Lighting Questions

Most of the time if you rent one, you can usually consult with them also, which lightning packages you get, same thing if you rent a PA system, I can consult with them first, and they usually dont mind to pay a visit to the venue, to inspect things out and can give you a quota

Tip 1: DON’T BUY LIGHTING GEAR !!!

Unless you plan on bringing light to every gig (and I can only strongly suggest NOT going that route) and you can make your money back on your investment in 14 months or less, buying lighting equipment is not a good plan.

If you are gonna be using light on such a regular basis, you’ll need pro quality gear (I like American DJ, they have become much better, but I can tell you from experience chances are less than favorable they’ll survive a year of hard road life (1-2x per week). And if you are to ask serious money for bringing lights (and you should because of all the extra hassle), you’d have to show up with pro quality gear. I don’t know off rental companies here that use ADJ gear by the way.

Light is heavy, bulky, takes a ton of extra space to transport, takes a lot of extra time (usually not paid for, at least not in full) to set up and tear down.

With modern (read LED-based) gear there is no cycle time. Cycle time just means you can’t run stuff continuously but you need to let it “cool down” for a bit in between uses.

Fog is good, just be aware that a decent fogger is easily 1200Watt+. And that is about more than 1/3 of a power outlet group. LED light is pretty low on power usage, but if you happen to end up with rented traditional lights (Par-54 spots for example), the power demand goes up rapidly and can easily exceed one power group.

Good practice:
Always use two different groups to power sound and lights. That way even if you blow the fuse because of the power demand of the lights, at least your audio keeps going.

Final tip:

Don’t sell light (or allow the customer to make it sound like) like a small extra. It’s a BIG extra and if the customer wants it, he should pay for it.

If the few (and I do mean FEW) LED fixtures I have are not enough, then I tell the customer I can arrange lights for him. I get a quote from the rental company for lighting to match the gig (including a guy to do the controlling and setup/breakdown and transport). I get 20-25% discount from the rental company, charge the customer the end-user price so I still make some money for my efforts in arranging all that.

At the end of the day I can focus on DJ-ing and have someone else tend to the lighting. The customers get’s a very good experience. Everyone wins.

My main point here is that lighting is often an afterthought “oh, can you bring some lights too”. And it really, really isn’t. It’s important to make sure your customer get’s that. Don’t fall in the trap of “sure, I’ll bring some”. You’ll end up realising that whatever they paid you extra is way too little for all the extra effort.

Greetinx and good to hear your scene is developing!
C.

In my experience, a good light guy is as much a professional as is a DJ. Most light guys don’t pretend they could do what a DJ can, but somehow many DJs seem to think they can do some light stuff “on the side”. Making a light show work means working hard with your buttons, faders and joysticks the entire night. Not just pushing one button, having a few drinks and then switching to another program.

With the mobile show I was with (and am occassionally) we always travelled in pairs. One for the music, one for the lights.

My point is that if you are serious about having a mobile show, rather than being a mobile DJ, you are better off striking up a good working relationship with a great light guy/light company and start selling package deals. You are more professional, the customer gets a WAY better product/service, it’s no extra hassle to you and worry free on the gig night itself.

I have to admit that I have seen too many static, repeating program and sound triggered light effects to last me a lifetime. It’s boring, has nothing to do with what’s really going on (even if it’s somewhat “beat-synced”). A good light guy will adapt to the music, just like a good DJ adapts to the crowd. As such I think a really nice light show is totally 10 steps up from DJ-ing without lights. But a DJ with mediocre light gear and poor control (mostly automated settings) is not taking the craft of light engineer very seriously.

I have made the very conscious decision to DJ without lights. With the new battery operated led bars I might bring 4 of those to uplight some walls or special features in the room. Set it to slow color changes and perhaps to music triggered later on in the evening, but I know full well that is not considered a “light show”.

Greetinx,
C.

Fingers crossed! Good luck DH, rock da house!