Putting on a light show

benestoria2

Hey im sorry if there is already a thread about this but I haven found it if there is, Basically im in a band and want to improve the stage show its kinda dancey music. I came here because I figure DJs would know more about this type of thing than traditional musicians...I have started buying a few bits I got a couple of four head 250mw lasers I got a 1500w strobe a smoke machine and I got a set of LED cans. now the problem is it turns out I need a dmx thingy to work them? my question is any advise on models out there whats good and cheap enough ? are they hard to use? and any suggestions on how to arrange the lights for the best effect...thanks

Tow

You can get a DMX USB dongle from between £10 delivered and full consoles go up to 5/6 figure sums.

What you need depends on what you want to do and if you have an 'sound engineer' etc to run it, or just want a laptop or foot switch etc to run a few preprogramed chases. Have a look at http://www.blue-room.org.uk/index.php?showtopic=52088 for the basics and there are more threads on band lighting. If you post, just be aware that cheap DJ lasers are viewed as the work of the devil;)

benestoria2

thanks for your help mate..what though exactly would you consider a cheap laser? and how ar they the work of the devil?

Tow

They are considered dangerous, when not used properly. It is a professional forum where H&S is taken seriously and an accident could kill people. As for cost, it does not worry me, but a Martin laser will set you back 40k.

unclebill98

Tbh I've yet to see a laser in a mobile dj setup that looks good...

As for light desk. Showtec are a good make if not road worthy if not looked after.
http://www.thomann.de/ie/showtec_showmaster_24.htm for example.

Basically you make a scene ie what you want the lights to look like, like all red. Then you make another scene eg all blue. You then combine into a show and the move from red to blue.

In a band it's hard to get the show to match tempo if it's not operated by a 3rd party but plenty of live bands use shows or simple just scenes during a song and press the button during songs or between etc.

Getting scenes set up can take a bit of getting use to but once you one made it's fairly simple to copy and paste and off ya go.

I've used laptop based dmx software but always had latency issues and crashes. Nothing simplier than a small light desk.

For the tech heads you can go down the router, wireless dmx and your smartphone route.

benestoria2

The setup I have looks good for a pub band anyway its the best I have seen, what we have done so far without controll has gotten a great response and I realise there is safety issues with lasers but I think they only apply when you are using 40k lasers in stadiums and stuff not when your using a 500quid laser in a small venue..anyway I have just gotten a footswitch pedal that works quite well and I plan on using it to trigger patches on a laptop

ironclaw

Lasers never look good in a mobile set up in my opinion. Never seen one that I went 'wow'