Members anonpostguy Posted November 27, 2008 Members Share Posted November 27, 2008 I play cover music as a solo, duo, and 3 piece. Some of the smaller rooms I play have no lighting, leaving me pretty much in the dark. I would like to find between 4 and 6 small lights to illuminate the band in these small venues. Ideally, I would like to mount 2 or 3 lights aside on top of our speakers, facing down and towards us. Would a Par16 be suitable for this? On these small stages two of us would be about 3 feet away from the lights and the drummer would be about 8 feet away. Would we be in any danger of tripping circuits with 6 par16's? Are the bulbs easy to source? Is there any way to setup scenes for these and chase with a kick drum? Looking at it from another angle, would we be better off with 3 par38 LED lights? I have read that the LED's don't do a front wash very well. In the end, I want to keep my setup very simple. It's primarily to provide some basic lighting when we are playing these small venues and are left playing in the dark. Any input greatly appreciated. Anonpostguy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soundlight Posted November 27, 2008 Members Share Posted November 27, 2008 If you just want some face light, PAR16s with E27 screw bases would do you just fine - lamp 'em at 75 watts, and hook 'em up to a dimmer pack and a small dimming console (ADJ Scene Setter or similar), and you're good to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tarzanalog Posted November 27, 2008 Members Share Posted November 27, 2008 Remember when we used to sign our posts like that... me either. Par16s should work fine and in fact you can get LED bulbs for them that put out a surprising amount of light. A little harsher than an incandescent when directed directly at your face like you intend to use them for, but an option nonetheless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Darkstorm Posted December 5, 2008 Members Share Posted December 5, 2008 Concider led units. Theres inexpensive small ones with multiple color ability and good brightness for small rooms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DJS Biff Posted December 8, 2008 Members Share Posted December 8, 2008 Have you guys looked at p 38 led pro from ADJ? The MAP price just dropped on these again.. So it should be on your radar... BUT I would like someone else to comment on these for front washing... They have the double yoke for floor stands.. I really like these for uplighting and they are available in silver and black Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DJS Biff Posted December 8, 2008 Members Share Posted December 8, 2008 BTW the LED for the P16 might be the MR RGB E27 you can control them with a hand remote WR Led Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tarzanalog Posted December 8, 2008 Members Share Posted December 8, 2008 ...I am very familiar with this bulb... A few Q's then... Does the MR RGB E27 bulb have one color-changing 3W LED or 3(RGB)x1W LEDs? How does that RGB LED bulb putting out white light compare with the standard 50W halogen bulb? What's the effective range on the WR LED remote? Does the selected color stay selected when the bulb is powered off and then turned back on? What's the effective beam angle of these bulbs in a Par16 fixture? How wide is the spot at that 8' distance? How long is the AC cord on the ADJ P16A/B fixtures that you sell? Realizing that I'd be limited to one color if I used gels w/ a P16, how does the Warm White (WW) 5W LED bulb compare to the 50W Halogen if I'm gellin'? With the bracket angled directly behind the P16 fixture... like this...how long is it? (Will it fit inside my I-beam truss?, etc.) Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blsmn Posted December 9, 2008 Members Share Posted December 9, 2008 Only thing I don't really like about LED front wash is that they are very saturated colors - so if you don't mind your faces being very blue, red, green or other combo they are the way to go. Less juice, color mixing capabilities, way longer lamp life. I am looking at the RGBA or RGBW models though to be able to handle pastels and other combo's better, but they are expensive. If I were you I'd get 2 LED units a side plus 1 conventional par - that way you'd be able to put a saturated color down and around you and use the par to bring out better tones in your faces. I have combined them on a theatre stage and it works well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Spudro Posted December 9, 2008 Members Share Posted December 9, 2008 Have you guys looked at p 38 led pro from ADJ? The MAP price just dropped on these again.. So it should be on your radar... BUT I would like someone else to comment on these for front washing... They have the double yoke for floor stands.. I really like these for uplighting and they are available in silver and black Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blsmn Posted December 9, 2008 Members Share Posted December 9, 2008 They have a 20 degree beam angle, so without using a diffusion filter, the 38 LED Pro will be a little too "beamy" to use as a wash, especially if they will be fairly close to the stage. IMHO of course. Agreed totally - at 3 feet a 20 degree beam would be much more of a spot - and a really bright one at that. I find if I have the LED's actually nailing me in the eyes I get a headache and somewhat nauseas - might have something to do with the refresh rate of the LED's. Diffusion is a must and does help with the brightness some - and a wider beam angle should be considered. On another note, and not trying to steal this thread, I had mentioned earlier in another thread about getting flickering of the LED's when video taping. The instruments I purchased had claimed to be flicker free, but I couldn't stop the damn things from looking like a 70's disco on video. Strange thing about it was that when a particular color was at full there was no flickering - only percentages from about 90 and below would start the party. I happened to be talking with a friend of mine, and he suggested trying the variable shutter on my vid camera that was a feature to eliminate video flicker when shooting computer screens. Well, lo and behold, when I got the shutter down to 1/64.6 the party was raided and shut down. So if any one else has experienced this and has a variable shutter option, just thought I'd mention this little tidbit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DJS Biff Posted December 9, 2008 Members Share Posted December 9, 2008 They have a 20 degree beam angle, so without using a diffusion filter, the 38 LED Pro will be a little too "beamy" to use as a wash, especially if they will be fairly close to the stage. IMHO of course. Thanks that is what I was looking for... I will say they have a gel frame so diffusion is easy to do.. I have to rely on you guys to tell me how the new product we get in is accepted.. So 200bs are still your best front lighting right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DJS Biff Posted December 9, 2008 Members Share Posted December 9, 2008 A few Q's then... 1) Yes one led 2) I think fairly good comparison to a 50w halogen.. that is what I replaced in 6 of the fixtures. 3) I can't test the total distance but at least 15 feet.. but you have to have line of site to each fixture and you have to point it at each fixture to make the change. 4) YES it will stay at the last color selected BUT you have to wait about 5 seconds or so between power off and on.. If you "flick" them on and off it goes between color options.. 5) I don't have the specs in front of me.. but at about 10 feet it is washes an area with light about 10 feet wide with concentrated light at of about 5 foot wide... 6) the cord by memory is pretty short.. 2 or 3 feet maybe.. 7) Too much of an opinion question for me to answer. I did bring home the warm white for the house and felt it was too dim for my needs... I personally thought it was not bright enough... ESPECIALLY if you are planning on gelling. 8) I don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tarzanalog Posted December 9, 2008 Members Share Posted December 9, 2008 VERY helpful... thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vinny D Posted December 9, 2008 Members Share Posted December 9, 2008 I use (2) of these with my band: http://www.chauvetlighting.com/colorpalette.html Two of them wash the entire stage with whatever color you select on them, plus they only draw about 15w a piece.They are a bit pricey but if you shop on line for them you can find some great deals on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tarzanalog Posted December 9, 2008 Members Share Posted December 9, 2008 ...they only draw about 15w a piece... About the same brightness as the ColorStrip, right... but with less of a spread?!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vinny D Posted December 9, 2008 Members Share Posted December 9, 2008 About the same brightness as the ColorStrip, right... but with less of a spread?!? I don't have any experiance with the Colorstrip but from looking at the specs the spread is a bit more on the strip but the color pallete is a nice small fixture that you can mount to just about anything and cover a pretty good size area with ease. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soundlight Posted December 9, 2008 Members Share Posted December 9, 2008 Tip - many dealers that I talk to will give me the Colorpalette for $170/ea. But order from either a local dealer or someone that you can always contact in person - in big dealers like Centerstage and Northern Sound and Light, you often get written down as a number and no one will ever know who you are. I personally like the dealers who frequent this site (DJS Biff and BillESC). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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