The DJ Groove: Forums

ControlDelta · Guest

I have been asked to light a high school dance with the school's equipment. I do not know exactly what i have, but i have never lit or even been to a dance before (ya i know. i have no life.) Most likely there will be Cans and maybe a few lekos (elipsoildals for you picky people) . how do i do this?

PS the dance is Wednesday. tomorow is tuesday.

djblade311 · Site Admin Joined: Mar 09, 2003 Posts: 84 Location: OC, CA

I am assuming that you don't have alot of experience with lighting so forgive me if you already know most of this.

First of all, you need to find out what type of cans you have, for power consumption considerations. Most cans use a standard 120V 3 prong power cord.

In order to control these cans, you need to have:

a dimmer/power pack that the cans will plug directly into.

a lighting controller that has slider controls for dimming and/or flashing/blinking
Both of these items can be seen at:
LSC LIGHTCOPILOT LIGHT CONTROL SYSTEM

To light up a dance floor effectively with gyms or anywhere, you need to make sure you have a light stand or truss so that the lights are elevated. Elevated lighting will give better lighting performance instead of someone's big head blocking the light.

ECONOMY LIGHT STAND 9 FT W/ CROSSBAR

These can be picked up pretty cheap. Cans in general can be used all night continously (usually) however special effects lighting should not be left on for more than 15 minutes at a time. Check with your local DJ equipment shop if you have questions about the performance time....

Oh yea, make sure that your cans have various colored "gels". These are the colored plastic inserts that are mounted in front of the cans to get different colors.

Aim your lights at various points on the dance floor, turn em on and start using the faders on the dimmer pack controllers. The fancy controllers may have pre-programmed dimming sequences so that you dont have to turn each can on or off manually.

Good luck on the short notice!
_________________
DJ Josh Blade
The DJ Groove Team
http://www.thedjgroove.com