Design Help Designing A Portable Lighting Rig For Under $10,000

[4score]

I'm a keyboard player and singer looking to step up the visual side of my performances in a major way. There's a major void in my geographical area - anybody worth listening to is either a major star with a huge budget, or is a barely noticeable singer/songwriter who is very good at his craft but is buried in the corner of a dimly-lit room.

I figure there has to be a market for something in between, and I'm confident that if I can pull this off correctly I'll be able to draw crowds or command higher fees from private clients. While it's just me playing solo piano and vocals, I'm already making the most of available technology flying in additional patches and effects, and I'd love to be able to control my lighting in the same way.

I'm not afraid to put in a lot of time programming scenes with DMX and MIDI, and I also realize you get what you pay for. But what I'd really like to do is come up with a rig that will allow me to stand out not just among my musical peers but to also compete against DJs/VJs.

I'd like help coming up with a system that can light me in a variety of settings that may not have their own lighting systems, like coffee houses, bars, clubs, and house parties. My keyboard rig takes up approximately 6 square feet, so in most cases I've got plenty of room to maneuver. That said, I'd like to keep things as low-profile as possible, and it's very important that the whole rig can be easily set up by no more than two people and should be able to break down and fit into a normal-sized sedan.

I don't expect Vegas glitz, but something tasteful should be achievable. Budget is $10k, including lights, controllers, cables, power supplies, any hanging fixtures, and storage. I'm totally comfortable renting, buying, or a bit of both. At minimum, what gear would you suggest?

Am I off my rocker, or can this be achieved?

Thanks!

 

[JD]

The bigger concern is your power budget. I doubt you will want to get involved with an electrician at each venue, so you will be confined to wall outlets. What can you reliably find at each venue to plug in to? The answer is probably one or two 20 amp circuits for your lights, and one for sound and stage.

That works out to 1900 watts per outlet. With that being the available power, you are pretty much in the LED world. If you intend to be "running" your own lights while playing, then you are looking for something that you can call preset scenes off of that is easy to operate. This would probably be a controller that you could operate off of a MIDI output.

The rig you are looking for is do-able at that price. Starting off with 12 LED wash fixtures, two or four lighting stands, and a controller, from a vendor such as Chauvet would probably fit the bill. Think it out all the way before you buy.

Lights do not have to always be on stands, in fact the more angles you can cover the better. Having some overhead, some front floor, and some on the floor behind (especially when a backdrop is available) can give you a lot of mood variations.

 

[4score]

Thanks, John. This is exactly the kind of advice I'm looking for.

I should have mentioned that I'm interested in using LEDs anyway. I've found a great way to light my keyboard rig from below using some colored LEDs embedded in 3M plastic strips and the kind of light I'm getting relative to the power and space required is exactly what I'm looking for.

Are there any light fixtures in particular you would recommend (or avoid?) And would it be pushing my luck to try to include one or two basic moving lights?

 

[JD]

You can spend anywhere from $200 to $3000 on an LED fixture! For your application you probably want to look at the products from Chauvet or Elation. For example:
Products » LED PAR 64 TRI-B | CHAUVET® Lighting
These guys only draw about 60 watts, but provide a lot of kick. ~ $300. One thing to look at is what they are using for LED elements. Some of the early fixtures just jammed a lot of low output LEDs in there, avoid them. You are better off with fixtures that use fewer but high output LEDs, usually tri-color.
For example, the same manufacturer builds this:
Products » LEDsplash
but I was very disappointed in the fixture.

LED fixtures take their cue from PAR bulb fixtures and are measured in 1/8'ths of an inch, so a PAR64 fixture is 8 inches in diameter. Standard sizes include 38, 56, and 64. There are others.
There are also LED strip fixtures.

Once you decide, SHOP AROUND! Prices vary a lot. One of the members on here is a dealer and can probably get you some good prices. I believe his username is BillESC

 

[len]

The first thing I'd do is put together a spreadsheet or something of the places you play. Stage dimensions, trim height, power availability, storage space, available load in time, labor availability, stuff like that. Get an average size, and a biggest and smallest. Then make a list of places you could rent from. Their inventory will fluctuate, so it's more important to have an idea of how much time and effort it would take to get stuff from them, to you, to the venue, then back. Or if they have delivery and set-up options, so much the better.

Another issue would be if you're the only act on the bill or if there are others. If you're headlining, you can call the shots more easily.

As for just 1 or 2 movers, well, I wouldn't waste my time. Either get a decent rig that is somewhat scalable for the stage or skip it altogether. In other words, no half measures. Do it all the way. If you really want to do it right, I'd contract with someone to design the show for you. If they're invested, they'll go see a couple shows, or at least look at your youtube stuff, etc., and put together a show that works, and is scalable.

 

[Aman121]

Chauvet Slimpars might work well for you. They are slim, as the name suggests, and can be setup in a variety of ways. You can find combo deals for several slimpars and a baisic controller for less than 1,000 bucks on Ebay. I would recomend getting the 56 model for extra brightness. A few of those pointed out to the crowd and some behind you, plus some additional small LED lights, would make for a great effect.

 

[AhClem]

I agree with John that power (or lack of) will typically be a (the) major factor; and that LED's are your friend.

HOWEVER if you should have the power... have you thought about using an LED curtain and an ArKaos style video server software package to use with your lighting rig??
I did a quick web search and found "Mad Effects" in the UK website. While the prices they show are in Pounds, I'm sure they're similar on this side of the pond. With ArKaos Express software available for less than $1,200 and what look like the low-cost curtains in the $1K-$2K range, and you've still got $6K-$7K for more lighting and control. If I can hype our X1 controllers for a second, for $399 you can control 1 DMX universe or $999 for our 4 universe unit and you'll be able to control everything from the LED's in the 3M strips to the ArKaos video server. Check out our website, including the "Sample Apps" on our download page (there are some MIDI control samples).
If you'd like to try out some of these in "virtual space", PM me and I can decribe to you how to test the software and how they work together using the free demo versions of software that is available online.

 

[4score]

Wow, those curtains are disturbingly affordable! Are they difficult to program? Is durability a concern? I was wondering if something along these lines was available to us non-superstars.

So many great suggestions to consider. I'm very appreciative of your help, everyone!

 

[AhClem]

They have one that's listed at £429.99 and if you check out the 'details' page they have 4 photos, one of which shows a young woman floding back the corner of the screen. While I hate to form a strong opinion from a web photo, it looks like with a little care it could be both roadworthy and convenient for transport. I'll have to contact them (or someone similar) to find out what additional items are needed to interface to the Media Server software (e.g. any power supplies, curtain controller/decoder units, etc.).
The latest version of the ArKaos software includes the LED Mapper (check out the video on the bottom of this page to see how it's used) so needing any "decoder" may be moot. If you have a video camera, you can even use that as a video source in ArKaos, which allows you to mix in your live video to the LED curtain output (with all the video effects available). Of course, you could always use them as a ceiling and "simulate" a lighting rig full of par cans . I'll be happy to walk you through any the software parts, but I haven't had a lot of "hands-on" with the LED curtains themselves, so I'll have to do a little research myself at times.

 

[JD]

Really amazing how affordable they are! The only caution I would give is that now you will be needing to fly this somehow. If you configure your show to integrate it, you may find venues where the physical location makes that impossible. If you design your show to use it as an add-on, then you can run with it or without it as needed.

 

[DMXpro]

You might want to consider conventional, incandescent PAR cans with gels before thinking about LED. Sure, they consume more power (~600W each, depending upon lamping), but they're less expensive and very easy to come by. You'd have to get dimmer packs, but you could daisy-chain them in with DMX-controlled LED units if you want to get those in addition to the PARs. You can usually get an inexpensive console (chauvet or american DJ), or get DMX software for your computer, a dongle for the program, and run the show off of your laptop.

EDIT: If cost isn't an issue after factoring in cabling, truss/mounting, dimmers and a controller or software, go LED all the way.

 

[chausman]

You might want to consider conventional, incandescent PAR cans with gels before thinking about LED. Sure, they consume more power (~600W each, depending upon lamping), but they're less expensive and very easy to come by. You'd have to get dimmer packs, but you could daisy-chain them in with DMX-controlled LED units if you want to get those in addition to the PARs. You can usually get an inexpensive console (chauvet or american DJ), or get DMX software for your computer, a dongle for the program, and run the show off of your laptop.

EDIT: If cost isn't an issue after factoring in cabling, truss/mounting, dimmers and a controller or software, go LED all the way.

Depending on the looks that they want to create, the number of conventionals that are needed to achieve the same flexibility that LEDs provide, may make LEDs more appropriate. Both in the power usage, and the structure needed to support the additional fixtures.

 

[Esoteric]

Yeah, I would go LED all the way. There are a lot of options from companies like Elation, Blizzard, and Esoteric Visions. For more information PM me or click the link in my signature.

 

[BillESC]

Knowing more about the type and style of performer you are will allow us to better recommend fixtures/rigging suited to accomplish relevent to the task requested.

Anyone can name fixtures but a vision needs to be created first so one knows which fixtures will be necessary.

 

[Cooperhodges]

LED's are definitely worth it because of the power they save. As far as dimming is concerned, look into D4DMX dimmer packs, which can bet set in standalone mode or daisy chained via DMX to a console.