Do you provide your own lights?

[unichord]

What is your approach to lighting? I came across this:

 

 

from this band:

 

http://www.sundogband.com/

 

Wow!

[srsfallriver]

Some very nice pics on that site. I'd bet they have a (pro?) lighting company that works with them. They definitely use smoke/fog with their lights. Check out the lighting forum for some ideas.

 

My band cannot afford a light (or sound) guy. I built and control all the effect lighting controls in my band. Its basically some basic foot-controled switches and some creativity mixed to make a light show - nothing too fancy but it works. (I descibe them in detail on a thread in the lighting forum if you're interested).

[unichord]

I now avoid the lighting forum - it's not really moderated, and most of the posts there degrade into infantile drivel.

 

If I want that kind of insight, there's a junior high school down the street....no need to buy a computer.

 

Too bad really - it could be a good source of information because there's no other place on the web that talks lights for bands (that I'm aware of). Some GREAT DJ sites - but nothing for bands.

 

I figured that at least here - most of the folks actually play onstage for money - and might have some intelligent thoughts on the subject.

[SeeU 22]

Which lighting forum isn't moderated?

 

Rimmer moderates the one here. The only problem I have with it is the traffic is pretty slow at times.

 

If you want to check out some cool lighting and production gear, visit this site;

 

www.rudeawakening.ws

 

These guys have more gear than most national acts.

 

You could also check ou the lighting forum over at;

 

www.prosoundweb.com

 

Neil

[unichord]

Neil - Great links - Thanks!

 

I know Rimmer moderates the forum - if he'd start banning some of the trolls, the forum might have some credibility. I got some of the major lighting vendors to visit once a few months back- the infantile posts that were tolerated made ME look like an fool to invite them.....I'll never do that again......

 

Anyway, Rude Awakening band is a totally pro presentation - it'd be tough to compete with them. They absolutely raised the bar for all bands on the same circuit.

 

Are you in that band - or are they friends?

 

Is there an upcharge for the "full" lighting system?

 

And - do they have someone extra to run it - or is it part of the soundman duties? I'm wondering how much it adds to the load in and out.....and how they justify it (financially)

 

In my market, my major competition are the DJ's. Sad to say, they are the preferred entertainment for most events....and most of them come home with $500+ in their pockets every night.

 

And - yes - they do take lighting and "presentation" VERY seriously.

 

By the way - how was the Chicago trip?

 

 

 

[SeeU 22]

I am not in that band, I stumbled across their website when I was looking for some lighting gear.I've actually been trying to get a hold of these guys to talk shop with them. I am about 500 miles north of them in Canada. I will ask them about up charges, etc.

 

There is no real secret to being a successful party band. All you need to do is play songs that chicks dig. That has been our philosophy all along and we got a chuckle when we read their website and noticed their motto is the same.

 

A professional presentation along with a solid catolgue of material will ensure that you are kept busy.

 

Our lighting rig is still in the building stages. I hope to roll it out for New Years. It will be something like this;

 

12 Martin RoboColors on rear truss

4 Martin 518 scanners on rear truss

6 Chauvet Omega 250c 3 on the ground facing up on each side of the drummer

2 Scanners(not yet purchased) on each side of the drummer

4 Par 56's on each side of the stage up front for lighting the performers

Elation Show Designer lighting desk.

 

My plan is to eventually run the show using midi and a laptop since we play all our material to a click track. That way the lighting could be synched up to the song and we wouldn't need to haul an extra person around.

 

For the smaller clubs we play we would bring in a small version of this rig.

 

DJ's are an issue here too, but if you can cover a wide range of material you can stay busy here. Some friends of mine disbanded a couple years ago after playing for 15 years. They played 50 weekends a year, but the could cover nearly any song.

[SeeU 22]

You have a real good memory, several thousand HC members and you remembered my post about Chicago.

 

The trip was great. We drove and I was second guessing that decision a couple days before we left, but it turned out great. Minnesota and Wisconsin are beautiful states, well worth driving through. Spent a night in Minneapolis. It has a real cool music scene.

 

What can say about Chicago, checked out all the cool spots, went to a Cubs game. It's a real interesting fun city.

 

Neil

[GZsound]

It's funny, but in my years of playing, I have never had anyone except out of work lighting guys tell me we need better lights.

 

We have the worlds most simple lighting system, easy to carry and easy to set up and tear down. Two controls, full off and down to blue for slow songs.

 

I built the two boxes and the controller for about eighty bucks and have used it for almost fifteen years.

 

Of course, we don't play big flashy stage shows, just clubs, festivals, concerts, etc. and the bigger gigs provide everything we need.

[SeeU 22]

Yeah I know you don't need a big fancy lighting show, but out here the venues supply nothing. We have to bring it all.

 

I think we are using our light show to distract people from our lack of talent.

 

Neil

[unichord]

Originally posted by SeeU 22 I think we are using our light show to distract people from our lack of talent. Neil

 

 

We do it to hide our age.

 

[RupertB]

A 5ft tall reading lamp & an old-fashioned traffic signal light.

 

We spare no expense to put on a show.

[ATOMICDOG1]

Originally posted by SeeU 22 Which lighting forum isn't moderated? Rimmer moderates the one here. The only problem I have with it is the traffic is pretty slow at times. If you want to check out some cool lighting and production gear, visit this site; www.rudeawakening.ws These guys have more gear than most national acts. You could also check ou the lighting forum over at; www.prosoundweb.com Neil

 

I know those guys, lol. They are really cool guys too. Garrett and Vance Run their own production company too. They put together lighting and sound systems. I was doing sound in Sturgis this year at a place called The Loud American Roadhouse and they were a couple of doors down at the Hard Rock (I think that was the name of it anyway) They had a great light and sound set up there. Although I felt sorry for their soundman, he had to set up behind the speakers instead of out in the house because they wouldn

t make room for a FOH mix position.

[ATOMICDOG1]

 

Originally posted by SeeU 22 I am not in that band, I stumbled across their website when I was looking for some lighting gear.I've actually been trying to get a hold of these guys to talk shop with them. I am about 500 miles north of them in Canada. I will ask them about up charges, etc. There is no real secret to being a successful party band. All you need to do is play songs that chicks dig. That has been our philosophy all along and we got a chuckle when we read their website and noticed their motto is the same. A professional presentation along with a solid catolgue of material will ensure that you are kept busy. Our lighting rig is still in the building stages. I hope to roll it out for New Years. It will be something like this; 12 Martin RoboColors on rear truss 4 Martin 518 scanners on rear truss 6 Chauvet Omega 250c 3 on the ground facing up on each side of the drummer 2 Scanners(not yet purchased) on each side of the drummer 4 Par 56's on each side of the stage up front for lighting the performers Elation Show Designer lighting desk. My plan is to eventually run the show using midi and a laptop since we play all our material to a click track. That way the lighting could be synched up to the song and we wouldn't need to haul an extra person around. For the smaller clubs we play we would bring in a small version of this rig. DJ's are an issue here too, but if you can cover a wide range of material you can stay busy here. Some friends of mine disbanded a couple years ago after playing for 15 years. They played 50 weekends a year, but the could cover nearly any song.

 

 

Rude Awakening has a production comany set up with dealerships for several brands of sound and light gear. Plus they are really cool guys. I'll see if I still have their contact info and IM it to you.

[unichord]

 

Originally posted by SeeU 22 My plan is to eventually run the show using midi and a laptop since we play all our material to a click track. That way the lighting could be synched up to the song and we wouldn't need to haul an extra person around..

 

 

That's quite a system for New Years !

 

Post some pics when you can - I'd like to see em. I like your use of different levels - I've been putting everything above 7ft. I'll have to try some lights on the ground this weekend.

 

What do you figure your power requirements to be for that system?

 

On the computer issue - I've been trying to figure that out for a couple of years now. Very confusing topic - nobody seems to really know how to do it - other than throw alot of money at the problem. Which may or may not solve the problem.

 

Leading contender right now is Martin's Light Jockey - but I hesitate to toss $1200 at it until I'm convinced that it'll work.

 

We do most of our composing in Sonar - I would love a way to sync a lighting display with the sonar output - via midi or whatever. It would literally eliminate the need for a lighting man - and give a much more consistant show.

 

The tradeoff is that every song would have to be tightly arranged to follow the track - with no variations. Kinda kills improvisation.

[wmxmbd]

originally, we'd just ask whoever was in charge to turn down the lights other than some blues and greens...

 

...now we've been taking matters into our own hands. nothing fancy, but i think it flows well with our sound.

 

[ATOMICDOG1]

Originally posted by unichord Neil - Great links - Thanks! I know Rimmer moderates the forum - if he'd start banning some of the trolls, the forum might have some credibility. I got some of the major lighting vendors to visit once a few months back- the infantile posts that were tolerated made ME look like an fool to invite them.....I'll never do that again...... Anyway, Rude Awakening band is a totally pro presentation - it'd be tough to compete with them. They absolutely raised the bar for all bands on the same circuit. Are you in that band - or are they friends? Is there an upcharge for the "full" lighting system? And - do they have someone extra to run it - or is it part of the soundman duties? I'm wondering how much it adds to the load in and out.....and how they justify it (financially) In my market, my major competition are the DJ's. Sad to say, they are the preferred entertainment for most events....and most of them come home with $500+ in their pockets every night. And - yes - they do take lighting and "presentation" VERY seriously. By the way - how was the Chicago trip?

 

 

Rude Awakening has a full time light guy and a soundman. Both are excellent guys and really nice too.

[SeeU 22]

 

Originally posted by unichord That's quite a system for New Years ! Post some pics when you can - I'd like to see em. I like your use of different levels - I've been putting everything above 7ft. I'll have to try some lights on the ground this weekend. What do you figure your power requirements to be for that system? On the computer issue - I've been trying to figure that out for a couple of years now. Very confusing topic - nobody seems to really know how to do it - other than throw alot of money at the problem. Which may or may not solve the problem. Leading contender right now is Martin's Light Jockey - but I hesitate to toss $1200 at it until I'm convinced that it'll work. We do most of our composing in Sonar - I would love a way to sync a lighting display with the sonar output - via midi or whatever. It would literally eliminate the need for a lighting man - and give a much more consistant show. The tradeoff is that every song would have to be tightly arranged to follow the track - with no variations. Kinda kills improvisation.

 

 

I've considered the option of running the lighting show with a software package such as Light Jockey or Show Express as well. This makes it complicated since we run a lot of sequences with our material, I think we will end up using a lap top running Sonar or Digital Performer for running our sequences. Along with the sequence we would run a midi track that will synch our Elation Show Designer to the sequence.

 

 

I am currently running Sonar on my PC, but DP is appealing because it gives you a lot of flexibility to change the song arrangement on the fly using a midi foot controller. For example, you could have to the intro to a song repeating until you hit the controller and then the main part( or what ever part you specify) kicks in.

 

Using tracks have their benefits and there drawbacks as well. For what we do they work great. We're not a jam band, we pound out dance music all night, and the tracks fill us out a little.

 

I'm not exactly sure what the power requirement will be yet, but we bring our own 50 amp/220 volt power distro so we should have more than enough juice.

 

I will try and post pics as soon as I get every thing up and running.

 

Neil

[unichord]

 

Originally posted by SeeU 22 I am currently running Sonar on my PC, but DP is appealing because it gives you a lot of flexibility to change the song arrangement on the fly using a midi foot controller. For example, you could have to the intro to a song repeating until you hit the controller and then the main part( or what ever part you specify) kicks in. Using tracks have their benefits and there drawbacks as well. For what we do they work great. We're not a jam band, we pound out dance music all night, and the tracks fill us out a little. Neil

 

 

Sounds like our goal is similar - DP sounds interesting. What are you using as a sound module? Are you required to use a PC for DP?

 

Right now, our sonar sequences are loaded into a Triton for live use.

 

Like you, we are party/dance orientated - there are many times we would like to stretch out a song - but are limited by the midi track.....It's ok if we go live at that point, but if the groove has lots of brass or percussion etc etc, something is lost in the transition.

 

Probably a topic for a new thread....

[unichord]

Originally posted by wmxmbd originally, we'd just ask whoever was in charge to turn down the lights other than some blues and greens... ...now we've been taking matters into our own hands. nothing fancy, but i think it flows well with our sound.

 

Cool pic. I like the mood that the green sets on your stage.

 

Are those bubbles?

[wmxmbd]

 

Originally posted by unichord Are those bubbles?

 

 

they're actually icicle lights.

[SeeU 22]

 

Originally posted by unichord Sounds like our goal is similar - DP sounds interesting. What are you using as a sound module? Are you required to use a PC for DP? Right now, our sonar sequences are loaded into a Triton for live use. Like you, we are party/dance orientated - there are many times we would like to stretch out a song - but are limited by the midi track.....It's ok if we go live at that point, but if the groove has lots of brass or percussion etc etc, something is lost in the transition. Probably a topic for a new thread....

 

 

Yeah your right this probably is a topic for a new thread, but.....

 

DP only runs on a Mac. To me this is a draw back. PC's are much cheaper and if properly speced they perform just as well or better. I going to be looking into the other major DAW software in the next few days. I will probably call customer support and talk to their techs and see if the software will do what I want.

 

The biggest problem I have with most software packages is the load times. The tracks whether audio or midi are easy enough to configure for live use. It would be a pain in the a$$ to have to load a new file for every song. I would like to be able to set up a play list and have the software automatically have the next sequence ready to roll. I don't think setting up the tracks to have certain sections loop would be hard either.

 

I keep you posted with what I find.

 

As far as sound modules are concerned I am using all soft synths. I have B4, FM 7, Reason 2.0, Edirol Orchestral Pack and the VST. I am happy with the quality of sounds I am getting.

 

If I were to run a laptop live I would probably bounce all my midi tracks down to audio and just playback a couple of audio tracks to reduce the load on the CPU minimizing the chance of a crash. Now that we are on in ear monitors, we could run our count ins through the monitors which would be cool.

 

Neil

[MDLMUSIC]

My lighting setup is basically a couple of spots I made from coffeecans and light bulbs with gels taped over the front, plus two cheap strobe lights, a moonflower (kind of a mirror ball effect), and one of those colorbanks with four different colored bulbs that blink on and off to sound. I've also got a cheap party-style fog machine.

 

Don't always bring all my stuff, depending on the size of the venue. When I do bring it all, it takes maybe 15 minutes to set up.

 

I control the whole thing with a footswitching system I bought for $45 over the internet.

 

I wouldn't want to do a gigantic venue, but for small clubs, it's perfect.

[Terry Allan Hall]

Originally posted by MDLMUSIC My lighting setup is basically a couple of spots I made from coffeecans and light bulbs with gels taped over the front, plus two cheap strobe lights, a moonflower (kind of a mirror ball effect), and one of those colorbanks with four different colored bulbs that blink on and off to sound. I've also got a cheap party-style fog machine. Don't always bring all my stuff, depending on the size of the venue. When I do bring it all, it takes maybe 15 minutes to set up. I control the whole thing with a footswitching system I bought for $45 over the internet. I wouldn't want to do a gigantic venue, but for small clubs, it's perfect.

 

Cool...been thinking about something along those lines!

 

Speaking of color organs (colorbanks, you called yours), Montgomery Wards, back in the early 70s, sold a combination color organ and speaker cab (I think it had a 15" in it) and I'm thinking about building a couple similar cabs as subs for my PA system...

 

Another item I've recently aquired is on over-head projector of the type schools use...a couple sheets of clear plastic and a little colored water = instant psychedelia!

 

Tell us a little about the switching system, if you would, please!

[MDLMUSIC]

The foot switching unit has six on-off pushbutton switches that are foot operated. There are 6 electrical outlets to plug into on the front of the unit. Each switch controls one outlet. Couldn't be simpler.

[srsfallriver]

I designed and built my own foot switch light control system. I'm up to four switches for crowd effect lights and one for stage lights.

The stage lights are left on for each entire set - usually as wall-washers. The crowd/effect lights are eight lights controlled by four switches (at this point - I add more controls and lights every few months). I detailed my control system on the lighting forum. Its cheap and easy for a small semi-professional band but may not suffice for something more serious.