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Al3x B

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Hi

I am interested in stage lighting for clubs, party gigs, etc. But I have no idea where to start. Can I get some onlie courses? Should I just buy a console and a few pars and start to practice?

Do I have to learn DJ skills first?

I have to mention that I am a full time lorry driver and 29 years old. It is too late for me?

Thank you!

Alex

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Do you mean stage lighting or club & party lighting? If the former then before buying anything go to your local library & borrow all the books you can find on stage lighting, starting with anything by Francis Reid (who practically invented the concept), followed by Richard Pilbrow. If the latter then maybe buy a few cheap LED pars & a controller on fleabay & have a play. DJ-ing is a different field entirely.
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Well, you could buy a lighting desk, but I suspect that buying fixtures is a weird way to start. why not start on one of the software systems that you can download and use for free - Chamsys MagicQ still being my favourite. For a tenner you can buy a dongle that will let you connect to some lights (time limited) or for less than a hundred quid use it properly. It will run on practically any computer. They also have a visualiser so you can invent loads of different fixtures and see how good you are at making them do interesting stuff. As for DJ stuff - we're not the people to ask. A few of us do DJ work, but most are interested in bands and live stuff really.

 

Courses are to a large degree, impossible. Dozens of controllers that all work differently. Thousands of fixtures from £10 from china to mega thousands, that all do different things. Some controllers are very hard to pick up, some much simpler. People become experts on one and hopeless on ones they've never used before.

 

You also need to consider scale. Are you thinking a few gizmos hanging of a pair of T-bar stands, or truss and many movers? a single 13A socket, or something needing loads of power and a sprinter sized van?

 

Plus of course, how much have you got to invest in all this?

 

Are you hoping to make money or do it as a hobby? The critical thing is simply aptitude. So many people want to be something they can't be. Loads of us here have been doing lighting for a very long time so age is no barrier. A small number of us do dance events as pretty much their primary earner.

 

The mention of 'DJ' makes me wonder if you're actually already DJ'ing and want to add lighting skills, or do you want to supply lighting to other DJs?

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You are interested in three entirely different things so let's take them as they come. For theatre lighting from scratch I cannot recommend it more if you volunteer at one or more of your local AmDram groups or theatres just to learn about fixtures, controls and basic techniques. Then you can ask the right questions about theatre LX which you can't right now. Read the Francis Reid books, keep trawling Blue Room and get your hands on the kit before you buy any.

 

Club LX can and usually does involve lighting bands and DJ's while party/rave lighting is environment decor and takes in projection, set, drapes and effects. For bands and live events a good way to learn is to sign up with a local crew company and hump in the kit, loading and unloading the trucks. Just running cables gives you an intro to how it all fits together and what you need to make the shiny glittery stuff sparkle. Environment LX is just layer on layer of video, still and effect projection, multi coloured beams, drapes and UV, inflatables and strange screen device;, spinning, gauze, multi layer etc.

 

These do not involve any investment and you may do a few gigs and never want to go near a gig again. You may get the bug and will have a better idea of what questions to ask us. You are nowhere near too old. I was a roadie for a school band, did mechanical and electrical apprenticeships and worked my way from semi-pro to full time... at 47 years of age. You may want to make it a career or just be a hobby and either is possible. It isn't all fun and there is hard graft involved.

 

Welcome to BR, fill in your profile and search the lighting forum for past topics. You can learn a huge amount here.

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Alex

If you are fulltime LGV driver you could move sideways and drive showbiz trucks, That gets you close up to see how its done, its zero nights home, often night drives, tours can be months long often covering europe, you may not get paid if there are quiet weeks (self employed) but you will meet electrics crews.

 

Google "entertainment trucking UK" 29 is OK in that world so long as you have a good history and clean(ish) license, 21 > 25 is to young for most insurance companies.

 

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Thank you all for your replies

Well, I guess first of all I have to slow down a bit and put some time in expressing my ideas coherently. Next, probably learning some jargons will be useful.

 

I am a bit confused about all the types of lightning so I think is better to show you what I am dreaming of. It is something similar to this (sorry for the blasting sound- not my type)

Obviously to get to that level I have to practice for at least 3-5 years in my opinion. And sure I want to start this as a hobby, small clubs at first and see how it's going on from there. If I have intuition and talent it may be a gold mine ;)

 

The DJ thing was mentioned because of 1) from what I have seen on youtube, the mapping console looked "similar" to a keyboard/ DJ deck ( please don't shoot me) and 2) I'm imagining that being a DJ it's easier to make your entrance in the clubs/ getting requests for weddings and bring your lights, that just to be a lighting technician and have no DJ skills.

 

Obviously, I miss the boat in regards to going to college/Uni and study this for 3 years or so. I see some of you recommend Francis Reid books and Richard Pilbrow's. Do those books apply for what I am looking for or are they for theatrical productions?

Moneywise I am not very relaxed but I may invest up to £800 let's say for the beginning.

I leave here another vid in regards of my dreams. I know it's a big dream but you don't achieve very much by dreaming small :)

 

Regards,

 

Alex

 

Alex

If you are fulltime LGV driver you could move sideways and drive showbiz trucks, That gets you close up to see how its done, its zero nights home, often night drives, tours can be months long often covering europe, you may not get paid if there are quiet weeks (self employed) but you will meet electrics crews.

 

Google "entertainment trucking UK" 29 is OK in that world so long as you have a good history and clean(ish) license, 21 > 25 is to young for most insurance companies.

 

 

I could do that but I am a bit stuck at the moment with the situation. I would love to go on tour but then to pay £500/ month rent and living in a truck it's not a great deal. At the moment I am working nights shifts (which is very unsocial and I am fed up with) and I want to change the job and work for UBER so I can manage my time better, can go an meet with people and exchange pieces of information, learn, develop. In the future, I am looking up to be a nurse (hopefully next year)

 

To go with stagestruck/ fly by nite or whatever entertainer truck, it takes a while to give you tour truck as they have to make sure you know how to deal with time pressure.

 

Sorry, guys, I have just that moment when I want to do so much and I have no %^&*ing clue where to start off.

 

Thanks again.

 

Alex

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The first thing going for you is that you already have trade as a driver that can support you. You're definitely not too old.

 

I'd recommend you buy some basic lighting stuff and a simple MP3 deck to get to grips with as a hobby and see how it goes from there.

 

The industry is absolutely not as glamorous as it looks from the outside.

 

It's worth mentioning that the video you linked to is a big event and will have lots of crew on it working in lots of different departments. The guys doing the video will often be independent from the guys doing the lighting and the sound department.

 

If you want a taste of what it's like you could try and get work with a crewing company that supplies local crew to events. Your lorry driving could be a bonus there.

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Seriously recommend what Clive says. The scale of those events is immense, the great majority of those working on them never see them and the guys twiddling the knobs on the $40K consoles nearly always work for the headline artistes. As a trucker you have a start and if you have forklift tickets you are ahead of the game.

 

I loved the business but it is damned hard work, you don't see many 60 year old ravers enjoying their twilight years. A friend once said it is like entering the circus ring, falling on your face and getting sawdust in your blood. You either get addicted or suffer a horrific allergic reaction and never go never it again. Before you spend cash try it with local crew for a few gigs, check out theatre AmDram to learn, don't be like so many with a garage full of kit you used once then abandoned. You can always hire until you can earn enough to justify purchase.

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What is your style of music? Each nameable style of music has it's own style of lighting and it's hard to do lighting for rave/indie/grunge/garage if your music is German opera or "top of the pops"

 

Search the web for free software for a laptop to design shows, search youtube for dance music styles that you like and like the lighting for.

 

Search for DJ shows and look into PLASA show or PLASA North (Leeds).

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The trade show idea is a very good one - loads of the kids start in their teens and see the gear, experience what they do and how they work at these things, then cannot afford any of it. Cost is always a killer, and the kind of rule is that more is always better because it gives scope to do better looking things. You then need to move it all about, and here is where it get tricky. The people who want you, cannot afford you, and rarely appreciate you. You could spend all day putting a rig in for a big expensive wedding, for example, yet discover the people supplying sweeties with a chocolate fountain get paid the same! Small events never have the money, and the big ones serviced by the big production companies have that end.

 

Ken's being kind of modest here - he has always had a niche doing events that to me, look quite like your clip, and he works for people you'd have heard of. Others in that field might work for a small number of artists in one or two genres.

 

 

Your budget of less than a grand is going to limit you somewhat - but it is possible to buy some equipment. The budget end of the product market, but perhaps enough to offer your services to smaller bands. I'm part of a tribute band, and despite me having quite a lot of kit, the costs for a person, extra transport and the kit mean we rarely feature lighting in any meaningful way - which is crazy as I have the stuff sitting there. People, hotels and an extra hire van and fuel mean adding lights would add maybe £800 to the cost of doing the gig, and with agents playing us off all the time against other bands, there is very rarely eight hundred quid going spare!

 

If you can invest your money in a small modest system and then do the gigs for free to learn the craft/art you might have fun.

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If I have intuition and talent it may be a gold mine ;)

 

I doubt it, this is not an industry to work in if you want to get rich quick... as Clive said earlier it is nothing like as glamorous as it may look from the outside.

I would second everyone else's opinion about getting some experience working on shows as crew - find a local crewing company, or if you can, work directly for a sound/lighting company. After doing a few 2am load outs you'll know whether it is something you want to do more or not.

 

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As ever there are people doing the job for nothing and people doing the job for fortunes, it's up to you to place yourself in the market.

 

Buy the kit you will use 50 times a year hire the kit you will use 10 time a year. Buy a new item each year, and retire anything that's too dated.

 

While you will have preferred work styles don't overlook things like the big corporate Christmas season, a month residency in a hotel may be a moneymaker.

 

I once DJ'd a function in London where the lighting provider started rigging at 8 am were rigged for 7pm then ripped out at 2AM and gone by 4AM -That was a really hard job but fabulous, probably a payer too.

 

Learn about working in nice venues, and learn a lot about working, rigging and wiring safely and suitably for your purpose.

 

LOTs of money goes on staffing. Especially in busy areas unloading vans means a crew of five or more to move kit securely. It was said of one London venue that you budget for all the trucks getting ticketed and half of the trucks getting towed away, it's cheaper to pay for staff to unload instantly then move on. As a driver you may know the peculiarities of London's ever changing traffic regulations, or those in your local area. Be very aware of driver's hours regs if you will be working at the gig and driving both ways.

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Get in touch with Liteup in Fareham just up from Portsmouth. They provide lighting, sound and rigging to a lot of large events and are growing. Be up front with them in that you want to learn more about the industry and they might have an opportunity for you to start helping out and learning about the industry.

 

Once you’ve done a few crazy shifts on jobs you’ll either love it or hate it as Kerry said...

Edited by Pete McCrea
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Thank you all guys for your help and guidance. I guess I just have to start and do the work and nag some crew to take me in:). As I said, I have some bits and bobs to sort out at the moment but in the summer I should know where I am. So I probably I'll be back with a report in the autumn.

 

Till next time.

 

Have a funny sunny summer tongue.gif

 

Alex

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