Recently, I’ve had two different classes want me to teach them the basics of lighting for music. One was an in the moment request on day four of training, and the other is being used as a way to teach one of my ongoing private students better control of moving lights for their film career. Once I start thinking about how to teach something, it’s hard for me to stop. So I thought I’d turn this into a tutorial mini-series. This is for beginners in programming and/or film programmers who maybe want to be ready for a club scene or diversify their abilities. It will be written “console-agnostic”, which means I won’t give step-by-step programming details, but rather concept-by-concept instruction. Let’s dive in.
Before you can light something, you need to make many choices. If you are a guest LD at a club- the lighting fixtures and plot is already chosen. But for most other forms of entertainment- someone has to choose. So let’s get to know the basic kinds of lights used in live music, what they are good at and what they aren’t good at.
Spots
Spots are a moving head that can sharpen to a hard edge. They usually have two rotating gobo wheels and variable CMY (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow) mixing. They also tend to have a variable CTO (Color Temperature Orange) filter for lowering the CCT of the light. They also have a color wheel that will pop from color to color like a gobo. These largely exist to give you colors that CMY mixing doesn’t do well- primaries (Red Green Blue) being the obvious example. Since this is a white light source which uses subtractive color mixing, adding any color will lower your lumen output. They will usually have an animation wheel with fixed or constant movement as well as prisms. They have both zoom and irises. They tend to be fairly heavy- between 55 and 90 lbs, so they don’t move super fast, but you can (and should) make them dance to the music. Currently, most lights in this category are LED but older stock will have discharge lamps and mechanical dimmers. These lights are used for (gobo) patterns and interest as well as lighting the artists and audience.
Profiles
I’m mostly mentioning these lights so you know to look for them- and try to avoid them for music. They are almost identical to Spots, but where Spots have two rotating gobo wheels, profiles usually have one rotating and one static wheel. This is annoying since everyone’s favorite gobo is almost always found on the static wheel. They have shutters (terribly useful for many entertainments, but not really helpful for music) as well as almost every other feature of a Spot. When you think of how much of a time suck it is to program shutters, my avoidance becomes clearer. They cost more to rent (shutters up the purchase price, so the rental companies up the rate) and are a little heavier than Spots, making them slower and not usually worth it. That said- if they are in the room, use them.
Washes
This is a moving head soft light. It can never be focussed or sharpened. It will typically have a zoom range from around 10 to 60 degrees and the color is almost always RGBW (Red Green Blue White). They are light compared to Spots and Profiles, so they can move fairly fast. They are typically a range of fixtures under one “family” name, so be aware that a Rogue R2x is much smaller and dimmer than a Rogue R3x. The better product families have color matching across the product line, but don’t take that for granted. They can be used for backlights, top lights, side lights and even footlights. Since they are almost always LED (you have to go way back in time to find arc source washes), they are additive in their color mixing. This makes them brighter by far than subtractive when mixing saturated colors. I love to use them to push super saturated colors as my base layer for a look. When hitting a subject, the beam may have multiple shadows or they may have lenses that homogenize the beam to create a more singular shadow. Typical weight is between 20 and 40 lbs.
Beam Lights
The first task of lighting is illumination, right? This light isn’t intended to light anything or anybody- it’s a light that that is meant o BE seen when it forms patterns, shapes and whips around the stage as fast as you may want. The beams of these lights are typically between 0 and four degrees, making them look like light sabers cutting through your venue. If you point them too long at any surface that is too near, they are a serious fire risk. Do not forget this detail. They are light weight (comparatively), so their motors can respond very quickly for movement. Typically, they have one or two wheels of rotating gobos. They tend to not have CMY color mixing (though some do) and instead have color wheels that slam into the color rather than fade. They are ridiculous amounts of fun to program for music. Get as many of them as your budget will allow. I love them as back lighting, but I’ve seen great designs with them hung on vertical trusses as a side/back system. They often (still) have discharge lamps (like a projector lamp) that is a short arc. This means you need to lamp them on and off through the console and dimming is done from a mechanical dimmer inside the unit. There are (of course) LED versions as well, but at the time of writing, they haven’t yet taken over the category yet.
Beamwashes
A product category that didn’t really exist until fairly recent- when this fixture is done well, I adore it. My current favorite is the Outcast Beamwash 1. Zoom range of around 4-55 degrees, these things are light and very fast. On this particular make/model, they have a pixel-mappable led ring that adds a lot of interest. RGBW color mixing. Tons of built in macros (which you should be cautious of since you usually can’t crossfade in and out of them) with really fun effects. They weight between 20 and 40 lbs, so again- they are fast. Like washes, they may cast multiple shadows or have a homogenized beam. To be honest, I would choose this light over a normal wash light any time the light itself is supposed to be seen, just because of the ring. It’s incredibly fun to work with, though I sometimes lose track of what I have programmed the ring to do and have to fix this on a second pass of programming. I’m an older designer, so I tend to stay hyper-focussed on what the light is supposed to be lighting, and I forget the light is a visible light surface itself.
You Must Meet the Gear
When you’re starting, it’s overwhelming how much gear you need to learn about. I get it; I went from live events for my whole life to film work about 3 years ago. But knowing the gear is a big part of the job. So go to every local light vendor you can and test the gear to get to know it. While you are there, get this new-to-you light into your show file template with at least basic color palettes and beam palettes. Seeing the gear in real life and stress testing it will help you make better decisions of what to order when the time comes. And doing your homework to get useful references into your show file will help you make short work of the many programming tasks you may be asked to do. And there will be MANY.
Budget Considerations
If budget is tight (and someone always thinks it is), you can easily trade moving head washes out for static wash fixtures. In each one of these categories, there are a variety of price points lights will be available at. Beware the low end gear. I’d rather have three good lights I can count on to be consistent and good quality than a dozen things that lose their home and are pointed in strange directions. When making decisions based on budget, it’s important to discuss what you are trying to do with all the stakeholders of your event. If the primary consideration is watching light beams dance about and the music is EDM- don’t cut the beam lights. If you’re lighting Pink Martini, cut the beam lights. Not all music is well lit by one approach of inventory.
Venue Lights
If you are using a music venue, there will almost certainly be lighting inventory available. Try to go by well in advance to scope out the repair/function status of each light. It’s terribly annoying to show up on site having planned to use six of a light that are there to find two of them haven’t worked right for years. Also check out the hang and see how little of it you can change to get what you need. Hang time is time you can’t be programming (usually), so be jealous of your time.
Camera
When you are doing any event for camera, place a high value on any fixture that has a variable PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) you can control from the console. This will get you out of the dreaded “lines are striping the video” without dragging out a ladder. I would go so far to say if the lights doesn’t have this function- don’t use it. Shoot days are frantic, and you don’t want to be seen as the person who both caused and couldn’t solve the problem. I know it’s not fair that you would have blame placed on you for fixtures you maybe didn’t choose, but when has life ever been fair?
Wrap Up
This time, we went through the fixture types commonly used in music lighting. We discussed why each is good and for what, while acknowledging their weaknesses. Next time, we’ll get into laying out a lighting plot for your event. If you have favorite lights in any of these categories- share them in the comments and why you like them! There’s an infinite amount of inventory, so recommendations are a great way to learn more about what is out there. Don’t forget to mention what kind of music you light!
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Mark LaPierre is a programmer in film and television based out of Albuquerque. He grew up in live entertainment and has been a designer/programmer for musicals, concert dance, live music, circus and corporate. Mark is a proud member of IATSE and an ETC Eos trainer. If you enjoy his content, please consider commenting on his posts on the website to appease the Algorithm.
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