI foot controller to the laptop to run the lights. I program about 20 preset scenes that I can jump to while I'm playing. I find that I typically only use 3-4 scenes per show. Once I find something that looks good in the room I usually just leave it.

Just for fun I purchased a Chauvet Hurricane Haze 1DX haze machine that I can also control with the Behringer.

 

[Mike7300]

Would you recommend the 4 bar quad or the 4 bar quad LT BT? My understanding is the 4 bar quad has 7 leds where as the LTBT has 3, but I don’t think the 4 bar quad has blu tooth.

 

[Thunder Lizard]

I’m a big fan of the Chauvet DJ SlimPAR64 RGBA units. At a local venue where we produce an annual youth rock festival, for which I serve as lighting director, the small stage has four SlimPAR64 RGBAs and three Hex units that sit on the floor behind the band and wash the rear wall. It’s a simple system, but it works pretty well. Unfortunately, we don’t have a great controller, so everything has to be done in real-time by throwing faders. Somehow, I manage to make it work.

View attachment 4162520

LOL.... try running 96 PAR64's that don't change colour on "just faders".. I had 48 channels of dimming. YES.. it was an active job. 2 scenes... A and B. That's it. OH.. and almost 2 tonnes of gear including dimming and cable. Today's stuff is just a gajillion times more efficient, and you seem to use it to good effect!

 

[Mike7300]

I was thinking of maybe going with 8 SlimPAR Pro H USB Hex for front lights. Only thing is there’s no package so I would have to purchase the T bars and clamps separate.

 

[EdO.]

FWIW I'm running two 4-Bar Flex units on each side of the stage (four total), stacked one above the other on one stand per side. On large enough stages I add a 10' truss behind the band with six Par 64 RGBA lights, all programed to be controlled with an Obey 40 controller. Makes for a good looking setup with plenty of coverage. 16 scenes programmed, two chases of 8 scenes (one bank) per chase. I'll try to remember to take some photos this weekend to illustrate. The nice thing about it all being LED lighting is the entire setup draws maybe 5 amps of power so never any blown breaker issues and no heat generated.

 

[Mike7300]

Does it take a while to set all that up?

 

[EdO.]

Does it take a while to set all that up?

My two guitar players (believe it or not) generally help me with setup and teardown. To set up the two sides probably 20 - 30 minutes to have it up and running. If I add the rear truss setup probably another 25 - 30 minutes there and again the guitars help. We're used enough to doing it now that we've kinda got a system established and still refining it. Move through the steps in order and it all goes together in a reasonable amount of time and labor. Everything's a tradeoff.

 

[Mike7300]

This may be a silly question but for any of those 4bars can you take the lights off and just use the tripod with other lights if you want or it’s specifically made for the lights that come with it?

 

[EdO.]

If I understand your question, a tripod light stand is just that, a tripod light stand. Mount a cross bar on it then mount lights to that, mount something unitized like the 4-Bar etc. Universal.

If you're asking if any/all of the light units on a 4-Bar or similar can be removed/replaced with something different - they connect to the cross bar with a different type of connector, it's not a DMX connection. It's all a single unit with 4 separate lights with a common onboard controller. Can run it's own preprogrammed operations or by a remote controller. Hope I've answered the question.

 

[Mike7300]

Ok I think I get it. I know some 4bars I was looking at have an option to connect to DMX like the below item…but I think it also has its own onboard system so I’m thinking you could replace the lights but then you wouldn’t have access to that onboard system so probably wouldn’t make sense to get something like this unless using the onboard system.

https://www.guitarcenter.com/CHAUVE...-Bluetooth-1500000244292.gc?rNtt=4bar&index=1