Band Concert Help

[believe2013]

I am a high school student and since I did some really cool things for the choir concert we had last week the band director at my school wants me to do something like that for them. however my problem is that with all the instruments I don't have the floor space I did for the choir concert. Also I can't use our electrics since our shells are in. Any ideas of somethings I could do that wouldn't take up much space and still add color and stuff like that. We have a catwalk, two box booms if that helps.

 

[DHSLXOP]

Does your shell have lights built into it (ie: is it a full shell, including a top, or is it just side pieces)? You can consider adding some color from your box boom positions, but I wouldn't touch anything from your catwalk. Remember that the most important thing in a band concert is that the musicians MUST see their music. With choirs, generally it is only the accompanist and conductor/choir director who need to see music - the singers are usually memorized. With a band, they will all have music stands in front of them, and will need to see their scores. That said, if your shell doesn't have any top light built into it, make sure that you leave enough light for them to see. Use any color that you may add from your box booms as fill (to give it some "mood") but don't use it as a key. The last thing you would need is for the Band Director to yell at you that he needs more light during a rehearsal, or worse, at a concert. Another tip - set levels during a rehearsal that the band is present at. Make sure that, with whatever you choose to do, every musician can see the conductor and his or her score. This includes the Upstage Sections that are the furthest from any form of light. I hope this helps a little bit - obviously I don't know your space or the concert material to suggest colors or anything - but hopefully this aids you a bit.

 

[mstaylor]

They are using a shell for the band and not for the choir? Would side booms be possible?

 

[believe2013]

They are using a shell for the band and not for the choir? Would side booms be possible?

To start off yes we used shells for both but with the choir I had much more room behind the risers then I will here. And those Might work I never thought of that.I would have to check with our theater technician to see if that is possible

 

[mstaylor]

You may want to look at putting short booms in the pit, if you have one, to put color on the shell.

 

[cpf]

Uplighting on the shell is always a cool effect if you've got the equipment to do it. However, I too would worry about getting adequate light for the musicians before eye candy for the audience.

 

[Fatcatpro]

I'm a high school student in the same position, something I like to do it side trees, or booms, whatever you like to call them. The taller the better and you can add any sorta fixture you want on top. I personally like pars. Put as many as you can up there then also add fixtures to the bottom to shoot through their legs and chairs. I put 4 booms on stage, behind the first legs and second legs.
Also this may help, if you don't have the circuits in floor pockets or wall outlets you can drop cable from the electrics to the booms since you can't use them.

 

[techieman33]

I would just put as much down light on the stage as you can and some up lights on the shell to provide some color. If you don't have bases for up light they're not hard to make yourself. Just cut some plywood into 12x12 squares, put some t-nuts into the center and bolt the yolk of the instrument to them. I usually use pars with ray kits for this.