Members jcpatte2 Posted December 7, 2014 Members Share Posted December 7, 2014 I'm to the point that I've gotta add lighting. All the pictures and video are terrible because we're usually cramp into a corner at local pub with spotty halogen lights or the stage is bare looking at the clubs we play. I'm a Modern Country (Aldean, Bryan, Gilbert, etc) artist playing covers and originals (80/20 split). I have zero gear and a rudimentary understanding of DMX. My biggest considerations are ease of set-up, transportability, and scalability, as we play the tiniest (read: no) stages to decent sized clubs. I plan on putting the system together in stages: Front Lighting, Back Lighting, Effect Lighting, Scanners/Movers, etc. Just wondering what you guys would buy right now, if you had to put a rig together for a guy like me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted December 8, 2014 Members Share Posted December 8, 2014 Right now, small stages? 2 Blizzard HotBox RGBAW. One on each side, set to a slow fade will give you this (video) you don't even need a controller at that stage... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted December 8, 2014 Members Share Posted December 8, 2014 Here's one per side in a bigger venue, still good coverage! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted December 8, 2014 Members Share Posted December 8, 2014 That's a question with as probably as many different answers as there are lighting possibilities! If you're looking to do things in stages, I'd look at washing the stage first, spot and feature lighting second, a controller and software 3rd, and special effects movers last. And maybe switch up #2 and #3. One of the nice things about DMX lighting is it will operate without a controller. So you can at least get started and get familiar with the stuff. Your budget is, of course, a major factor. Don't get anything too cheap though. You'll just be throwing it away and spending more money down the road. I'd start with a couple of cans on either side of the stage and then add some back lighting and more front lighting as you can afford to do so. Stick with the flatpar cans as they take up much less room and are easier to transport in situations where you leave them pre-wired to each other. Do you have a store that has some lighting rigs up on display? You can usually at least get some idea of what you want and need by seeing it in action. Sorry if all of this is too vague and general and pretty much what you already planned on doing. I'm not going to get into recommending specific brands and models as I really only have experience with the bit of stuff I've used. Others here would be better and helping you compare brands, I think. There are a few relatively cheap controller options. I've been using DMXIS on a PC laptop with a midi foot controller to operate it at gigs because it's fairly easy to program and leaves me the option to scale up to having a light tech operate it via a tablet if and when we decide to take things to that level. But it also has a few things about it I don't like, although I'm not sure if other options would be better in that regard. But it certainly seems like a good option for the money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BillESC Posted December 8, 2014 Members Share Posted December 8, 2014 You might want to look at Blizzard Lighting's Weather System. It is an all in one package with 8 - LED heads mounted to a bar with tripod, foot controller and carry case. MAP on them is $ 599 http://www.blizzardlighting.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&layout=item&id=173&Itemid=152 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jcpatte2 Posted December 8, 2014 Author Members Share Posted December 8, 2014 Thanks for the thoughts. I guess I should be more specific as well. I'll list kinda what I have in mind for each segment below: Controller - I was planning on using DMXIS. We are using in-ears for click/tracks already and I'm busy fronting the band and pedal switching already so I'd prefer pre-programmed light show to me having another task on-stage. We don't have a sound man either so maybe Showbuddy with DMXIS is the ticket, unless somebody has a better recommendation. Front Lighting - I was thinking a pair of RGBAW Flat Pars per side, either mounted atop my speaker stacks or attached to some truss with custom printed scrim to hide the speaker stacks and ADVERTISE THE BAND! I'll look into the Blizzard HotBox, any others? Back Lighting / Stage Wash - what I don't want to get into, at least for now, is carrying around a full span of truss. The stages I play vary too much in size and shape (corners, etc) to get most out of a full span. This begs for either a pre-wired all-in-one system like the Weather System like Bill recommended or maybe 4 6-8' vertical truss (possibly T) stands along the backline. Though this won't allow for a printed back-drop. On the one hand, a packaged system would be easiest but I fear it would be wasted $ as the system grows. Thoughts? Movers/Scanners - I'd have to add Haze but would love to eventually have moving beams, strobe, etc to play with. It fits the music we're doing. This ain't our daddy's country and western. Thanks for y'all's thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jcpatte2 Posted December 8, 2014 Author Members Share Posted December 8, 2014 Off-Topic: how do you add paragraph spacing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted December 8, 2014 Members Share Posted December 8, 2014 Off-Topic: how do you add paragraph spacing? Are you using an iPad/iPhone? On my PC, the paragraph spacing works fine. On my iPad or iPhone, I have to manually enter the HTML code if I want paragraph spacings. Putting <br> <p> between the lines works. How many months should I (and others) have to keep reporting this before it gets attended to? At one point I was told it was just me, but others have mentioned it as well. And they wonder why this place is so slow..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted December 8, 2014 Members Share Posted December 8, 2014 I use a blank graphic to space and use [/img] tags. I think 2 weather strips on T-Bars might work out nice for the smaller stages. Put them side to side on a flat back, and then at 90 degrees when you are in a corner. HotBox's run $225ish I then (just using eBay as a guide) they are nice and small. When my band plays big stages we use 2 Fab5's per side. They are a bit older but it's what I have a lot of. If I pick up another pair of Hotbox's I would use 2 per side on a TBar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BillESC Posted December 9, 2014 Members Share Posted December 9, 2014 HotBoxes and Weather Systems would be a great start and offer a myriad of set up options and looks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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