This year we have a DJ booth installed above the cabin of the truck fully equipped with CDJ’s and hooked up to the sound system.
We are looking to install lighting on this years iteration. I wanted to ask some people with experience in sound system lighting, what kind of units they would suggest.
I was looking at a lot of American DJ products such as:
Galaxian Royale
Galaxian 3D
Royal Sky
Royal 3D
My issue is I have no idea how much actual lights these units put out. You will be able to see the beams of the lasers due to the “playa” (fine sand that is always in the air in the Burning Man environment).
I was thinking we would purchase 3 units two for each side of the art car and one for the rear.
I am looking to spend $1500 max this year on the lighting.
We want some trippy bright lighting that will draw party goers to our tunes. PLEASE HELP us with this project!!! We will love you forever.
if you are looking for a long term investment, stay away from ADJ. Not the greatest product, and from what I’ve read (over and over and over again), wretched customer service. With that type of budget, I’d go with 2 (on each side of the center speaker/booth) or 3 (clamped up to the top of that tower)of these. I’m actually considering getting a pair myself this week.
PS - considering the ambient light around your rig, I’d go with at least a 60w LED. Anything else is probably going to be a bit too dim. I might be wrong, but I think that is comparable to a 250-300w halogen, which is in some pretty killer lights.
PPS - anything other than scanners or moving heads are a bit corny IMO… especially if you’re going to be competing with/be next to any rigs there. REALLY nice rig you have already though!
Thanks for the replies thus far guys… So I am gathering it is a bad idea to use lasers, and it seems LED lighting is the way to go. Also less moving parts = legit.
Do you think LED lighting will be bright enough to make a strong visual impact when no in a room, and more so in the middle of nowhere?
after some more looking around I am thinking of grabbing a few LED strip washes… something like this:
I’ve a revo 4 and its a great light for the money, no moving parts, the rave does have moving parts as does the bar 3in 1 effect, sand will get in and kill these lights in minutes,
ADJ mega bar is cheap and can be master slaved easily, they give off loads of light too and dont draw alot of current, be careful not to overload your generator.
look up brian s redd for good reviews of their catalogue of lights,
ADJ as a lighting brand are value for money, and companies like martin are trying to hold on to brand value to give the impression that their chinesse made LED’s are better than ADJ’s.
those storm chaser led bars offer more resolution then the ADJ megabar but be aware that led bars a very directional generally a 20 or 40 degree spread, and your rig is 360,
thats 12 lights if used straight up, or you could get away with 8 if lying flat.
to get the best out of these lights, hook them up via dmx to a pc using a light show software as the built in programmes are designed for show rooms and rarely do they translate well to a sweaty venue. lazers are the worst offenders as they try to do every pattern at once to make you buy it but at an event 1 pattern is enough, just change the pattern as you launch a new lighting show via dmx
True, moving parts might be a bad idea. On the flip side, you could always cover the fan vents with material to filter out particles. Best bet is to probably stay away though. I’d go with light bars. One thing though. Research the brands. I don’t remember which one it was, but after I bought my ADJ mega bars, I found out that some other brand had about 25% more output, and it was about the same price.
If you’re going to use lazers, but don’t want to drop a shit ton on them, get a few ADJ micro galaxians. Corny as it sounds, for 100 bucks each, one can fill an entire club with decent brightness lazer effect and not break your wallet. Honestly one of the coolest lights I own, and by far the cheapest. Very good for the money.
Thanks for the replies guys… I have been doing more research and now I am leaning towards some led wash lights with some kind of center piece effect light.
Which of these two options will give off more light? and which do you think will look better?
Then I am thinking I will add 2 effect lights one to both the driver and passenger side of the vehicle. For these light I am thinking American DJ Majestic LED’s. They seem pretty legit.. and do not have any moving parts.
Finally I am thinking off the rear I will add another effect light. Possibly 2 Mico Galaxian’s by American DJ… If I am going to use lasers I want something cheap as the “playa” might wreck them rather quickly.
Do you think this will be enough light? Input is needed guys! And thanks again for your help thus far… I have learned quite a bit about
DJ lighting.
I can send you the price list they send me, but the file is to big for pm messages. So if you want it send me a pm with an email adress.
for example led mini par 12 dollars a piece.
They get through pretty thick fog at the place I play. They aren’t going to be bright enough to need an FAA license or anything, but from my experience, they are more that bright enough for what you’re going for.
