New light rig advice for a newbie

[ekkomouse]

Hello,

I am new to the forum and lighting in general.

I am in a 2 piece band and we are planning on getting lighting for our stage show. We use ableton live and were going to setup DMXis to automate our light show. I was hoping for advice on our selection of lights to see if the lights we are looking at would do the job we want or if there were something different to consider.

We generally play small stages in bars that are around 10x10, it is rock type music. The lights I was considering were:

2 - Chauvet colorpalette for placement on our each side to wash us
1 - Chauvet colorrail for wash either in front or behind
1 or 2 StageApe Kodiac Strobes
2 StageApe Whirl moving heads

Our budget is about $1500 for everything, we are trying to have a colorful show with versatility and mobility. Any help is appreciated!

 

[AhClem]

If you haven't already purchased your DMXis, take a look at our BlueLite X1-Mini DMX controllers. (Full disclosure - I'm the manufacturer)
It offers you the a DMX Input so you can (optionally) use any DMX console as an external controller, as well as the ability to use MIDI sources for control of your lighting cues. It can control all of the fixtures you've mentioned as well as any other DMX controllable equipment you may aquire in the future.

PM or e-mail me and I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have.

 

[MadMILKY123]

Good evening,

As a DJ of 5 years and UK sales manager of Lancelyn Theatre Supplies for 4 of them I understand what its like to be gigging the bars and clubs. The laset thing you want is a large set up and pack down. As soon as your gig is over you just want to be packed down and gone. First off, leave the strobes, you will (and should) hardly ever use them. They are a waste of money if your other equipment can create strobe effects. If you have two 45 minute sets theres no point buying strobe lights for them to sit the for 80 minutes of the night. Being from the UK StageApe is not a brand I am familiar with, after a quick google search I can see that it is clearly generic, imported lighting. The equivalent to the UK's electrovision or soundlab!

My company is a supplier of Chauvet equipment, the colour pallet is VERY VERY VERY weak! The images look great and when you see one in person it is very disappointing! I would not recommend these units! Again, the colorrail and the palette both have very small low wattage LED's in place.

If it is of interest I would be able to supply a quote for colour wash's to light you and your band partner on stage, these would be high output LED's 3watts or more! Also, small moving heads and light battens to light you from the front or back of stage are not a problem.

I think I would easily be able to offer you a deal well within your budget. I understand that you are in america but I hope that we could help you out.

I will be in the office from 9am GMT so please feel free to email me at: [email protected] and I will do my best to supply this lighting with delivery under $1500

Cheers, Danny.

 

[JD]

Funny think about LEDs. Sometimes, Less is More. Many of the early fixtures were covered in many, many small plastic LEDs soldered to a board. Avoid these like the plague! Higher power LED elements are usually mounted directly to some form of heat-sink. There may be only 5 or 7 elements and they usually look like clear plastic when they are off, but they kick! Watch out for the "save a dime / spend a buck" mentality. Better to go over-budget a bit then find out you wasted the $1500.

 

[Esoteric]

Hello,

I am new to the forum and lighting in general.

I am in a 2 piece band and we are planning on getting lighting for our stage show. We use ableton live and were going to setup DMXis to automate our light show. I was hoping for advice on our selection of lights to see if the lights we are looking at would do the job we want or if there were something different to consider.

We generally play small stages in bars that are around 10x10, it is rock type music. The lights I was considering were:

2 - Chauvet colorpalette for placement on our each side to wash us
1 - Chauvet colorrail for wash either in front or behind
1 or 2 StageApe Kodiac Strobes
2 StageApe Whirl moving heads

Our budget is about $1500 for everything, we are trying to have a colorful show with versatility and mobility. Any help is appreciated!

I would look a fewer larger more powerful units. I would also look at units with 4in1 LEDs as you could use the white LED's as strobes and not have to buy custom units (yes I know they wont look exactly the same, but it would be a better use of money in my personal opinion).

We sell the Stage Ape light (under our personal brand) and from experience, I can tell you BUY THEM THROUGH A GOOD DEALER! That unit is the largest percentage of DOA units of anything we sell (10%-15% compared to 1%-2% for every other light) and you don't want to have to deal with a bad dealer (or Heaven forbid straight from China) when you order two units and one of them doesn't work. We weed out all the DOA units and cover the rest with warranty. If you are going to buy gear like that, it is CRITICAL you buy from a good dealer.

Myself I would use 2-4 of the pixelated strips behind you for eye candy, a couple of the Spark7's (our name for the Whirl), and one good RGBW PAR in front of you with some good diffusion in it.

Mike

 

[MadMILKY123]

Hello,

I am new to the forum and lighting in general.

I am in a 2 piece band and we are planning on getting lighting for our stage show. We use ableton live and were going to setup DMXis to automate our light show. I was hoping for advice on our selection of lights to see if the lights we are looking at would do the job we want or if there were something different to consider.

We generally play small stages in bars that are around 10x10, it is rock type music. The lights I was considering were:

2 - Chauvet colorpalette for placement on our each side to wash us
1 - Chauvet colorrail for wash either in front or behind
1 or 2 StageApe Kodiac Strobes
2 StageApe Whirl moving heads

Our budget is about $1500 for everything, we are trying to have a colorful show with versatility and mobility. Any help is appreciated!

If you would like a quote email me [email protected] =]

 

[DaveB]

The Colorpalette and Colorrail are old technology, you'll get much better results with high powered TriLED or RGBA/RGBW fixtures.

I recently lit a solo musician on a small stage using just 4 ADJ Mega TriPARs (5x3W RGB LEDs) - one mounted to each PA cabinet for front light, and two on a t-bar stand behind the act for back light and some light on the dance floor. This tiny rig took a few minutes to set up & pull down, and packed into a small kit bag. While this may seem like a ridiculously small amount of light to some professionals here, the results were surprisingly good - both the customer and the audience were delighted. The point is, buy modern technology LED and you don't necessarily need a lot of units.

Definitely go for RGBA units if you can, as amber LEDs will help you to cast a nice warm front light. (RGB-only units often cast an unflattering, cold looking light)

Think carefully before blowing half your budget on a couple of movers - if you play gigs where the venue doesn't allow the use of smoke or haze, you lose the cool beams in the air and your movers become tiny expensive projectors. You can put on a great show using only LED washes and spots, you just need to be clever with your programming.

 

[sk8rsdad]

If you would like a quote email me [email protected] =]

Not to put too fine a point on it, but the OP is from St. Louis and you appear to be from Liverpool. Surely he has somebody a little closer to home that he can do business with. Does every post have to be a sales pitch?

 

[MadMILKY123]

Not to put too fine a point on it, but the OP is from St. Louis and you appear to be from Liverpool. Surely he has somebody a little closer to home that he can do business with. Does every post have to be a sales pitch?

It doesn't know, but as a sales rep for my company, DJ and pub singer I feel I would be best suited to finding the correct equipment, seeing as I use it myself. Shipping for overseas delivery is no problem and with our thread holder being a self confessed 'Newbie' I hoped I could be some use.

 

[BillESC]

I was under the impression that the TOS forbids direct solicitation of sales.

 

[techieman33]

I was under the impression that the TOS forbids direct solicitation of sales.

Looks that way to me.

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