Hey, So chances are, I’m going to be DJing my schools Homecoming dance. The music part is all perfect, I know how I’m running everything, and the school has some bad ass speakers. But lighting…
Last year me and a friend DJed the Sadie hawkins dance and it was pretty good. But this year…for various reasons, its just me, and me “friend” handled renting the lights n shit. The nice thing is if I show the school a quote for light rentals, they will write me a check for the amount. So I’m not going to be put into the hole or anything. But I really want to know what I want to get, and not just ask the guy for “lights”
So I really want a strobe light, but other than that…i really don’t know what to get…I know the school uses the good kind of smoke alarms that don’t get fucked with haze. But…what should I get otherwise??? I’m such a noob with lights and I don’t know what I don’t know…someone willing to shed some light (no pun intended ) on what I should read up on and stuff?
well do you want a RAVE atmosphere or a CLUB atmosphere. I did a middle school dance not to long ago. Christmas lights. A few black light bars. 1 3 color flood light reactive to sound and an LED array. You dont have to get to fancy really. Make sure house lights are down but still safe for Health and Safety.
Ask a promotion company or a company that rents this gear you may be renting from what their suggestions are.
Be careful with strobes, you don’t want to find out on the night that some kid in the crowd has epilepsy when they begin having a seizure. A smoke machine in conjunction with a few decent lazer style lights goes a long way.
Stay away from smoke fog machines. They smell bad, leave a film on everything, and are extremely inefficient. Go with a Hazer. Secondly, look into moving head fixtures. Any moving head Martin light will be great. Chauvet isn’t bad either, but I doubt a rental house is going to have budget lights like that. If they do, and they come at a discount compared to the martin lights, go for the Q-Spot 260’s. I own some, and can vouch for how great they are. Four (or 6-8 if you wanna get crazy) Martin 250 Kryptons/Entours will be a great lightshow. On top of that, you’ll need some wash lights. Go with some light bars like the Chauvet color rail. Those particular ones double as good effect lights. Lighting is 100% all about quality over quantity. Too many people pile on a bunch of cheap cheesy lights, and think it’s good, but it just looks like a cluttered busy mess. Wash out your immediate area, and cover the rest with well programmed intelligent lighting.
Also, keep in mind that if you get halogen lights, you’ll need more circuits than if you use LED lighting.
American DJ Triphase sound active lights look great and you can buy small lasers for 99 bucks from Guiter Center that actually look cool and have huge coverage.
But lighting…
) on what I should read up on and stuff?