Members camshiva Posted July 25, 2011 Members Share Posted July 25, 2011 Would LOVE any suggestions for practical "real world" light rigs that have worked for any solo artists out there. I've been going back and forth on building my small light rig to make sure I get the biggest bang for my buck... so, trying to cover as many bases as possible for as many venue situations I might experience. I had a mind-set I was going with but now rethinking it. Someone suggested I grab a couple ADJ Fusion Bars: multiple FX, light weight, etc. So I did grab the FX Bar 2 and DMXis to run from my lappy. The FX Bar 2 is nice:)... 48 LEDs of each color, 1 white moonflower and 1 color moonflower. So between the three FX I can get some good washes, strobes and circular movement from one side of the stage. I planned on getting the Fusion FX Bar Tri for the other side of the stage which would cover 45 more LED's of each color and 4 RGB Pinspots. My question is... for a solo epic/atmospheric, new age/world show with projections... could the $300+ be better spent? Single lights better? Am I missing something integral maybe? I kind of divided the lighting types like this... - RGB Washes: A MUST preferebly from both sides with dimming/flashing. - Pinspots: Pretty important i think?, in RGB a big plus. - FX lighting: Moonflowers and beam type FX, get a couple of these but something that is versatile and isnt easy to overuse (e.g. "1 trick dog" lights). - FX lighting (what I call "floor fx"): dont need these for stage, more DJ dance stuff. I've been going around and around on what to get with another $300-$400. The FX bar tri has more wash/pinspot but thats it. Would a combo of single lights to a better job? (i.e. 1 rgb pinspot, 1 panel/par wash, 1 effect). If anyone has any suggestions I'd LOVE to hear 'em! Looked @: The ADJ H20 but not dmx and new one to expensive, the old Tri Phase looked pretty cool if I can find one, Fusion fx bar 4 and 5 but a laser has more "floor" appeal and 1 trick dog so half those fixtures would be wasted. YES, I'm obsessing on this!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chaff67 Posted July 25, 2011 Members Share Posted July 25, 2011 It's just "you" that your lighting right?If that's the case I think the most important this is that you are well lit (washes or pinspot). You have some effects with the fusion bar. The only other thing I would maybe consider is smoke/haze to see the light beams and perhaps some small strobes around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members camshiva Posted July 26, 2011 Author Members Share Posted July 26, 2011 Hey Chaff Yeah, just little ol' me, and I got the smoke machine (will upgrade to a good hazer when I can afford it), but it sounds like I'm on the right track pretty much. I guess I'll stick with the initial plan of the Fusion FX Bar Tri for simplicities sake... its got some good chases right out of the box and I can program more of the slow/fade/pinspot stuff. I just didnt want to waste $300 if I could get that through single lights and more. No biggie, less crap to haul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bigjd Posted July 26, 2011 Members Share Posted July 26, 2011 Look at a Chauvet Mayhem instead of the AMDJ unit. As a single point effect light I like it better for the price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members camshiva Posted July 28, 2011 Author Members Share Posted July 28, 2011 Hey bigjd Always nice to hear from ya! I did look at the Mayhem at one point but honestly I worried about the overly pervasive horizontal coverage (something thats almost immediately a deal breaker on most lights I look at). Let me explain... because I'm a big gabber Because my show is a sit-down, ethno/fusion-ambient show (theaters, performing arts centers, etc) with the audience sitting down I very concerned about lights that have a very specific "path" of coverage, i.e. the same points of axis every time. What that means to me is a constant path of flashing over my equipment or WORSE a path of spectators that consistently get the same beam right in the eyes while others miss it all together throughout the entire show. On dance floors or concerts this is much less of a problem... for season ticket holders its BAD NEWS that usually gets back to the Buyer and my show goes the way of the Dodo for that venue AND possibly others in the same city.... DOH!. I know all the pro's are going to kill me for doing this but I did buy a horizontal truss for more placement options but also got a Chauvet 4-play:rolleyes: I know I'll add more in the future but the dmx controls of 4 MOVABLE lights & the ability to take off the lens to create washes... for $150!!!! I couldn't pass it up! OOOHH MUSES OF OLYMPUS... PLEASE FORGIVE ME! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members steveosplace Posted August 8, 2011 Members Share Posted August 8, 2011 This sounds really good! I'm curious about what you think of the 4play, would you get it if you didnt have the fog? I've been thinking of selling off my 2 4bars (getting bored of them, they work fine but not much excitement factor for a rock band) and getting some replacement backwash, like a couple colorrails and maybe a mayhem or 4play to add some excitement. Like you say the 4play can be used as a wash too, might be better than some dots on the ground . Good luck camshiva, you seem to know exactly what you want anyway. I dont really have anything to add Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members camshiva Posted September 3, 2011 Author Members Share Posted September 3, 2011 Sorry... been off the board for a bit. But for a good reason! I did a gig using ONLY my two fixtures so far on a small "guinea pig" audience. Aside from all the squeaking, water-bottle noise and tossing about of wood shavings.... THEY LOVED IT!!! The Chauvet 4play is great or small gigs and some eye candy. The ability to control each of the 4 heads separately via DMX and point them in different directions was VERY nice. What I did was point one head at the left side crowd, second at the right side crowd, third at center stage for moonflowering my hi-nrg guitar solos and the fourth I removed the lens (for the wash effect) and pointed it at my keyboard for my moody atmosphere pads. Via DMX these transitions hit right on cue in a sequencer (Sonar in my case). The other side of the stage held only an ADJ Fusion Bar 2 (RGB washes and two moonflowers). I have to say... the Fusion Bar is nice (and twice the price) but the moonflowers are stationary and point roughly to the same area. You can control the rotation speed, strobe, dimming and (counter)clockwise direction of each independently which adds A LOT of motion and versatility to one area not to mention the RGB LED wash/strobe/fading. But I found myself liking the 4PLay a lot, while less flexibility effect wise arguably, covered a lot more area. One drawback that I REALLY dont like... the ONE thing that bothers me about the 4Play. No dimming/fading. its 100% or 0%. Now at first that sounds awful. But there are 36 combinations in EACH head. Hard to explain without seeing it but basically something like this... dmx value in channel 1 (head 1) 10-15 White LEDs group 1 16-20 White LEDs group 2 21-25 White LEDs group 3 26-30 All white LEDs 31-35 White LEDs group 1/Blue LEDs group 1 ... 215-220 All Blue LEDs and ALL REDs 221-230 ALL red, white, blue and green etc, etc Thats for EACH head independently (nice!). Channel 6 accesses programs across all 4 heads while channel 5 is strobe speed of whatever is being used on 6. Sound active mode is pretty good especially for DJ/club but I like fine editing in a sequencer for my purposes. The different LED groups of the same color give it a "rotating" affect which makes some great motion. Picture a simpler Revo 4 circular motion and that will give you some idea. But like I said, smooth RGB fades is its Achilles heal. The "washes" I'm sure are not as strong as a 4Bar, these arent cans but they are surprisingly brights for small gigs. I'm a one-man-show so in combo with other washes or a good couple MegaPar or Puck would be MORE than enough. The moonflower effects are fairly foculized but multi-color and engaging. With fog even better but I couldnt use fog at my test show for fear of smoke-alarm. I wouldnt use as my ONLY wash but supplementary multicolor semi wash/spot its a HUGE bang for your buck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chaff67 Posted September 3, 2011 Members Share Posted September 3, 2011 Hey Camshiva! I'm glad to hear that the effects are all you wanted them to be, except for the dimming part. If you're able to, post a video. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members camshiva Posted September 14, 2011 Author Members Share Posted September 14, 2011 Sorry, I didnt grab a video of this test performance. When I perform my full set I will definitely video it and post some here for you guys. I'll probably add at least one or two more lights by then to really round-out my flexibility. I only used two stands laterally on either side of me for the test show but since I did get a back truss and two stands as well I thought why not take advantage of some good back lighting and then stick the two solo stands futher out front for front lighting. What I'm missing is probably some BIG RGB flooding and a couple spots... anyone use those $100 Chauvet DMX rotating heads? I'm thinking a couple of those on the back two trees and then a good LED bar right in back of me. Any good suggestions on a the best LED bar bang for your buck? (that sounded dirty for some reason) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members camshiva Posted September 14, 2011 Author Members Share Posted September 14, 2011 Sorry, I didnt grab a video of this test performance. When I perform my full set I will definitely video it and post some here for you guys. I'll probably add at least one or two more lights by then to really round-out my flexibility. I only used two stands laterally on either side of me for the test show but since I did get a back truss and two stands as well I thought why not take advantage of some good back lighting and then stick the two solo stands futher out front for front lighting. What I'm missing is probably some BIG RGB flooding and a couple spots... anyone use those $100 Chauvet DMX rotating heads? I'm thinking a couple of those on the back two trees and then a good LED bar right in back of me. Any good suggestions on a the best LED bar bang for your buck? (that sounded dirty for some reason) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chaff67 Posted September 14, 2011 Members Share Posted September 14, 2011 Chauvet Colorstrip or Colorrail. Colorstip is a little brighter, but Colorrail looks cooler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members charlie13 Posted October 10, 2011 Members Share Posted October 10, 2011 Hey guys, I scarffed up on a 4Bar from MF earlier this year for $299. It's really been perfect for me as a solo artist in a small initmate area. I got them for back lighting eye candy. I simply aim them down to contain the lighting on stage and point the two fixtures on opposite ends at a set angle. The slow fade between patterns is very useful as a "set and go" setup. Later on in the evening as dancers come alive I run the audio sync to pulsate with the groove. Slow songs I simplly run all blues and hold them there until the next tune. The only problem I have now is what fixtures to run for front wash as my gig will start in the dark here soon as time changes. Been looking real hard at some Par64 LED's but I wont hi-jack this thread to talk about 'em. I'll start another one specifically about front wash light ing the solo musician. Charlie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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