Too Light Up Or Not

[DJTREV 0]

Lots of threads and posts lately from guys wanting advise on lighting;including me;which prompted this thread.

Do you think that customers are bothered by lots of flashing,swirling lights or is it just the DJ who thinks that the more lights on his rig the better his presentation appears.It certainly seems to me that apart from the initial reaction the customer seems quite oblivious to the lights once the party gets going.

My own opinion,for what its worth,is that they are getting a little bit 'old hat' and certainly after seeing some of Dave's photo's I much prefer the uplighters/mood effect or even a constantly changing colour wash.

Flashing,swirling lights seem to work ok in a fairly big venue/nightclub but for your average party/village hall/wedding venue I am not so sure.

Going back to the photo's.The recent ones taken at the MoD venue and more recently, illustrate my point perfectly.The mood looked just right and there would be no need to have any other lights on.

 

[Wayne 74 0]

 

No, it is not the fact that we want lots of flashing lights, or I dont anyway.

 

What I want, is to get my setup, and equipment looking as neat and tidy as possible. And if that means looking for a new cxentrepiece, and wanting some advice, then I dont see a problem.

 

Cheers,

 

Wayne

[DJTREV 0]

No, it is not the fact that we want lots of flashing lights, or I dont anyway.

 

What I want, is to get my setup, and equipment looking as neat and tidy as possible. And if that means looking for a new cxentrepiece, and wanting some advice, then I dont see a problem.

 

Cheers,

 

Wayne

 

Steady Wayne.I am not having a pop at you.I am in exactly the same situation as you.

I have 5 lights on my rig and it looks nice and neat when it's all set up,but frankly,I find it a pain in the arris because its too heavy,too big and takes too much time and effort to set up for what I am beginning to think is a little bit of a waste of time.

The way I am thinking at the moment is to have something like a Kam ParBar which is relatively light and easy to transport and set up.

 

[MintyDave 0]

At least I suppose people want to see something for their money but what do they want to see. Like everything else what one client likes another will hate.

 

classic example - i went to a local gig last week and the guy had 6 martin moving heads. 4 were above the band and were used for effect in the haze and 2 were flooding the stag from the front. It looked awesome however the mrs chirped up, that looks naff.

 

i think its important to have some lighting on the dance floor and then go for the wow factor with uplighters or clusters on to ceilings.

 

if you look closely on my last pics you can see i have 2 invincibleds projecting upover on the ceiling. great effect and maybe a cluster would be better

 

my ultimate plan is to have 2 250w datamoons and 2 250w scanners as a standard overhead and go from there.

 

saying all that i used to have a residency in a small welfare centre where the main lighting installed were 4 300w par 56 cans on a sound to light - it worked and imo was brilliant

 

bigger gigs where smoke is allowed is a different story

 

Dave

[dj-ian 0]

hi i do partys where my clients want a bit of both so i like my rigg to be able to cope with both situations i now use dmx controller and have taken alot of time to program it so it can cope i hope with any function i do eg 21st birtday to a 60th birthday

 

cheers

dj-ian

[markyb 0]

Hi Trev,

 

Good question - this is something Ive been thinking about recently when I got back into mobile discos. I initially went a bit mad and bought a lot of second hand lighting, which I thought would look good, but set up on my rig looked too much so I sold it.

 

I sold that and now have a set up I am really happy with. It consists of:

 

2 x American DJ LED Par 64 uplighters (thanks to the forum for the recommendation).

2 x NJD Datamoons (to shine on the dancefloor).

1 x Acme Dynaroll centrepiece, for a bit of movement.

 

Not too much, but quite effective and looks neat and stylish.

 

Funilly enough I had an enquiry this morning, and the first thing I was asked is do you have a decent lighting rig - I was asked this even before they asked about music, so it is obviously important to some people.

 

Will post some pics after my next gig so you can see my set up.

 

Best regards, Mark

[Teez 0]

Trev,

 

I agree that 'less is more'. I don't always discuss lighting with clients but when I do, the term "nothing over the top" always comes into the equation.

 

It is definitely more in the mind of the DJ than of the audience. Some of the rigs I've seen on Youtube would be better suited at a dodgem ride in the fairground than at a party.

 

I also agree that good backlighting, spread around the room (my Punch's are superb for that) is a good base to have. Some moonflowers, the token laser and maybe one more effect and frankly anything else is then for the DJ's benefit, not the audience.

 

It's easy to forget how I was before I was DJ'ing but I remember that the lighting was 'background' stuff. All I was interested in was the music, the beer and the birds!!

 

:joe:

[DJTREV 0]

One of the reasons I ask the question is that at the last party I did,I just used 3 lights and because the room was too bright(bar lights) and no smoke allowed they were virtually useless, apart from the fact that I could tell from the body language of the guests that they didnt realise there where any lights,whereas a kam ParBar would have had a better and more obvious effect.

[gadget 0]

 

saying all that i used to have a residency in a small welfare centre where the main lighting installed were 4 300w par 56 cans on a sound to light - it worked and imo was brilliant

 

 

I love my 300w PAR floods.. provides brightness to dark rooms ... especially a large dark school hall. Ecen if you don't notice the light (how can you not?), you can notice a bit of the heat!)

 

Sound-to-light via DMX... makes it all nicely sequenced together... Or maybe thats a bit of OCD coming through ... ? :lol2:

 

Cheers,

 

David

Edited March 31, 2010 by gadget

[MintyDave 0]

hi i do partys where my clients want a bit of both so i like my rigg to be able to cope with both situations i now use dmx controller and have taken alot of time to program it so it can cope i hope with any function i do eg 21st birtday to a 60th birthday

 

cheers

dj-ian

 

If you get chance to post any pictures, please do so Ian

 

 

 

 

Will post some pics after my next gig so you can see my set up.

 

Best regards, Mark

 

Looking forward to seeing those pics Mark

 

 

I love my 300w PAR floods.. provides brightness to dark rooms ... especially a large dark school hall. Ecen if you don't notice the light (how can you not?), you can notice a bit of the heat!)

 

Sound-to-light via DMX... makes it all nicely sequenced together... Or maybe thats a bit of OCD coming through ... ? :lol2:

 

Cheers,

 

David

 

 

Better still - i was plasterboarding my extension on sunday and as the light diminished out came 4 par cans - nice and bright and nice and warm

 

winch t bar stands with a simple frame on top make good plasterboard lifts........ just in case you have the urge to plasterboard a ceiling

[blackmagic 0]

I've been working on my lighting rig for a while now, I find two of the best lights I have are ACME Magic Gobos and then with 2 iColor4s I can fill the room, and change the bulb to suit what power suplply I have. Nice neat and simple :-)

 

I'm looking at getting a usb dmx controller - can anyone advise how easy the software is to use etc. I have a few moving heads etc. I would like to control.

[Norfolk DJ 0]

 

I used to take about 10 different lights with me but now i'm down to just 4 or 5 good lights:

 

KAM 3D Cluster

2 x EVL spins

Constella pro twin

ImpossibLED

 

If it's an 18th, then out comes my Spectronic Broken Swing.

[DJMickeyk 0]

One of the most popular DJ's I know doesn't use lights, or any extras at all. However his mic skills and crowd interaction are first class and you are guaranteed a good night if you book him, and he can charge a premium for his service as people are happy to pay it. He has told me that lights and all those bells and whistles are unnecessary, he likes to bring a simple rig with a short set up time, and if people want fancy lights they are very welcome to rent them themselves, or book somebody else. I'm not sure I agree with this, I believe if a customer wants lights you should be able to provide them. Contrast this guy however, with a DJ who spends a fortune on all sorts of flashy gear but makes no profit. I know a one guy who spent over 1500 on two moving head lights, to add to his already superb sound & lighting rig, problem is he is not a great DJ, very poor song selection & mic skills IMO and is never busy. There are punters who will ask about lights sometimes, however this is not the norm IMO, and they would much prefer a DJ who will have the floor full with good tunes, and can be heard clearly over the mic and gets involved with the crowd. I believe this is the same for sound systems too, once the punters can hear the music clearly, I don't believe that they are at all concerned about how many watts your speakers are, whether you use subwoofers, or if you have the newest version of VDJ or whatever. I must admit I love my gadgets, and recently spent alot of money upgrading my gear, definately more than I needed to, however I can't deny that this was as much for my benefit as for the crowds, although I do have a good balance and am fairly busy so can justify the spend in one way. In summary I think lights can play an important part in the overall show, but are not nearly as important as we DJ's sometimes think, song selection, reading the crowd and your own personality are what will really make your show stand out.

[DJTREV 0]

 

Lots of stuff about lights and rig

 

 

I think this is a good post and I can see your point.

I have long felt this way,although I have to admit part of the reason is my age and I do find it a bit difficult humping stuff around,but that is why I have been going on lately about Kam ParBar.

I really do like the idea of an ever changing colour wash,ever since I worked with a band that used the Kam.

 

[DJMickeyk 0]

I think this is a good post and I can see your point.

I have long felt this way,although I have to admit part of the reason is my age and I do find it a bit difficult humping stuff around,but that is why I have been going on lately about Kam ParBar.

I really do like the idea of an ever changing colour wash,ever since I worked with a band that used the Kam.

I was also looking at the Par Bar, but heard the coverage and build quality is quite average, one of the guys on here recommended this instead

 

http://www.djanddiscostuff.com/prodpage.asp?prodid=3145

 

More troublesome to set up however, and this was the very reason I was looking at the Par Bar in the first place, the reason I like these so much is that I only have a car, as I have kids and can't get a van because of this. These are very portable when you consider the effect they give off, and I hope to purchase these soon. I am currently lugging a number of moonflowers etc around, and it has become something of a challenge to fit everything in the car. I am just about managing at the moment, but plan to simplify my set up as much as possible from now on.

[sweetie 0]

I was also looking at the Par Bar, but heard the coverage and build quality is quite average, one of the guys on here recommended this instead

 

http://www.djanddiscostuff.com/prodpage.asp?prodid=3145

 

More troublesome to set up however, and this was the very reason I was looking at the Par Bar in the first place, the reason I like these so much is that I only have a car, as I have kids and can't get a van because of this. These are very portable when you consider the effect they give off, and I hope to purchase these soon. I am currently lugging a number of moonflowers etc around, and it has become something of a challenge to fit everything in the car. I am just about managing at the moment, but plan to simplify my set up as much as possible from now on.

 

I have these and they are excellent. I can put them on a stand or just on the floor each side of the booth and work them sound to light. really nice lights