Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Mike Karseboom]

I use a few lights and luminair like you Debbie and in mostly similar situations.  Except it is for different bands all the time  and sometimes now I get pure lighting only gigs.


The goal of an interesting "light show" that you don't have to actively manage is elusive.  What you are doing now is what I often do.  That is wash lights on a very slow color change using mostly ambers, roses, and blues.  I also have a couple of low cost led fixtures that up light the drums.  These are still controlled by Luminair but set to an auto program that responds to drum beats.  I also have a 3 foot long wash bar  with 7x10 watt LEDs.  That normally goes behind the drummer pointing up at the back wall and participates in the slow wash with a contrasting color.  That one fixtures on the back wall adds a lot of interest and you might consider something along those lines.


You, I think,  have the luxury of  working with the same band mostly and know their musical repertoire so can anticipate break points and transitions that might benefit from some instant light effect.  Apparently the band's audio levels are pretty consistent as well so you can do blackout and start up effects.  I often can't manage those because I don't always know when a song will end.  I also tend to focus heavily on audio at the start of each song.  Sometimes that is due to not knowing ahead of time what performer or sound will be important in each song and what volume level they might come out of the gate with.  But it is also because I will usually unmute and adjust delay times and levels as well as reverbs in the first few seconds of each song.


Assuming you do have some time to add light effects I think you might be able to do a lot by putting half of your current wash lights behind the band.  I use the Chauvet  slimpar pro tri fixtures and 2x on each side in the front seems like plenty in most small venues.  With 8 total that leaves 4 more that can face back toward the audience.  Just having those on a slow color change as you do now will be of interest to the audience because the light will spill on to them as well.  And now you have the option to some bling when desired.  You can play around with manually pulsing the intensity of those backlights to the beat, experiment with rapid color shifts side to side, etc.  On song endings or crazy crescendos, try programming a stack that quickly flashes the lights a couple of times at full intensity alternately one side then the other.  Jumping back and forth between manual manipulation and programmed stacks with different effects takes some concentration in Luminair.  And it is almost essential to set the front lights up as masters so they don't go nuts when you play with the back lights.


If you do get a phazer (or hazer) it can make your wash lights look better.  There can be venue and even audience issues with haze but it opens up a whole range of effects you can use. On the other hand, if you don't have haze then instruments that produce narrow beams loose much of their impact and just make little dots on the floor.


So in my mind, whether or not you will use haze has a large bearing on what kinds of fixtures you might want to consider acquiring and what kinds of scenes you can set up.


I would be very interested in other's ideas on how to enhance a band "light show" with minimal manual attention during the show.

[Lyle Williams]

Being interesting requires coordination with the beat and the mood of the music.  I don't think  there is a low-fuss solution to this.  I have recently made my lights interesting and coordinated for when I am doing the DJ thing.  I end up with probably 4x the mental focus on lighting changes vs music changes.  But with DJing the lights need to work well because there are no musicians on stage to captivate the crowd.

I think the best you can aim for is "not obviously boring" - not the same thing all night.

Maybe 4+ presets that you can flick between with a foot switch between songs.  Different groups of colours.  Different fade rates.

Otherwise you really need someone who knows your music driving the lights.

[Debbie Dunkley]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and suggestions. I think deep down I am a frustrated DJ -I cant believe I just said that….OMG..
What I meant was that I get so much fun out of running lights and effects and I am sure I could be very creative enhancing canned music. But with live music, I  am very cognizant of keeping things real and not taking away from the band. 
I'd love to run moonflowers and moving lights and all that fun stuff but - that's not going to happen so I just want a bit more than I have already just to break things up a bit.
Also, I have a lot invested in PA, mics, hardware, cables, processing etc so the last thing I want to do is blow a bunch of cash on lights - even if  deep down, I'd love to play ….
Reading the comments here, I might be best just adding some  more LED washes at the sides and back and get me a fazer. No smoking here so can't rely on that. Fazer is water based I believe so shouldn't cause any residue issues.

I'll keep looking and maybe I will end up with a couple more Blizzards - as mentioned here I can always turn them down if too bright.

[Mark Cadwallader]

The Blizzard Q12A (RGBA) looks to be the matching fixture to your existing units.  Adding color to the front wash can be really nice, too. But as you know, rule 1 is to let the customers see the band.

[John Fruits]

So called "water based" hazers can actually produce as much or more gunk that will settle on everything. You also have to be aware of what kind of smoke detectors are in use.  Is the club sprinklered and tied into an alarm system.  Does the venue allow haze and fog?

[Steve Garris]

I'll second Mike's comment on a light bar. I have one that I pop up behind the band. The light bar is mounted on top of a T-bar horizontally, with (4) LED Par's hanging below it. Mine is the 42" long ADJ Megabar with RBGA. I run it on sound mode, so basically turn it on and forget it. It provides an interesting contrast from round Par's, and the bands seem to love it. I wish to add another, mounted upside down and sync'd with the first.

[Debbie Dunkley]

I'll second Mike's comment on a light bar. I have one that I pop up behind the band. The light bar is mounted on top of a T-bar horizontally, with (4) LED Par's hanging below it. Mine is the 42" long ADJ Megabar with RBGA. I run it on sound mode, so basically turn it on and forget it. It provides an interesting contrast from round Par's, and the bands seem to love it. I wish to add another, mounted upside down and sync'd with the first.

I chose to go this route too Steve for now.  I ordered a couple of the 42" bars - they were on sale online and I'm also getting the remote control to see how well that works. If the water based fazer isn't going to be much better than a fog machine, I'll stick with my old fogger- I don't really use it right now but outside I could use it sparingly probably. Smoking in bars in NC was banned a few years back so no smoky haze available..... ( I'm quite happy about that though )

I also noticed that the amber version of the Q12's are available at a few places much cheaper than when I got my white ones. I see them for $149..... Wow

I'm looking forward  to playing when the bars get here .......just gotta get a couple more stands.
 Thanks everyone for all your suggestions.

[Debbie Dunkley]

So the 2 Mega Bars arrived today. It is sad when I have gotten to the point where I almost expect things in this price range to fail. And as expected- one is defective.  Jeesh!.....
They both work but one has no thread on one end to attach the mounting bracket. It's probably inside there somewhere but if I open it up I void the warranty and as they are brand new, I'd rather get a replacement. They are nice and bright and have some really decent effects that could be put to good use sparingly. I also purchased the remote control for them and it works really well. The manual says up to 150ft but not so sure about that ......
Once I get the one replaced, I want to attach these to a couple of Tbars on stands at the back of the stage. I'm thinking  either a couple of o clamps ( the mounting feet have holes in the flat edge) or c clamps. The T bar is circular profile not square - so any other suggestions out there?

[Steve Garris]

I simply drilled holes on the front of the T-Bar that match the Light bar mounting bracket. Note the use of spacers for the hanging lights below.

[Debbie Dunkley]

I'm going to use a couple of o clamps for now to see how I get on but your method certainly works- I'd only need some nice long bolts if I go your route which is much less expensive than clamps...

[ProSoundWeb Community]