DJ lighting for dumies
DJ lighting for dumies Posted on: 10.10.2012 by Benjamin Sieh Hey guys,I'm a mobile DJ, 16, and have very little money coming my way. I have everything I need to play music at parties, and anyone who hires me says I am quite good at what I do. But lately I feel as if just music at some parties isn't enough, so I want to get into lighting. If you could offer me any knowledge on how I could go about creating a light setup controlled through DMX cables and another controller for cheap, I would be regretful. Thanks in advance, you guys are great. | |
| Ashanti Andreacchio 13.10.2012 | I have 3 of the micro series lasers and even when I have all my lights set up at an even they seam to be the main atraction IMG_3323.jpg The green laser on the left is the micro galaxian and the front are 12 LED par36 DMX programed |
| Darlene Strohbeck 12.10.2012 |
Originally Posted by Zer0beet
My thoughts on bubble machines are the same as smoke machines. Unless you want it to look cheesy, don't bother. Bubbles can't really be seen in the dark, and don't even make lasers and color beams visible like smoke does.
and A couple of these.
http://www.guitarcenter.com/American...18-i1155644.gc |
| Darlene Strohbeck 12.10.2012 |
Originally Posted by djrosco
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| Benjamin Sieh 12.10.2012 |
Originally Posted by sss18734
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| Venetta Cawyer 11.10.2012 |
Originally Posted by Sn0wday
We just now started to use that as an extra in our venue (and we got enough moving heads, strobes and PAR64's, really we do) and it just adds that cherry on top. Try to get a custom overlay with your name that bounces on the music and you're set Adding DMX controlled gizmo's really costs some $$$ if you want it to be good. I have no idea what the budget brands in the US are, but here in Europe we got Showtec and that really blows. A year ago we were hosting a party and at the end, when we were about to disassemble the main stage, the DJ stage came back to live because someone disconnected the DMX line and all the Showtec moving heads automatically began party'ing in Demo Mode. Pretty hilarious but not professional at all. |
| Georgiann Bayze 14.10.2012 | WOW, I would love to see that at a party |
| Ashanti Andreacchio 13.10.2012 | I have 3 of the micro series lasers and even when I have all my lights set up at an even they seam to be the main atraction IMG_3323.jpg The green laser on the left is the micro galaxian and the front are 12 LED par36 DMX programed |
| Charline Dye 13.10.2012 | That is a good place to start! When you start adding to it I would get more of the par38s before adding fx type lights. |
| Darlene Strohbeck 13.10.2012 | That's a great portable and really inexpensive system, for a start. |
| Benjamin Sieh 13.10.2012 | Okay so I am rebuilding my cart. Heres what I have so far. 1 ADJ Mini Galaxian Lazer http://www.guitarcenter.com/American...56-i1735290.gc 2 Chauvet Multi Color LED Strobes http://www.guitarcenter.com/Chauvet-...92-i1567371.gc Hows that instead? |
| Darlene Strohbeck 12.10.2012 |
Originally Posted by Zer0beet
My thoughts on bubble machines are the same as smoke machines. Unless you want it to look cheesy, don't bother. Bubbles can't really be seen in the dark, and don't even make lasers and color beams visible like smoke does.
and A couple of these.
http://www.guitarcenter.com/American...18-i1155644.gc |
| Darlene Strohbeck 12.10.2012 |
Originally Posted by djrosco
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| Darlene Strohbeck 12.10.2012 | As a fellow mobile DJ, price and portability were my biggest factors. I also didn't want some "cheesy" lighting display of different colors or circular patterns moving to the music. I did a lot of research on the light patterns, and I realized that a lot of them carried the same inherent characteristics, like moving multi-colored patterns or designs. I found that to be really low budget so this I what I bought: 2 portable lasers, one to create a pattern across the floor, and another to create a design within that pattern, both sound activated. American DJ Micro Galaxian American DJ Micro Hypnotic I also wanted to augment those lights somehow and wanted some sort of multi-coloured strobe so I bought 4 of these: American DJ Mega Par Profile Each of the lazers cost around $130, depending on where you are. And each of the Mega Par Profiles cost me $100. Usually what I do is I sell the "whole package" which costs of two Mega Par Profiles and the 2 lazers. You can get a t-bar like the one I have made by yorkville, which has 4 pre-cut holes. All I had to do was get some bolts and washers from the local hardware store and I have a t-bar with 4 separate lighting effets. I hook up the two mega par profiles as master/slave so technically it's one effect from two lights that work in unison. The best thing about the Mega Par profiles is that it doubles as up-lighting, so they can pull double duty. Maybe someone doesn't want multi-colored strobes but they want accent lights or vice versa. You don't need 4, but someone asked me for 4 so I figured what the hell, might as well by them and start selling them to people. I charged that client $35/each, so after 1 gig 1 third of those lights were already paid for. |
| Benjamin Sieh 12.10.2012 |
Originally Posted by sss18734
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| Erica Charvet 11.10.2012 | Ditch what you're looking at now... It won't fill up the room with enough light. With a limited budget, you should only consider wash lighting. |
| Venetta Cawyer 11.10.2012 |
Originally Posted by Sn0wday
We just now started to use that as an extra in our venue (and we got enough moving heads, strobes and PAR64's, really we do) and it just adds that cherry on top. Try to get a custom overlay with your name that bounces on the music and you're set Adding DMX controlled gizmo's really costs some $$$ if you want it to be good. I have no idea what the budget brands in the US are, but here in Europe we got Showtec and that really blows. A year ago we were hosting a party and at the end, when we were about to disassemble the main stage, the DJ stage came back to live because someone disconnected the DMX line and all the Showtec moving heads automatically began party'ing in Demo Mode. Pretty hilarious but not professional at all. |
| Benjamin Sieh 11.10.2012 | Thank you guys! I appreciate you taking the time out of your day to help me out! It looks like DMX compliant lights are way to expensive for me at the moment. So from this set of posts I do believe that such a set up should do well. http://www.guitarcenter.com/Odyssey-...esid=103546511 http://www.guitarcenter.com/Chauvet-...41-i1380891.gc http://www.guitarcenter.com/Chauvet-...92-i1155784.gc or http://www.guitarcenter.com/Chauvet-...33-i1155745.gc and A couple of these. http://www.guitarcenter.com/American...18-i1155644.gc Or should I get a bubble maker and this http://www.guitarcenter.com/American...82-i1428184.gc |
| Larae Knifong 11.10.2012 | When I first started with lighting I bought a centrepiece light and went with Chauvet's Vue 6.1 and a light stand ($300). Then after one gig, I bought one ColorStrip and Obey 40 to uplight the table or dancefloor ($500). At this point, I was charging $800-$1000 per show. With the money, I bought 2 Intimidator Spot LED 150's ($900). Then, I bought another light stand and another ColorStrip ($300). One more gig. Charged ($2000) and bought 10 Slim par 56s ($1200) for uplighting around the room. I did find a smoke machine on kijiji for $30 bucks and tried to use it at a gig, but found that most venues won't let you use it, or old ladies complained they were choking. I rented a haser and a dry ice machine once believeing that would solve the issues, but I still got complaints of choking. I believe some people see smoke and believe they're on fire. So I don't use smokers anymore. Though, if a client wants it, they get it. After 5 shows, and 3 months, I had all the lighting I needed. People are absolutly floored when they walk into a wedding reception hall full of light. I get nothing but compliments on the lighting. Lots of customer referrals from one gig to the next. As you can tell, I went with an all Chauvet light set-up. I did this for a reason due to DMX programming. The guy at the shop told me that sometimes DMX programming from one brand to another can cause flickering and communication issues to the lights. I also found Chauvet's lighting to be less intrusive (bright) than American DJ lights. Plus, Chauvet's lights are cheaper. I love some of ADJ's lights, and sometimes believe of switching brands, but I'm too lazy to do the reasearch on the best options. With this set-up, I can offer quite a few options for my customers... but 8 times out of 10 they go for the ultimate becuase they've already seen it at their friend's wedding/party and want the same thing or better. If anyone has great experiences with lasers, please let me know. |
| Charline Dye 11.10.2012 | I would start with some LED par lights or par light package like the 4 bar. If you plan on growing your set up and want DMX controll, a controller like the Chauvet Obey 40 or 70 is a good purchase. A hazer is a good addition, and will make the light beams stand out. Go for ADJ, Chauvet, or Blizzard lights, not lights straight from China off eBay or from cheaplights. Pretty sure they all come from China, but the bigger name companies test them before shipment, and warranty them from a US location. To start you could just use 2-4 pars up lighting the wall behind you in sound active mode, and add dmx and stands as you can afford it. |
| Erich Vallabhaneni 11.10.2012 | I'm a mobile DJ and my best friend travels with me with his light rig. It really helps alot and people really enjoy it, especially lasers. +1 for fogger/hazer |
| Belen Tallbull 11.10.2012 | Find your local hire shop and try out a few fittings before you buy anything. Also, a smoke machine is essetial to bring out the best in your lights |
| Inez Marcinik 10.10.2012 |
Originally Posted by Sn0wday
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| Valeri Millstein 10.10.2012 |
Originally Posted by Zer0beet
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| Madelene Witek 10.10.2012 | all about dat linein:// milkdrop projector hahaha |
| Ashanti Andreacchio 10.10.2012 | American DJ has lots of cheep but good LED lights that run by DMX or sound to light. they are worth a check I believe. I have several of their lights and they are good. |
| Wynell Vastbinder 10.10.2012 | When doing mobile lights are always a good look. You can use it as a up sell or include it in the price, they feel like they are getting a deal when you say the price you quote them includes lights and sound for the evening
. I've done a lot of gigs and the people are amazed I even have lights. Make sure you go with LED lights. |
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