I've spent $1000; what should I get next?

[Phantasm]

Okay, I play in a 5-piece 90s coverband and we've been wanting lights. Smaller clubs, 350 people or so max.

 

After reading the lighting guide, I bought:

 

2 - Chauvet 4-Bar

1 - Elation DMX Controller 192

 

I love the 4-bars... small, light, have cases, no extra wires hanging around. They work great with the controller. They also have no heat!

 

My questions now are:

 

1) Should I be using the 4-Bars i have for front light or should they be behind us?

 

2) What should I get next... two more sets of 4-Bars or is there a more strategic choice?

 

Let's say I've got $1000-$1500 more to spend. Don't count cables or small consumables.

[bigjd]

You've got a great budget to get going with.

It's up to you. Look around youtoob and other places,get some ideas on how you want it to look,and ask questions.

Your controller and the 4 bars are a good start.

I would always suggest lighting the performers first,with some small standard pars up front.

I like a good hazer. It will make any of the effects and color washes you do stand out and create better moods.

 

Scanners are always nice on the back line,lots of movement.

Theres a ton you can do, what do you want to do?

[Phantasm]

I was going to stay away from lasers and moving lights simply because it seems like they have to be aimed for every venue. it seemed like more trouble for now.

 

A hazer is a fog machine, right? What's the right size to get for one?

 

When you say standard par cans... should I go with two trees of par38's with yellow gels then move the 4-bars to the back?

 

All of this will be managed by my wife who runs sound. She's getting good with programming the controller, actually.

 

My other concern is not to get too extravagant/heavy with the gear. We already spend 45-60 minutes taking down PA after 2am, so we are trying to keep it reasonable.

[bigjd]

 

I was going to stay away from lasers and moving lights simply because it seems like they have to be aimed for every venue. it seemed like more trouble for now. A hazer is a fog machine, right? What's the right size to get for one? When you say standard par cans... should I go with two trees of par38's with yellow gels then move the 4-bars to the back? All of this will be managed by my wife who runs sound. She's getting good with programming the controller, actually. My other concern is not to get too extravagant/heavy with the gear. We already spend 45-60 minutes taking down PA after 2am, so we are trying to keep it reasonable.

 

 

I hear ya 2am load outs are killer sometimes.

Hazer is a fog machine,yes. Theres alot of them out there,I've had pretty good experiences with a chauvet HZ-1000.

Yes I would do something like that, moving the 4-bars to the back.I really don't know how much the stands that come with those can handle,as far as hanging something like a american dj fusion off of them or a scanner.

just a single par 38 with a amber gel on each side up front aimed at the performers is usually all you need. Then you can use the other stuff to make it interesting.

[BillESC]

Agreed, get two or four Par 38 cans and load them with 75w halogen flood lamps and gel them in an amber. These can be mounted to your PA stacks and simply be left on. Move the 4Bars to the rear.

 

Real hazers are not fog machines and many so called hazers on the market are just fog machines with dispersion fans installed. Unfortunately, real hazers start around a grand.

[1960LesPaul]

So I was wanting to get a small lightshow. 2 4bars with controller and a couple par 38's is all I need? Maybe 2 small pin lights to fire up into the drums? One per side. Would that be a pretty good start? It seems before when I looked into the 4bars deals the controller came with one 4bar. Does anyone offer a package of two 4bars and a controller?

[BillESC]

Chauvet only sells the 4Bar as a kit. However, you can purchase two kits and link them together for use off of only controller.

[bigjd]

I've been digging these since they came out.I think they would be a easy to set up quick light show.

 

[Remedy]

Phantasm, Im in a similar position to you so I'll give you my thoughts and ideas.

 

Im in a duo and Ive also got 2 4bars for backlighting. I like them 2, work well and are convenient.

 

First step as the others said is to

 

get two or four Par 38 cans and load them with 75w halogen flood lamps and gel them in an amber. These can be mounted to your PA stacks and simply be left on. Move the 4Bars to the rear.

 

 

My experience here is, I started with 80watt floodlights, they were too hot and bright, Ive moved to little clip on lamps with 8watt energy saver bulbs with amber gels duct taped on. Less hot and have the right amount of light to light our faces (we're a duo, prob playing smaller stages than you and our foh is only 1 metre away from us) Prob do what Bill said, I would start with 2 lights.

 

With moving lights you need a Hazer or its a waste of time. You said you wanted to stay away from moving lights for convenience, which I think isnt a bad call. U may wanna add some later, not sure... (lightings addictive)But if you do you will NEED a hazer. (i'll comment my experience later)

 

So-- say you have 2 4bars at the back and par 38s (with wide beam bulbs)s on you foh for frontlighting, your not getting a hazer or moving lights. Next thing is to get sidelighting. I think you might be spot on with 2 more 4 bars, one on each side. Depending on how much room you've got onstage...

 

If room is a factor, another option may be, 2 panel or strip leds(eg chauvet colorpallette or colourstrip) just sitting on the ground washing the stage from the sides or even uplighting sidewalls??

 

FX lighting- If you DO want to get a hazer and fx, have a look at the new Chauvet 4play, its made to work with the 4bars here

 

 

My experience is Ive got 2 Martin scx500 scanners(supposed to be good bang for the buck) hanging them off each 4bar , yeah they look good in haze but like you said csometimes they feel like a hassle, dunno its a tough call

 

Another light that looks GREAT in haze is the ADJ Pearl white.

 

I think if you got a hazer , I would look at either getting 2 4plays and connect to your 4bars and done, simple. It may be enough ??

 

or

 

I would look at hanging 2 scanners or moving lights off your 4bars(hanging brackets) and get 2 ADJ Pearl whites and connect them to just above the legs of the 4bars. Get your wife to muck around with them. may look really good

 

These are just my opinions on my exp. and research of a relatively simple setup to work with your 4bars. Im no expert.

 

Hazers, I did a lot of research here and there is a hazer called th HZ100, its the same hazer put out by a few different companies. MBT hz 100, antari hz 100 and a few others. It seems to be the cheapest with acceptable results from users. Bill would know better than me if this is a real hazer or not.

 

My expereience here is, I bought the antari hz 100 I think it works pretty well, way less smokey look than a fog machine and doesnt smell like fog either. U can still see some smoke but with the right amount it looks like no smoke but the beams of light look great.

 

Haze and fx lights really do look good. Its a tough call when waying up convenience vs looking awesome. I will say though having your wife to control them is a BIG advantage. It would prob sway me to get a hazer and some fx.

 

I think thats long enough, lol. Hope it helped. Good luck

[Remedy]

 

So I was wanting to get a small lightshow. 2 4bars with controller and a couple par 38's is all I need? Maybe 2 small pin lights to fire up into the drums? One per side. Would that be a pretty good start? It seems before when I looked into the 4bars deals the controller came with one 4bar. Does anyone offer a package of two 4bars and a controller?

 

 

I think your spot on with ur thoughts on a small lightshow.

 

There is a foot controller that comes with the 4bar, but its only good for sound active(drums may be too loud and have too many flashy changes), static colours, colour change, colour fade and blackout

[Phantasm]

Wow, lots of great info here! Thanks guys. I'm looking up a lot of the pieces you mentioned. Remedy and all the others, thank you for taking the time to type up all that information!

 

We played the first time last night with the 4-bars, and we put one on each side of the stage, up high, aiming the lamps at the bodies of each man on stage. There were a few chases i set up with solid colors, and it made a WORLD of difference. People can see us, I can see what I'm doing, and it just looked like an actual premeditated and thought out band that's been together for a while!

 

It was also VERY easy to set up the 4-bars... only two power cords, the fixtures were all one piece, etc. It's VERY tempting to order two more sets for the back and have a very portable, light and easy to set up lighting show.

 

I'm glad you all have comments on good hazers to buy... it sounds like that's next. Then I'll look at something moving or an accent light that will stand out in the fog.

 

Our singer is really interested in lasers but it seems like a lot of $ and a lot of effort. That money can be spent on better things most likely.

[bigjd]

Lasers are cool but ya gotta be careful with them.

Thats something you might do later on down the line,but getting a good solid front and back line that is easy for you to deal with and provides the looks that you want is always the best to focus on first.

You can always add eyecandy later.

[Zeromus-X]

A 350 capacity club is not a small place. I cannot imagine lighting a stage the size of which would be required for a 350 capacity club using two 4-bars. You wouldn't be able to see the band.

 

350 capacity would imply about what, 9,000 square feet or so? That's a room about 200' x 45'... so I'm guessing about a 25' x 20' x 2' stage?

 

Not to mention the fact that if you're playing to 350 people at an average of five bucks a head for the band, that's $1,750 per night. When one night's pay can cover the entire lighting system, it might be time to reconsider budget.

[1960LesPaul]

Well what about doing away with the foot controller and running 3 or 4 4bars with a nore traditional board?

[Phantasm]

 

A 350 capacity club is not a small place. I cannot imagine lighting a stage the size of which would be required for a 350 capacity club using two 4-bars. You wouldn't be able to see the band. 350 capacity would imply about what, 9,000 square feet or so? That's a room about 200' x 45'... so I'm guessing about a 25' x 20' x 2' stage? Not to mention the fact that if you're playing to 350 people at an average of five bucks a head for the band, that's $1,750 per night. When one night's pay can cover the entire lighting system, it might be time to reconsider budget.

 

 

The club last night could have held 350 people... if they had chosen to come out. The two 4-bars lit us on stage, but agreed there was not much of a "show" with the lights.

 

For the most part I don't want to get TOO crazy; the shows in larger venues, we're not established enough yet to book them really. And in most cases when we get to that level, the club already has installed lights/sound. This is more for the $600-$1200 gigs where we're already hauling PA, mostly to light the stage and give the audience something pretty to look at.

[Remedy]

 

Well what about doing away with the foot controller and running 3 or 4 4bars with a nore traditional board?

 

 

that might be the go.

 

I have no experience with a light controller.

 

 

I am running my 4bars on sound active and works fine for me (acoustic duo) but others have reported drums being too loud for them..

 

 

 

You may be able to run all the 4bars sound active linked together in master slave first. if you dont like it, buy a small controller then.. ???

[TrickyBoy]

These might be a nice easy addition to your current setup:

 

[YOUTUBE]KfW-oJhlYHs[/YOUTUBE]

 

For me though, it all comes down to how you are going to control it. We've got a buddy that works the lights for us and it makes all the difference in the world. If you are just going to set them up sound active, I'd keep it simple, maybe add a couple of these 4Plays and call it a day.

 

The one other thing you need is a few cheap PAR cans for front lighting. Then use the 2 4Bars for back lighting.

 

BTW - I see you play in the NOLA area a lot. You ever get up to Baton Rouge???

[Phantasm]

 

BTW - I see you play in the NOLA area a lot. You ever get up to Baton Rouge???

 

 

We've been doing well in NOLA and the Houma area, and we're trying to book shows in Baton Rouge now. We've been moving that way over the course of this month playing some shows in Laplace, Gramercy and Hammond. The key is to find the right places to play with a 80s/90s cover band in Baton Rouge right now that we can book with, we've sent some press kits out to a few places and are just waiting for someone to say yes.

[TrickyBoy]

 

We've been doing well in NOLA and the Houma area, and we're trying to book shows in Baton Rouge now. We've been moving that way over the course of this month playing some shows in Laplace, Gramercy and Hammond. The key is to find the right places to play with a 80s/90s cover band in Baton Rouge right now that we can book with, we've sent some press kits out to a few places and are just waiting for someone to say yes.

 

 

Cool. PM me if you get something up here. I'll be sure to come out.

[Phantasm]

 

Cool. PM me if you get something up here. I'll be sure to come out.

 

 

Sounds good.

 

Does your band do any shows down in NOLA? What type of music do you play?

[TrickyBoy]

Sounds good. Does your band do any shows down in NOLA? What type of music do you play?

 

We haven't played down that way yet. We've only been playing out for about 9 months, so we've stayed mostly local which is working out nice so far. Our singer is still in college, so we're really starting to get a foothold with that crowd. We have 8 or so gigs in the next 2 months, but I have our manager looking down in that direction, so I'll keep you posted.

 

I'd call us cheesy party music - Lot's of 80's stuff. We rearrange a lot of songs, put them into medley's, do mashups, etc. I do cheesy raps. Based on your website, we probably do some of the same tunes, though we do them with a different spin.

 

Pretty much it's music to get drunk and party to.

[djr]

Hey Daniel , It's Danny from DDE , I've been emersing myself in the lighting aspect of the show now kinda like you, A hazer/fogger is a MUST it makes ALL your lighting better . I have a fog mach if you ever want to try it out one night shoot me an email @ dannyreid1957@yahoo.com . Trick Boy in on to something B.R. is THE fertile ground for rock cover bands we played B&T's last sat and had 300+ there and played the Roux house a few weeks ago and had 400+. It would be great to do a double bill but that's just not $ friendly but how knows . anyway if you want to try the fogger let me know

[Phantasm]

Thanks Danny! It's awesome that y'all shows went that well in BR! I need to make it out to another one on a night we're off!

[Lopp]

Glad this thread got bumped. Your setup is exactly what we might consider. Small and simple and does the job for smaller venues. Especially because, like you said, the bigger venues usually have their own lights.

[Phantasm]

 

Glad this thread got bumped. Your setup is exactly what we might consider. Small and simple and does the job for smaller venues. Especially because, like you said, the bigger venues usually have their own lights.

 

 

Well, let me tell you the route we went since you're interested!

 

First, I bought four American DJ PAR 64B LED Pro cans. I put two on each side of the stage and I aim the spot at each of the four of us in front of the stage. To get them up high, I bought two of the tallest T-Bars that I've ever seen from Guitar Center. How did I decide on the ADJ 64B's? I went to GC and plugged in every LED PAR can and pointed them at a dark spot on the back wall, and that was hands down the brightest can.

 

Then, I took everyone's advice and bought a fog machine. Since a hazer was really expensive, I went with the Chauvet Hurricane 1800 Flex. It's DMX controllable and we used it this past weekend - it works great. The LED lights pop well now and we have great looking beams. It was very easy to get enough fog to look good yet not smoke out the club.

 

The 4Bars got moved to the back (where they really belong, to be honest) and I programmed some chases on the Elation DMX Operator Pro. I have the 4Bars as the 1 and 2 fixture and all four ADJ cans are fixture 3. This lets us manually control the front lights while scenes and chases are programmed for the 4Bars. I also have the Fog Machine on fader #8 of fixture 3 so the fog can be triggered during the show too.

 

The last addition was one Par38 can pointing up at the banner behind the drummer. Easy enough.

 

It didn't seem like a lot to add to put a fog machine and four LED cans to the show, but man it's made a huge difference. The fog machine made a bigger difference than I ever expected with getting the lights to stand out.

 

So what's next? Well, I'm thinking of some sort of beam effect like the 4Play add-on a few posts ealier. I'm also thinking about two Chauvet Intimidator LED fixtures to have some moving lights. I don't want to get too deep into that, and I swore I wouldn't do it, but I'm actually interested in giving it a shot.

 

I'd also like a few more of those ADJ cans to fill in the blank spots in the front, especially if I can get them for what I got the other four for.

 

And, I've got to figure out cases for these lights now. I see that there's a case out there where I can put the cans on the T bar and put the whole thing into a soft case... I think that's what I'm really going to want.

 

Anyone have any more suggestions? (now that HC has risen from the ashes - for now.)