Strategy for building a light rig - what's next?

[mstreck]

We usually hire out for lights to someone that gives us a lot of bang for the buck, but he is getting so busy that we can't depend on having him when we need him. The reality is that we'd be better off with our own light rig and a dedicated light man. I need some direction on where to get started and - as always - money is tight so I need a good strategy to get us what we need at minimal cost. I'm ok with "crying once", but it's going to take us a while to get there.

Here's what we have been using in a pinch (fortunately, that is not very often):

• 4 par-38s with auto-color-changing led bulbs (like you would see used in swimming pools) that we attach to the speaker poles and point towards the band (so, very minimal front lighting)
• two small (cheap) American DJ color banks that we set behind the drummer (on the floor) pointed towards the back corners of the stage
• two (cheap) led scanners that we set on the floor in front of him - just outside the side of his kit - with the mirrors moving to light the back wall and the front corner of the ceiling (just above the front of the band). Everything is non-dmx and, with the exception of the par cans, is triggered by sound - which, of course, gets more visually tiring (and boring) as the night goes on.

The drummer can contribute 8 more par cans (4 on each T-bar stand) and I just purchased two dmx-controllable dimmer packs that we can use for them. I also have a truss. Yes, our setup is dismal, but it's what we have right now. What's the next step?

Would we be better off using the two T-bars for front lighting (with the 8 par cans and dimmer packs) and putting everything else on the truss set on auto and using it for backlighting? What then? Replacing the non-DMX stuff with similar DMX stuff? Keeping what we have and adding something else before we get rid of the non-DMX stuff? What's the best strategy here? 

Thanks!!!!

Mike

PS - I have read the lighting guide and looked at the suggested setups.