Members bigjd Posted October 11, 2007 Members Share Posted October 11, 2007 So some of you guys tell me what you do at gigs for lighting?My band mates give me hell sometimes cuz I believe that as well as sounding good you need to bring a bit more to the table in terms of look at us over here in the corner playing our asses off.Is this wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members axepilot Posted October 11, 2007 Members Share Posted October 11, 2007 So some of you guys tell me what you do at gigs for lighting?My band mates give me hell sometimes cuz I believe that as well as sounding good you need to bring a bit more to the table in terms of look at us over here in the corner playing our asses off.Is this wrong? Not wrong at all. It's "polish". I'm going to push the lighting issue soon with my band. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bigjd Posted October 11, 2007 Author Members Share Posted October 11, 2007 Thanx man,it's nice to know that others fell the same way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RadiationNation Posted October 11, 2007 Members Share Posted October 11, 2007 Yeah, man, nothing wrong with a little theatrics. Give the people a show and whatnot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rich4Once Posted October 11, 2007 Members Share Posted October 11, 2007 My band's light rig is small, but it does the job. We have a DMX controller and 4 Chauvet 200B LED fixtures. All 4 lights will do every color, so we have a lot of versatility considering how small the rig is. I learned about them in the HC lighting forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Redsand187 Posted October 11, 2007 Members Share Posted October 11, 2007 A {censored}ty band with cool lights will hold my attention longer then just a {censored}ty band... Hopefully, goal is to be more then a {censored}ty band with lights though. I agree, it's about the show. People don't want to spend the money, take the time, and get up off of their asses to go see a band sit on stools and play a song. Especially now-a-days when they can download it and listen to it at their connivence. Just please to don't be super cheezy. I witnessed a band this weekend that was a little over the top in that regard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ggm1960 Posted October 11, 2007 Members Share Posted October 11, 2007 The only thing I really asked of our drummer was to purchase some stage lights. He found a "kit" (stand, cans & controller) that were quite adequate for around $100. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members goosonique Posted October 11, 2007 Members Share Posted October 11, 2007 Get a couple of those^ and put em on the stage floor preferably on each side of the drums facing the crowd for that cool blinding effect .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bassred Posted October 11, 2007 Members Share Posted October 11, 2007 My band's light rig is small, but it does the job. We have a DMX controller and 4 Chauvet 200B LED fixtures. All 4 lights will do every color, so we have a lot of versatility considering how small the rig is. I learned about them in the HC lighting forum. That's what I'd like to get for the future, but for now we've got 4 elipsoidals and put 1 blue and 1 red on each side and kinda point them at a player (4 pc band)... our homemade foot controller lets me choose reds, blues, both, or none..... (It's two light switches mounted in a box....) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members srsfallriver Posted October 11, 2007 Members Share Posted October 11, 2007 I wouldn't think of doing an evening gig without lights. We place several small PAR cans (4 - 6 depending on stage size) on the sides and front of the stage to light us up. These are on their own switch so we can shut them off between sets. We also have 6 effect lights (vertigo, strobes, moonflower - nothing too fancy) that are aimed at the crowd and above the dancefloor. I control these with several footswitches that I built. (I'm an electrician and found it cheaper for me to do it that way than purchase a similar controler.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gary in NJ Posted October 11, 2007 Members Share Posted October 11, 2007 My band's light rig is small, but it does the job. We have a DMX controller and 4 Chauvet 200B LED fixtures. All 4 lights will do every color, so we have a lot of versatility considering how small the rig is. I learned about them in the HC lighting forum. Rich, My band too is suffering from Lighting Envy. I've been looking at the 200B's and agree that they are nice fixtures. Which controller did you choose, and why? Are you happy with your choice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bigjd Posted October 11, 2007 Author Members Share Posted October 11, 2007 Well I've spent alot of time over on the lighting forum and learned a huge amount about LEDs DMX controllers and the goodies that make it better, scanners, spin and pukes, neat stuff. So I put some of that to work for our band,and its worth some of the headaches setting it up, cuz now were not making noise in the corner but bright noise ,NICE!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members newmaxnew Posted October 11, 2007 Members Share Posted October 11, 2007 We use 8 Par 56 cans and a controller that will sequence between scenes that I set up. It makes huge difference to have some lighting. It makes your band look more professional and exciting. Max Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mcsdude Posted October 11, 2007 Members Share Posted October 11, 2007 A live concert these days is damn near every bit as much of a visual show as it is an audio show. For most smaller bands there's no need to go all spinal tap and break out huge venue lighting but washing the stage in color, spots and maybe some other light effects are key and can certainly give you that edge over similar rival bands. I can't stand to see these local bands with $15,000 in pa, amps, etc. only to have some total crap $10 light tree that either blinks on random all night or never changes at all. Cool visual appeal can add so much to your show. Now one consideration is that most smaller bars and clubs don't have the power circuits to handle much lighting effects, especially the old school stuff as some of that stuff can suck some juice. Here's what we run... 4 LED 196's on the floor 4 LED 200b's on trees 2 q-spot 150's 4 white pin spots 1 chauvet vue III (we only use it about half the time) I just ordered 2 AmDJ pearl LED in white which I hope to mount on the trees with the 200b's. They are supposed to be in tomorrow so I hope to get them programmed into the board and try them tomorrow night. It's about $3k or so worth of gear but I've purchased it piece by piece as I could spare the change and people really dig it. All but the Qpots are LED so the power consumption is next to nothing and can be plugged into any circuit without any worry. It does require a light person to run it but it's pretty fun to do and so far we've not had any trouble finding good people to help us out for nominal costs. To really get the most out of it you need either some fog or at least some haze. I have a haze machine but so many bars cringe at our using it that I have all but stopped breaking it out and just hope there's lot of smokers in the bar that night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guitar Centaur Posted October 11, 2007 Members Share Posted October 11, 2007 Allow me to take this opportunity to spam y'all: http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/mld/msg/446158997.html Thank you for your interest.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators MrKnobs Posted October 11, 2007 Moderators Share Posted October 11, 2007 I have an elaborate light system but I almost never gig it anymore. For starters, most clubs/venues in Austin already have lights and PA. However, with lights you have to always ask yourself this question: "How many additional tickets will one more Par64 can sell?" Meaning there is a point of diminishing returns. If you play in the dark that's not good, but at some point you're only kidding yourself that business is being improved by adding more lighting gear. Terry D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mcsdude Posted October 11, 2007 Members Share Posted October 11, 2007 Meaning there is a point of diminishing returns. If you play in the dark that's not good, but at some point you're only kidding yourself that business is being improved by adding more lighting gear. I don't think all of us are that greedy or cynical about our performances. I think many of us just want to - and enjoy putting on exciting and memorable performances. Hell we're one of the higher paid bands in the area and even at those rates my guitar alone is a losing investment. But I get to worry about the P&Ls at my day job - not with the band. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 12Pack Posted October 11, 2007 Members Share Posted October 11, 2007 Rich, My band too is suffering from Lighting Envy. I've been looking at the 200B's and agree that they are nice fixtures. Which controller did you choose, and why? Are you happy with your choice? Woa....Gary - I thought I was taking care of the lights..........? Maybe I could buy some if you decide to cash the gig checks and pay us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dravenzouk Posted October 11, 2007 Members Share Posted October 11, 2007 Yes lights. Yes, yes, yes. The music comes first, of course. But beyond that, why not go for as much "value added" extras as you can? Put on a show, entertain folks, have a friggin' party! Anything that you can add to your performance to make it more special, and to stand out from the crowd, is good in my book. Stage presence, interaction with the audience, humor, atmosphere...all of it. And lights are a great and fun way to add to your show. My own rig is reasonably extensive, at least for the venues that we mostly play, but it's still fairly basic, inexpensive, and user-friendly when compared to the big-boy setups. I built it up over time, bit by bit. Started with the basics and just kept adding to it whenever time & money allowed. It's grown now to a pretty versatile system that definately leaves an impression on people. And I still add things and change things here and there, just like we add and change song material to keep things fresh. Unless you play at places that have really good lighting rigs, don't keep yourself at the mercy of whatever happens to be hanging from the ceiling. Build your own rig and have some fun. Start small. A couple of trees with 8-12 Par38's, 2-4 relay packs, and a basic DMX board will get you going just fine. Have a good supply/selection of gels and you can do a lot. Then, as things go along, add to it here and there. A few more Par cans. A couple of color changers. Haze/fog (go easy on the fog). How about adding a "backline"? - makes a big difference. Now start looking into some RGB mixing LED fixtures. A couple of strobes. Maybe a couple of scanners? Just take it slow, add to it at a pace that works with your own comfort leve and budget. The things I would avoid: - So called "audio triggered" chases. These almost never work well. They usually just end up being quickly flashing lights that have no real coherence or mood, and they rarely even seem like they "change with the beat". Better than nothing I suppose, but steer away from this when/if you can. Don't avoid a fixture just because it has this feature, but instead just ignore that feature for the most part and use DMX to have more control. - The class of DJ type lights commonly referred to as "spin and puke"s. They are usually not DMX controllable and generally work on "audio trigger" or just on/off. They are usually in essence a one-effect look that gets tiresome very quickly. If you use them for more than one or two songs in a set, it looks cheesy (kinda like a DJ!). - Par56 or Par64 cans, if you are playing mostly smaller clubs or bars. Way more ooomph than you need for smaller stages (less than say 20'x30'). Add to that the cost, amp draw, size, and heat output, and they just aren't that practical. When you consider cost/benefit factors, Par38's make much more sense for many bands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ChordGirl Posted October 11, 2007 Members Share Posted October 11, 2007 I'm trying to get my band to hire trained monkeys to jump around onstage with colored flashlights and glowsticks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 12Pack Posted October 11, 2007 Members Share Posted October 11, 2007 I'm trying to get my band to hire trained monkeys to jump around onstage with colored flashlights and glowsticks. LMAO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members THX1138 Posted October 11, 2007 Members Share Posted October 11, 2007 We use 8 par cans, 4 per side on most gigs. We'd love to get all nuts with the light show, but it just isn't worth the effort in most cases. We do blow it out on special occasion type gigs though. For example, our last cd release... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mcsdude Posted October 11, 2007 Members Share Posted October 11, 2007 that's a great looking stage THX. You all look like a real rock band up there. Nice size stage too. Most of our stages are half that size! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rich4Once Posted October 11, 2007 Members Share Posted October 11, 2007 Rich,My band too is suffering from Lighting Envy. I've been looking at the 200B's and agree that they are nice fixtures. Which controller did you choose, and why? Are you happy with your choice? We got the Chauvet DMX 55 controller. It's fine...easy to use and program, and we're not using anywhere near its full capabilities. It was recommended by Bill Cronheim from the lighting forum. It gives us a lot of room to grow, which was the main point. It has the ability to control a strobe, a fogger, and there's a thumb control similar to the ones for PS2, for using moving fixtures. It retails in the $200 neighborhood, and I figure that's pretty cheap considering all it can do. We'll probably never have to upgrade, so the $200 is great over the long haul. I have the controller set up on my side of the stage, and I just reach over and move a fader now and then. I set it to change scenes automatically, and with the fader I'm able to control the speed of those changes. I occasionally change banks, which gives a new selection of scenes. With minimal effort I'm able to put on a light show while I'm playing. It's not much of a show, to be honest...with only 4 200B fixtures, the primary goal is to illuminate the band. The upside is that I have 4 lights that will do all colors, and barely use any electricity. In fact, their power draw is so low that I'm able to plug them into the same power strip I use for my guitar rig. Try doing that with pars and dimmers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pestered1 Posted October 11, 2007 Members Share Posted October 11, 2007 We use 8 par cans, 4 per side on most gigs. We'd love to get all nuts with the light show, but it just isn't worth the effort in most cases. We do blow it out on special occasion type gigs though. For example, our last cd release... dude, thats kickass. your music is kickass as well. real tight and great guitar sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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