Weekend Warrior Stage Lighting Discussion

[Bullitt5135]

Thought I'd post an update as to what I've been working on lately...light-wise. I recently joined a weekend warrior band that hopefully will be playing one or two gigs a month. And, a friend of mine has approached me about being his sound/light man for his pro wedding band. Time to start applying some things I've learned and ideas I have. My priorities are to 1) light the performers and 2) add some subtle ambiance to the stage.

First gig was a block party in the back of a parking lot. I placed one cheap incandescent par can ($20 each off Craigslist) on each main, with a 3300 lumen LED bulb from Lowes and bastard amber gel purchased off Ebay, and two Chauvet Wash FX lights set to a very slow fade (using a cheap Obey 70 knockoff DMX controller purchased off Amazon) to light up the fence behind us. One LED par set to amber is not doing much to illuminate the drummer. Some scenes looked great, but others were colorful on one side and washed out on the other. I love the cheap par cans on the mains. I hate it when the performers are playing in the dark with some cheesy lights blinking behind them.

We played an outdoor gig at a farm a couple of weeks ago. The stage was in the middle of the lawn, so there were no walls to cast light on. Due to time constraints, I only used 6 lights and no DMX: One cheap incandescent par can on each main; a pair of those same par cans flanking the drum kit; and finally, one Chauvet Wash FX light on either side of the stage at ground level, to throw some color on the backline – just set to blue for the whole show.

In the photos, up can just make out the single light tree behind the drummer that I brought with me. I was running sound for three bands, and I just didn't have time to rig my 4 additional LED pars (Laluce Natz brand off Amazon) and DMX controller. KISS ended up working well.

In the week after the gig, I rigged up the tree with the two Wash FX lights to wash the backwall and 4 LED pars to backlight the performers, and then programmed a bunch of scenes into a chase using the DMX controller. For gigs, the Wash FX will need to be strategically placed somewhere other than the tree to get an even wash on the back wall. Everything on the tree packs nicely into an old ski bag I had laying around, so I can keep everything hooked up between gigs. It should take less than 15 minutes to deploy. The main concern is having all the DMX addresses correctly set.

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For my friend's wedding band, they currently use a couple of Chauvet 4-bars set to auto. Frankly, it looks like garbage – uneven light on stage, with the performers in the shadows or lit by unflattering colors. And people on the dancefloor are getting slammed by 4 par LED pars blinking right in their faces from just above eye level. The light show falls way short of the music they put out. The same priorities apply. Illuminate the performers with warm amber, and give the stage some colorful ambiance using basic scenes programmed into the DMX controller. Additionally, I will need to spice up the dance floor with a sound-activated wash and something like a Chauvet Swarm FX or two. We talked about adding haze and more FX lights, but I think the risk of setting off the fire alarm is too great with atmospherics. Instead, I want to try pointing the FX at the ceiling instead of the dancers. Time is money, so this needs to be simple and fast to deploy. Set it and forget it. I'm looking into some DIY solutions to flying 2 or three fixtures above each main in order to keep the stage area tidy.

 

[amper]

I despise fog machines. The guitarist in my old band bought one and insisted on using it all the time, and I hate the smell of fog juice, it makes me gag.

 

[amper]

What height should front lights be at if on a tripod and if in the left and right front corners how far away from the guitarists on each of those sides should they be?

Generally speaking, most lighting designers will want lighting to be at a 45° vertical and horizontal angle for the most natural presentation. How far away they can be is a function of the brightness of each individual fixture and the physical limitations of the space.

 

[amper]

Any recommendations for type of slimpars to get for back lighting ?

Chauvet SlimPAR64 RGBA, or whatever the current versionis.

 

[musicman7722]

I'll agree with that.

I had a multi light setup - not light bars but similar (Chauvet Wash FX I mounted on my main speakers - you can just make out one of them below) and some PAR puck lights for uplighting behind the drums. I used two scenes - one bastard amber for play time and one mellow blue for dwell time between sets - I could control the relative levels of both using my Chauvet Obey 40. I tried using a smaller controller but I needed the ability to control 7 DMX channels minimum.

I found that the blue "dwell" scene heightened the impact of the bastard amber "play" scene. I didn't bother with chases, fades or other distracting stuff. We were a no-frills country band...but had pretty good production. Here's a shot of the "dwell" setting. Simple, easy to set up, easy to run, worked well.

View attachment 4296822

Love the look but I can't find the Chauvet Wash FX I listed anywhere now?

 

[DirtDog]

Love the look but I can't find the Chauvet Wash FX I listed anywhere now?

It’s probably a discontinued product by now. Looks like Wash FX 2 is the current offering.

 

[musicman7722]

It’s probably a discontinued product by now. Looks like Wash FX 2 is the current offering.

Thanks

 

[jad]

It’s probably a discontinued product by now. Looks like Wash FX 2 is the current offering.

Right, I have both. My first gens have had a hard life and I've lost a color on a couple of the facets over time. Parts are available, but at some point, you have to cut your losses. The 2's are noticeably bigger and heavier. The addition of true white, amber and UV are nice to have. I thought the 2's would be a lot brighter, but there isn't really a big difference.

 

[musicman7722]

Are the "2's" blue tooth?

 

[Goatrope]

Are the "2's" blue tooth?

Nope

 

[DirtDog]

Thought I'd post an update as to what I've been working on lately...light-wise. I recently joined a weekend warrior band that hopefully will be playing one or two gigs a month. And, a friend of mine has approached me about being his sound/light man for his pro wedding band. Time to start applying some things I've learned and ideas I have. My priorities are to 1) light the performers and 2) add some subtle ambiance to the stage.

First gig was a block party in the back of a parking lot. I placed one cheap incandescent par can ($20 each off Craigslist) on each main, with a 3300 lumen LED bulb from Lowes and bastard amber gel purchased off Ebay, and two Chauvet Wash FX lights set to a very slow fade (using a cheap Obey 70 knockoff DMX controller purchased off Amazon) to light up the fence behind us. One LED par set to amber is not doing much to illuminate the drummer. Some scenes looked great, but others were colorful on one side and washed out on the other. I love the cheap par cans on the mains. I hate it when the performers are playing in the dark with some cheesy lights blinking behind them.

View attachment 4446637

We played an outdoor gig at a farm a couple of weeks ago. The stage was in the middle of the lawn, so there were no walls to cast light on. Due to time constraints, I only used 6 lights and no DMX: One cheap incandescent par can on each main; a pair of those same par cans flanking the drum kit; and finally, one Chauvet Wash FX light on either side of the stage at ground level, to throw some color on the backline – just set to blue for the whole show.

View attachment 4446617

View attachment 4446619

In the photos, up can just make out the single light tree behind the drummer that I brought with me. I was running sound for three bands, and I just didn't have time to rig my 4 additional LED pars (Laluce Natz brand off Amazon) and DMX controller. KISS ended up working well.

In the week after the gig, I rigged up the tree with the two Wash FX lights to wash the backwall and 4 LED pars to backlight the performers, and then programmed a bunch of scenes into a chase using the DMX controller. For gigs, the Wash FX will need to be strategically placed somewhere other than the tree to get an even wash on the back wall. Everything on the tree packs nicely into an old ski bag I had laying around, so I can keep everything hooked up between gigs. It should take less than 15 minutes to deploy. The main concern is having all the DMX addresses correctly set.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

For my friend's wedding band, they currently use a couple of Chauvet 4-bars set to auto. Frankly, it looks like garbage – uneven light on stage, with the performers in the shadows or lit by unflattering colors. And people on the dancefloor are getting slammed by 4 par LED pars blinking right in their faces from just above eye level. The light show falls way short of the music they put out. The same priorities apply. Illuminate the performers with warm amber, and give the stage some colorful ambiance using basic scenes programmed into the DMX controller. Additionally, I will need to spice up the dance floor with a sound-activated wash and something like a Chauvet Swarm FX or two. We talked about adding haze and more FX lights, but I think the risk of setting off the fire alarm is too great with atmospherics. Instead, I want to try pointing the FX at the ceiling instead of the dancers. Time is money, so this needs to be simple and fast to deploy. Set it and forget it. I'm looking into some DIY solutions to flying 2 or three fixtures above each main in order to keep the stage area tidy.

Well done! You’ve definitely got the concept of layering light sources to create some dimensionality for the subject (the musicians in this case).

Unlike the vast majority of those with the pair of four-bar lights pointed at the crowd. The bastard amber key light is something that a lot of bands with light systems haven’t figured out either. Sure, have the multicolour fade rolling in the background but have that bastard amber pointed at the band members.

 

[ArtechnikA]

I'm starting to think about lighting - no gigging projects to support it yet but I'm doing my research to improve my chances of getting it right the first time...

Like a lot of guys with PA's I have some speaker stands I rarely use. I thought I'd find T-bars with 30mm sockets to be mounted on speaker poles I already own, but I was surprised to find none at all. I can weld a section of rebar to 1-1/8" id tube and paint it stage-ready flat black, but I expected to find this kind of thing readily available.

Since it's not, I'm wondering if there's some glaring reason why not that I'm just overlooking...

 

[Bullitt5135]

I'm starting to think about lighting - no gigging projects to support it yet but I'm doing my research to improve my chances of getting it right the first time...

Like a lot of guys with PA's I have some speaker stands I rarely use. I thought I'd find T-bars with 30mm sockets to be mounted on speaker poles I already own, but I was surprised to find none at all. I can weld a section of rebar to 1-1/8" id tube and paint it stage-ready flat black, but I expected to find this kind of thing readily available.

Since it's not, I'm wondering if there's some glaring reason why not that I'm just overlooking...

Lighting stands usually extend a few feet higher than speaker stands.

 

[slap-a-da-bass]

There's so much good information here, I'm looking for ideas on color scenes for bands, who run their own lights & sound.

Here's my lighting gear. I have 4 Led Pars on a stand on each front corner, on the back I have 4 led pars, and 6 stationary spotlights. Lastly, I have two pars That usual are white and light up the stage, they are right in front of the singer.

I run these all with a Obey 40, and I have a basic understanding of programing DMX. I tend to have all my scenes/chases on slow fades and change over say 3 sec. I don't like a lot of flashing lights.

I'm looking for a way to improve this even more. I was thinking about colors that work well together, for example maybe all blue in the back, amber in the front, etc. Are there any standard color scenes that work together well? Any ideas of better DMX programming, where I can just let the chase run for a song or so, then push a button for the next one.

Thanks.

 

[pfschim]

Lighting stands usually extend a few feet higher than speaker stands.

I thought I read here (or somewhere) that for a simple lighting rig you could just fabricate a T brace and attach a couple of basic pars (or other lights I suppose) to the top threaded receiver/socket on most PA tops (I have QSC K10.2's and they have this socket feature). Am I imagining that this is a possibility ? Given that the PA stands are always just ahead of the band/stage, it seems like it would work out ok for elevated lights (say to smallish/light multi-LED pars).

 

[musicman7722]

I picked up a pair of Chauvet DJ SlimPAR Q12 BT from Sweetwater. They work via a blue tooth connection using a free app on your phone or iPad. The control is very nice with some memory ability for scenes. I was able to mix the lights off my iPhone and the band on my iPad. i stood at a high top say 30' in front of the band. It was awesome having instant control including flashing and blackout.

Here is the next very cool thing. You can connect these to other lights via DMX cable and they will control that light. I have 4 older Chauvet powered lights. I mounted one of these with a new BT light on a single bar. I created two bars like this and placed them right in front of my eVolve50 speakers. Then I took the two remaining lights and placed each of them on their own stand. I placed these about 10' down line towards the back of the band. one on each side. I connected each of them to the corresponding pair with a mike cable and bingo i had two different channels if you will.

 

[musicman7722]

As you can see I was able to a brighter color on my singers to the right of the stage and a different color on the horns and guitar. before my next gig i will buy two more and pair them with my two remaining singles. That will give me 4 pairs that can be individually controlled via blue tooth on my phone. OMG

 

[slap-a-da-bass]

As you can see I was able to a brighter color on my singers to the right of the stage and a different color on the horns and guitar. before my next gig i will buy two more and pair them with my two remaining singles. That will give me 4 pairs that can be individually controlled via blue tooth on my phone. OMG

Do you find certain colors work better? Do you need to keep some white on the musicians with music?

 

[SuperK]

Do you find certain colors work better? Do you need to keep some white on the musicians with music?

I always like to light from the front with an amber color. White light is not a flattering color. If possible I like to get it up above the singer's head and shine down at a 45 degree angle. Ideally it would be about 5' out in front of the singer. The best is to light the singer with two lights (one about 45 degrees to each side) instead of just one head on.

For the rest of the band I think blue, purples, and pinks look the best. Avoid greens and reds. It all depends on the type of music you're playing and what the mood is. I light the band from both sides of the stage.

I found this reference chart a while back and it's a good place to start. Look at "Bastard Amber" and the Lavender variations. If your fixture is RGBA then add Amber as needed (or not).

 

[Bullitt5135]

I thought I read here (or somewhere) that for a simple lighting rig you could just fabricate a T brace and attach a couple of basic pars (or other lights I suppose) to the top threaded receiver/socket on most PA tops (I have QSC K10.2's and they have this socket feature). Am I imagining that this is a possibility ? Given that the PA stands are always just ahead of the band/stage, it seems like it would work out ok for elevated lights (say to smallish/light multi-LED pars).

Yes, for my last couple of gigs, I have attached a single amber par can to the fly point on top of the speaker to light the performers. Worked great. You could take it a step further with a 4ft. piece of 1" square metal pipe and attach additional lights. There is also a speaker stand attachment from Stagg that's designed to let you fly additional lights above the main speakers.