Stage Lighting

[jackothescot]

Hi everyone. I've only been a member for a couple of days so I hope this isn't a daft suggestion! Would I be right in saying a good few of us use lighting when playing live - I wouldn't fancy working without them! - so I was wondering if a section on lighting would be a good idea - I have a small rig controlled by Midi Program Changes and Control Changes into a MIDI to DMX converter so I can program each song with it's own light show. I think it might be a good idea. Your thoughts, ladies and gents?

[peteracox]

Hi, we do the very same thing in our show i use a zoom multi track to play the backing trax and it has a built in midi player to boot so it controls lighting and patch changes for effect and keyboard sounds i think its the best way do it unless your willing to take a lap top on the road and use mp3's running with sweet light or some similar software.

Pete.

[Rocky]

Sounds like a good plan. Being new myself there is probably an area that this topic would be directed to.

However, we use lighting and I would like to have your input in that area.

Currently we use two light bars (peavy) with the big jells and four 300watt bulbs in each can. I have been using the out from the mixer to the sound activated line to the lighting. Works pretty good. However, the lighting box has a lot of cool features such as fade, show pattern storage sets, chase, and intensity, that I am not getting the max potential for the set up.

I would like to insert messages into my sequences in Sonar that would work with my playback on the keyboards.

I am not sure as to how to make certain that when dropped down to a usb sandisk and then plugged into the board that the messages will be recognized.

Your thoughts Rocky Jazz, Blues and Diamonds.

[jackothescot]

I am currently using a Yamaha QY700 hardware sequencer for my Midifiles, and what I do is dedicate one of the 32 channels as a dedicated lighting channel. All of my lights run on DMX 512 protocol, which can't be run from Midi directly, so I stick aN NJD MDC-128 MIDI DMX converter between the lights and sequencer. This allows me to send Control Changes to change anything from Colour, through to Velocity and positioning of my moving heads.

[cowboy79]

I am interested in getting some stage lighting but have not understood any of the above I use a backtracker midi file player and at the moment have fied lights and a sound to light unit, very basic where can I find out about lights and setting a different light show to each midi file sounds exactly what I am looking for. Are these things very expensive?

[jackothescot]

Hi Cowboy. I'm gonna be away for a few days, but when I get back I'll give you some info on what to do. Au revoir, Jack. ;D

[charlie]

Hey Jack,

I too use a Yamaha QY700. Glad to see these sequencers are still out there being used. Really dependable, full featured, and excellent sounds. I'm currently running a couple of par 38's a side for flood lighting and (2) sound activated color banks for accent lighting. It's not much of a light show so to speak, and I did want to add midi control. My question concerns the programmimg time at home and the set up time on the gig. Is the additional work to have midi control of lighting worth it? Does it add that much to the presentation? I understand the aesthetic value and the visual impact, but at the end of the night, when it's all in trailer, does the means justify the end? I forgot to mention, I'm in a duo using mid backing tracks...also a guitarist/singer/sound tech/roadie/booking agent....not a lot of spare time to dedicate to lights...but in all fairness and openmindedness...I'm still interested in this midi lighting thing.

Charlie

[onager]

A stage lighting section would be a great idea! I use a laptop with cubase for our show and have thought about adding a midi lightshow. I only use the laptop for about 15 songs out of our entire list of songs. What I would like is the abiltiy to easily switch from midi lightshow to a simply audio chase ? Any input would be helpful.

[jackothescot]

Hi Charlie, nice to see another QY700 devotee! You're right to question the validity of a MIDI lighting setup, as none of us want to carry any more than we have to, and of course setting up and breaking down is very important, too.
You also mentioned programming, I'll address that later.
As far as carrying equipment is concerned, you would be replacing your non-compatible gear with as much or as little as you like - for small gigs I take out six LED PAR 64's for backlight - nothing else. I can add some Martin Pro 400's (heavy) and some MiniMac Profiles (heavier!) to bigger gigs. It's a question of what suits the venue. I also have a strobe which I use occasionally. It's worth mentioning that my lighting gear is NOT MIDI, as most programmable lighting works on DMX 512 protocol, so if you want to go down this route you would need to buy some kind of DMX to MIDI converter - look for an NJD MDC-128 Interface or similar. It is EASILY superior to a random light show! And WELL worth the extra input required.
As far as programming the lights on the QY, it's very simple, once you get the hang of it, usually you would use Program Changes to alter brightness, colours etc. If you want, I can help you program some files if you go down this route. Cheers, Jack.

[jackothescot]

Hey Cowboy, does your player let you edit files? It would have to have this capacity if you wanted to write your own light show. Jack.

[cowboy79]

Only lets me change key, speed, mute melody etc then save settings for the midi.

[jackothescot]

You would need some kind of editor, to let you input Control Changes for the lights. I'm sure there are software editors, but the QY700 is what I'm used to.

[thingyy]

Cakewalk or any sequencer software will do the job as you are only entering controler and program info.

[cowboy79]

Ok I will look into it, there is a good shop in Niort Thanks

[don]

Hi jackothescot and all,
I use a very simple set up called an " I Color 4" it has a built in mike that picks up sound and adjusts to beat. There is one for sale on ebay (Australia) this is the link cgi.ebay.com.au/As-New-I-Solution-I-Colour-4-IC4-DJBand-lighting-effect_W0QQitemZ120160442321QQihZ002QQcategoryZ14984QQtcZphotoQQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
I can highly reccommend it as being easy to cart around and the "wash" of colour is brilliant. Also the unit uses 4X500 watt halogen tungsten globes that only cost $15 to replace (in over 3 years of hard usage I have yet to replace a globe).
Good luck. Don.

[jackothescot]

Hi Don, and all. That's quite like a colour mixer I used to use called an NJD Spectre, which could operate on sound or MIDI signals. Nice one!

[cowboy79]

Further to Jon's suggestion I have just bought two of the lights he suggested with a dmx controller works really well now just waiting for the footswitch so I can black out at the end of the songs.

[jackothescot]

I've just bought 4 Abstract VR8's from a club install, and a VRX controller, so I'm gonna link this all up to my sequencer when I get round to learning how to program this stuff.

[moonie]

I have just joined the land of the lit, so to speak...I am looking at doing some gigs this year with midi so I thought I'd "midi'up" the light show. I have a laptop and a lighting desk [behringer LC2412] and an edirol SD-80 sound canvas so that's what I'll use. The lights are par cans, I solution I show 6 b's [2 of - barrel lights] and I color 4 [2 of - wash lights].

So the chain is Laptop [sequencer] usb to SD-80 [module] midi out to LC2412 [light desk] dmx out to light fixtures and dimmer pack for par cans [$250 chinese cheapie dimmer pack, works a treat!].

I found the easiest way for me was to just control light memories that I had already stored to the lighting desk, so instead of controlling the lights directly I just recall memories in the memory section of desk. Downside is more gear to carry, upside is if I want to change the entire light show I just change the memories in the desk.

On another note I'm looking for a way to convert midi "notes" to "controller" events. So if anyone knows a cool way to do that pray tell!

regards
"moonie"