lighting dance nights - help please

[penguinchick]

hey everybody, new to this but really need some help.

 

I am working with a (pretty old) avolites sapphire, six mac 250s and 36 par cans and I pretty frequently have to light dance nights, that is a dj onstage for four hours. my background would be in rock music mainly so I've never been to a dance show socially & am totally lost as to how to go about lighting one effectively.

 

if anyone can give me a few ideas or even point me in the direction of some video footage of this sort of thing being done I'd be very grateful.

 

thanks folks

[Ynot]

Erm, I'm a little confused...

 

Dance night...?

 

Do you mean dance show on stage, or a disco (DJ on stage is the bit that confuses me!!)

 

Oh - welcome to the Blue Room!

[maeterlinck]

I'm guessing you mean a club type atmosphere? If so then don't worry too much! Generally as long as you have flashy lights that go with the beat of the music you'll be fine. Do the general groups that you might have of a rock and roll gig and then make it up on the night. Generally people will not be looking at the lights to provide a show as to provide atmosphere. Plus with any luch they will all be pissed!

[Ben Lawrance]

If you mean the same sort of thing as the Crimestoppers SNAP Dance nights, then I do loads of these.

 

I've always gone in with a load of cheap Disco type effects (Abstract to be precise) and run them in master slave mode. Thank you Mr Abstract, you just programmed my lights for me.

 

Add to that a load of Pars with the 4 basic colours and your laughing. Kids don't know the differance. It's the music thats the important bit.

[woody74]

point me in the direction of some video footage

 

In the states, it's often called a Rave; YouTube has some footage, but a lot of it is dark, with just the occasional light or laser brightening up.

 

And I second Ben's point: it's the music that's important. As long as you don't go completely black, no one will be the wiser.

 

-w

[Ynot]

A lot of this is still conjecture until the OP gives us some clarification of the venue and type of gig being asked about...

[Leggy]

So the consensus of opinion is, if its a club night/rave, don't worry about it because no-one cares?

I have to disagree quite strongly. Surely you should ALWAYS be striving to create the best show you can.

The atmosphere in a club can be massively enhanced by good, creative lighting, but can also be destroyed by insensitive, unsympathetic lights.

That said, you are a lot freer than when lighting a band, and you should relax and have fun with it. Try to create an environment that enhances the mood of the moment, just like any lighting really.

You can learn a lot from lighting clubs that you can carry over into other applications due to the free flowing nature of the event that gives you the freedom to experiment in a live situation.

I have seen many a lightshow at a rave that outshone many "pre-programmed" concerts because the operator really understood their purpose.

 

Ok, rant over! As Ynot says, this is all conjecture really, but the OP does sound as if it refers to a club/rave.

 

The spec described isn't massive, but you have enough there to do a decent job, and a desk capable of doing it. Try using the pars sparingly as general dance floor washes to give a colour base appropriate for the current track, then use the macs over the top to apply effects and accents. Do remember that most people can be a little self-conscious when dancing, so try not to make the room too bright most of the time, but lift it up for those "hands in the air" moments. Remember, you are creating an environment for people to have a good time in.

 

Don't forget to have a DJ special so he can see what he is doing.

 

HTH,

 

Leggy.

[jono1]

I must say I have to agree with Leggy,

 

I used to run the lighting at slinky in bournemouth which was arguably one of the best / most established nights of its type in the UK. If I had a night off for whatever reason and people came in to work who were maybe not as familiar with the equipment or style of music then it was very obvious and this was pointed out by the punters either via phone calls the next day or posts on message boards.

 

When you go out to see your fav dj (or even your mate dj'in) you want to see a bit of a show as well as the music. If you could get away with a few flashy lights and all will be fine then I feel the current Tiesto tour might not be one of the largest in terms of attentions to audio/visual currently doing the rounds.

 

I've gone on from this to run my own lighting company employing full time staff and working across the country, and it has put me in a good position to have a bit of flare and really listen to the music im working on to get the lighting right. As Leggy said, while you can be a bit free'er with it, I really think if you go to a lot of these events the tech side of things can be awe inspiring.

 

May as well listen to an Ipod and save the entry fee if "its a club night/rave, don't worry about it because no-one cares?".

 

That said, I would have a few pars based into the crowd on open white, use these for big breakdowns to get the crowd involved while there is nothing for them to dance to, use the others for a general wash but use them dim and not all the time. I would also have maybe a blue and or a green on the dj to give him some light.

 

With your Macs, I would have some nice open colour moves in there and a few with colour for the breakdowns and also plenty of shutter chases in there. Dont be scared to move the Macs around and experiment. Maybe have 4 in the rig and 2 either side of the Dj, then next time make a bit of a stage set from them at different heights. (I also found a nice look was all fixtures on the Dj, with break up gobo in them, on white with nothing else on - Very good look for drawing attention the Djs way.)

 

Have fun with it, you don’t have lots but I've used less, just don’t overuse the pars.

[Jamtastic3]

I don't like the posted idea that the lights aren't important in a clubbing atmosphere... of course they are!

 

Lighting a club night, whether it is house/drum n bass/funk/rock orientated music is vital to complete the whole package in venues. I hate going into a club where everything is either sound to light or the engineer has left half a dozen top spec moving heads on one gobo and one colour the whole night!

This all of course depends on the size of the venue, it's rig and if they have engineers that control the lights.

 

If you are lighting a club event then you should be thinking about the concept of creating a great, varied light show for people. It's all about the importance of complementing the music and DJ but at the same time making sure the crowd 'feel' good within the lighting.

 

Lot's of things to think about with similar aspects to lighting bands:

 

Think about tempo patterns. Create chases that flash the lights to every 2nd or 4th beat.

If the tempo changes, so does the movement of lights.

If the music is completely different in mood, change the lighting state to suit. Faster tunes mean more chaotic flashing, brighter colours and less use of gobos, slower songs are darker in tone so darker colours and rotating gobos.

If there are pauses in the music, freeze the movements or hit the B/O until the music resumes.

Remember that people may also want to see who is playing the music so light the DJ subtly. I tend to back or side light so that the DJ can see his crowd and his decks.

And if it's anything on the lines of 120 bpm or above then hit that strobe a good few times!

 

etc, etc, etc... you are the designer!

[peternewman]

Don't forget to have a DJ special so he can see what he is doing.

But do be careful what level you run it at! Yours truely managed to pair it with a desk lamp I'd stuck on a dimmer (to make it less glaring), with a pair of pars on the back via soca and desk lamp on the front. After a while DJ complained as the metal of his mixer had got too hot to touch. ;)

[johnhuson]

I'd like to agree with what has already been said with regard to the importance of lighting in a club/rave environment. If your after some video examples, I found

good example whilst searching for some of my own work on You Tube. Granted it does use lasers and LED fixtures quite heavily but it gives you an idea of style and look for Trance/Hard House type event.

 

What ever type of music the night has (assuming were talking club type environment which I feel we are) make sure you listen to a reasonable amount of tracks from the genre. Even if you don't enjoy the music it's important to get a feel for the timing and style of it.

[Jamtastic3]

Ha, funny you should mention the Gatecrasher John as I was going to type that as an example in my post, but thought it was a bit over the top compared to the OP's specs.

 

Tis a shame that Gatecrasher One (I think the one on the video) got burnt down...

[pete LD]

I don't like the posted idea that the lights aren't important in a clubbing atmosphere... of course they are!

 

I think the fact that on the clip that johnhuson posted there are punters filming the lighting on there phones proves lighting is noticed!

[dosxuk]

In my opinion, there are three levels of club lighting, two of which are noticed by a majority of customers:

 

Bad - Easily noticed. An example was suggested by someone above to let Mr Abstract do his lightshow. Always clashes with the music, and doesn't help build any atmosphere.

 

Average - Not noticed. Most 'townie' nightclubs fall into this category, where there is an ok rig, with someone who occasionally will op it for breakdowns (sometimes the DJ or a bored member of security) or blinders.

 

Good - Also noticed. Op-ed by people who know what they are doing with the kit, and the music, and know exactly how to blend the use of movers, pars, blinders, lazers, leds (and video these days) to enhance the atmosphere. See the Gatecrasher video above.

[dizzidido4]

hey everybody, new to this but really need some help.I am working with a (pretty old) avolites sapphire, six mac 250s and 36 par cans and I pretty frequently have to light dance nights, that is a dj onstage for four hours. my background would be in rock music mainly so I've never been to a dance show socially & am totally lost as to how to go about lighting one effectively.if anyone can give me a few ideas or even point me in the direction of some video footage of this sort of thing being done I'd be very grateful.thanks folks ;)

Ok. You dont need anything more than uv got get a couple of gelled pars (in red or whatever desired colour) on the dj. I assume its decks? Two will do coming in from above left n right. Get a couple of ur macs downstage right and left to sweep the dance floor then build up some chases and wicked moving head sequences and ur sorted. If u can try get hold of some Butlins adult weekend footage from skegness where they have live dj decks in the centre of the stage cos its a good example of a venue being lit to suit something that isn't what the rig was created for. Plus all they use are parcans, a couple of source 4s, Robe 500/600 n sometimes some martin lamps. But it can be done and done well so get ur head round it cos it'll look great x