| I'm just learning now... I can tell you some stuff...Maybe not the best info,
but we've just recently started hooking up our light show. I'll pick apart your
list:
> Par 64 cans.
Par 64 cans are generally 1500wt lights. They are the industry standard (i.e. -
what you see at your typical rock concert (by the dozens!). I don't know what
PAR means, but we currently have PAR 46's and 56's and some 64's.
PAR 46's are 150wt lights that you can replace cheaply ($3 at your hardware
store). PAR 56's are 300wt that look like 120v car headlights. These bulbs
cost you $30+ EACH (Yeowwwch!). All these cans have "holders" for your gels and
frames. TO give you an idea, 1 new PAR64 can will cost you at least $70...
then you have to get the 1500wt light bulb for it...Another $40...
Gels are clear_but_colored plastic "films" if you will. You put them in a
"frame" and slap 'em on your lights for color effects. I suppose you could be
cheesy and duct tape the stuff up but... Gel stuff is cheap. Buy it by the
sheet. A 3x4' sheet of red gel stuff cost me $3, the frames are about $3 ea.
> frame and clamps
See above about frames. Clamps screw onto your lights so you can attach
them to bars (like you might hang from the back of the stage). We use
Chainlink fence top rail stuff. :)
> 4-head helicopters
DISCO ALERT ! :) Ya know, four spots that whirl around driven by a motor.
All you need is an Indian Headress and sing "Yyyyyy MCA..." Wagagaga. Sorry.
crank towers
Utter crap for big lighting systems. They are big tripods that you mount
a few light to, then crank to elevate. Could be just what you need though.
I dunno...
sunn dimmers
Dimmer packs - The big bucks. It's a big nasty box with a control input
(like a mic cord) and a bunch of light sockets. We have some 4 channel
SunnPacks. Each channel has two plugs. 600 wts per channel max - we
constantly blow fuses inside them - what a PAIN ! Sunn sez that we CAN
run one PAR 64 per channel...(thats a 1500wt light). A 4 channel dimmer
pack can cost upwards (WAyyyyy upwards) of $3-400 EACH for these cheesy Sunns.
The ETA dimmers can be more than a grand ea, but are tough and have more
"channels". Mega bucks in dimmers.
super strobes....
Strobe lights...Ya know... Maybe the better ones have a control input....
Disco crap...
Some things you left out (and someof my favs!):
- "RAIN" lights
a series of small power narrow spots (or pin spots) FIXED along a rod or block
that generate a "fan" effect. Mount these babies at the base of your drum
riser, or behind him and generate some smoke. Turn them on and you get a halo
type effect... Very bitchin... bitchin' indeed.
- Smoke
Gotta have. Oil based Smoke machines run about $300, and are really nifty to
go with a light show. Gives the lights a laser effect, the way the beams cut
thru. oil base makes light smoke - or a cloud. Freon/Co2 based smoke makes
a heavy fog - both have their uses...You can also take an old styro cooler
and fill it with dry ice and blow oil smoke thru it, or EVEN just use dry ice for
heavy smoke.
- Controller
I don't know a lot about these, but I've seen a ZILLION controller boards
that look like ours - 16channel Sunn Spot mixer. Seems pretty standard.
Foot controllers (step as you go) are also popular for small shows.
You can get MIDI controlled light shows too. The Sunn board we have
is programmable so you can set up "scenes". Pretty decent.
- Tech
Get a tech. Light shows are a BITCH ! You gotta set 'em up, maintain them,
and a tech should be easy to find (your neighbors kid ?? ;).
Basically your light show consists of back lights, effect lights
and front lights... Although you may be able to get away with a pair
of crank towers and (8) 56's for side lighting, if you play a big place,
it'll look silly, IMHO.
If you have three front men, hang three 64's out in front of your stage.
This is your front lighting. If someone is singing, put a light on 'em.
Same for solos etc...
Take a bunch (as many as you can afford) and hang 'em from the back stage
wall. Stuff with all the cool color gels you have, but match them to your
dimmer channels.
For effects, use rain lights above or below you drummer in a fan pattern.
Take a couple of 56's and clamp to the edge of your drum riser pointing up
at the drummer (make him sweat a little ;).
Here's what I think would be neet. Ummm, keep in mind I play in a metal
band, and metal clubs like cool light shows. (RutRoh, here comes the poseur
in me ;). These shows are big bucks!
- (24) PAR64's across the back of the stage with at least six colors
- (4) PAR 56's arranged in a square around the drum kit pointing up at him.
use bright colors.
- (12) Rain lights - You turn 'em on or off, no dimming. In a fan across the
front of the riser or right behind the drummer. Turn 'em on liberally -
for effect.
- (3) PAR 64 front lights out in front (as spots - no gels, or maybe
yellow/pink). (We have three out front in our band, so...)
- (1) Oil based smoker on the floor behind drum riser
- (1) Freon based (cold) smoker in the ceiling - makes the smoke stream down,
cuz it's cold...
- (?)Tri-cage clamping bars - bolt your lights to them for easy moving and
setting up. Bolt your dimmers to the tri-frames.
- Electrical snakes and control snake(s).
Now, thats what I'd *like* to have eventually.
What is working for us is:
A grand total of 30 lights, PAR 46s, 56's and 64s. Dimmers, home_made
rains, a ton of extention cords, a ton of mic cables, a few lengths
of chainlink toprail, a 16 channel controller and a bunch of duct
tape.
We play where a lot of 'road whore' bands play, and our show looks puny
compared to most...But it's getting better... Takes at least 1.5
hours to set up...And something is always blowing up. Ack!
Buy this stuff used, but keep in mind, blown bulbs WILL COST YOU BIG !
Hope this helps... Boy, you sure hit a tickle spot with me today !
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| I'm *real* happy with my N.S.I. NCM6200 lighting controller
and ND4600 dim-packs. The system is real powerful and easy to set-up.
The controller is programmable with 16 pages holding 8 scenes in each
page. There are also 8 programmable flash scenes, 3 thirty-two step
chase sequences, and one scene chase (chases through all 8 scenes in
the current page). It connects with microphone cords, we use red ones
for the lights. And the controller is phantom powered from the dimmers
so all you have to do there is the cord. This system is much easier to
set up than our old rack mount monster dimmer that only uses 220 volts.
Each dimmer gets its AC power from any standard outlet. There is no
noise generated into the audio, thanks to the filtereing built into the
packs. We're running one 500watt PAR 64 per channel and there's no
problem. N.S.I. (Nova) makes larger capacity dim packs if you need
them. The compnay was started by the same people that did the Sunn
lighting systems, but left the company to make more high-end style
lighting equipment.
-John R-
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| Re: .7
The Peavey system is similar to what you described, probably costs
about the same. I think the Peavey allows a couple of presets as well
as manual control. Dunno what your expectations were, but with small
bulbs like those units use, you are not going to get the intensity of
the big rigs.
Sunn makes a line of relatively inexpensive systems, including units
with MIDI control (not much use to a C&W band, maybe, but to a band
using sequences it's a cool idea). Fender dealers can get you the Sunn
stuff.
Brian
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