Can You Get By In Small Clubs With Flood Lights?

[sydfan]

I think you can. Four of them in different colors should be enough to at least illuminate the band and splash some color on the stage. What if you put thwm in those clip-on type of aluminum sockets and clipped them on to the speaker stands. Would that just make things look worse than no lights at all?

[Zeromus-X]

You can get by -- just make sure you front-light the band instead of having all the lights behind. We used four 500W halogen floods pointed at a white backdrop the entire length of the stage behind the band, and while it was a really cool effect, we were essentially a bunch of shadows moving along to a colorful backdrop all night, and couldn't see {censored}.

 

It's typically a good idea, before doing anything on stage, to videotape the band doing it somewhere else.

[sydfan]

Originally posted by Zeromus-X You can get by -- just make sure you front-light the band instead of having all the lights behind. We used four 500W halogen floods pointed at a white backdrop the entire length of the stage behind the band, and while it was a really cool effect, we were essentially a bunch of shadows moving along to a colorful backdrop all night, and couldn't see {censored}. It's typically a good idea, before doing anything on stage, to videotape the band doing it somewhere else.

[Zeromus-X]

I was trying to dig up some pictures of us using the four halogen floods, just to give you an idea, but I can't find any. Ah well.

[Zeromus-X]

Here's one from the first incarnation of the idea, before I put the white sheets up behind the whole stage. Not the best picture in the world but you'll get the idea.

 

[B. Adams]

I use 2 regular tripod lighting stands each with 4 Par 38's on them, with 75W-120W halogen flood lamps in them. No dimming, no control, just a cord to plug them in with. Works fine, it's plenty for small clubs. I actually put more saturated gels in them because they were a little too bright. Well, that and more saturated colors look better. And since I can get them from the theatre for free, I have nothing to lose . I use lower wattage lamps for the lighter saturations, things like amber and orange, to help balance it a bit.

 

I've also used the same lamps in regular clamp-on lights, and they look a little cheesy, but if the audience is concentrating on the lights then you might have other things to worry about. I usually found that it worked better to clamp them on the speaker handles then to try to get them to stay on the side of the speaker stand.

 

And yeah, the people are there to see you, so if nothing else, at least make that happen. The only reason I carry lights is so people can see the band. And one band I work with uses sheet music, so they need light as well.

 

FWIW, I find that the colored lamps aren't as useful as using a regular lamp and a gel, because most colored floods are like 65W. You can get up to 150W regular floods. But if you're going to use clamp lights, you might be better off with colored lamps than trying to tape gels on them. That would make you look like even more a cheap bastard, I think.

 

If you're looking for cheap lights, you might check out cheaplights.com.

[sydfan]

Thanks guys!

[sirdaniel]

heres a cheap, good solution. Buy 1,2, 4, 10

These are only $25. That's the price of bulbs alone, and these chase to the beat.

[partycentral]

I'd stay away from halogen fixtures if at all possible. The lamps will last a long time, but they need really good care, and can't be moved while on, or until they cool down.

 

As for set-up, I'd suggest 8 par 38 or par 56 instead of 4 par 64. Set banks of 4 on each downstage corner using tripods. Colorbanks like the E-137 are ok, but they aren't aimable. Having individual pars would mean more aimability at different instruments.

[Never_Grew_Up]

Look at this:

http://www.music123.com/MBT-Weekender-i20558.music

 

They also have a PAR 46 version.

 

I've seen a version of this with a foot controller, but couldn't find the link.