Lights Under Speakers?

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Abbey Lane

Active DJ
Jan 22, 2008
1,491
29
Ontario
I'm thinking of a new stage look...

Has anyone ever thought of putting lights under your speakers, while on stage?

I mean building a light box and then putting your speakers on top of the light box.

Maybe put some of the new LCD wash lights under the speakers.

Will it affect the sound with the speakers being off the floor?

If you're already done this, how did it work? Any pictures?
 
Abbey Lane said:
I'm thinking of a new stage look...

Has anyone ever thought of putting lights under your speakers, while on stage?

I mean building a light box and then putting your speakers on top of the light box.

Maybe put some of the new LCD wash lights under the speakers.

Will it affect the sound with the speakers being off the floor?

If you're already done this, how did it work? Any pictures?
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If you are talking about your main speakers getting them off the floor is what you want to do anyway. If you are talking about you subs, leave them on the floor.
 
hiredpower: I'm not talking about up lighting. I mean "washing" your lights out to the dance floor. I'm not thinking of going that high with the speakers. Just enough to clear the lights underneath the speakers.

MBM: I'm talking about the main speakers when you're on a higher platform/stage then the dance floor. I usually don't put my speakers on stands. Most halls around here have a 3-4 foot high stage. (I was at a dance just last week as guest and the DJ had four speakers on stands, plus subs. We were sitting just in front of one of the speakers and the sound was great. However, when I went to talk with people at another table, at the back of the hall it was too loud.)
 
Washing the floor, if it is not a dark color, can make for cool pictures, but I would honestly wash the ceiling first. Moving your lights down there won't do you a whole lot of good though without haze. Not putting movers under there (mirror down) would look cool for people looking at you, but would add very little overall effect to the dance floor. Assuming they were not blocked and were strong enough, they would look good on the ceiling though.

Mike
 
I usually hang my lights for washing and do little up lighting.

I was just looking for something a little different from my competition.
 
jkcomputers said:
To wash a dance floor you want them hung from a truss or above the speakers... to do up lighting you put them on the floor...
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Not necessarily. If you light a floor from above you will lose some of the light as it gets blocked out by the people dancing. To be more precise you would light the dance floor from floor level, the dancers from above, or you can do uplighting from the floor.

Mike
 
Not necessarily. If you light a floor from above you will lose some of the light as it gets blocked out by the people dancing. To be more precise you would light the dance floor from floor level, the dancers from above, or you can do uplighting from the floor.
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So what kind of light are you going to use to do this... NEVER have i seen any one "Uplight" a dance floor.... there is nothing "UP"
 
jkcomputers said:
So what kind of light are you going to use to do this... NEVER have i seen any one "Uplight" a dance floor.... there is nothing "UP"
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You misunderstand me. You can light the floor from the floor (using LEDs or PARcans) or you can do uplighting from there. Those are two different things.

Mike
 
You misunderstand me. You can light the floor from the floor (using LEDs or PARcans) or you can do uplighting from there. Those are two different things.
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I can not say I have ever seen anyone use an LED bar or Par can placed on the floor as "Floor Lighting"... It just not logical... Your light is spread too thin.... Plus if you have a decent amount of people, their feet will block it just as much if not more...
The only think I can think of where this may be done is with low laying fog, but even then, Im 99% sure, its always lit up from above...
 
jkcomputers said:
I can not say I have ever seen anyone use an LED bar or Par can placed on the floor as "Floor Lighting"... It just not logical... Your light is spread too thin.... Plus if you have a decent amount of people, their feet will block it just as much if not more...
The only think I can think of where this may be done is with low laying fog, but even then, Im 99% sure, its always lit up from above...
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Nope. Take it from a lighting designer. It is always lit from floor level. Think about it this way, PARcans light in an oval. So if you orient that oval to the floor at floor level you can light out to the furthest point of the light. No wasted throw. on the other hand if you do it from above not only do you get more shadows, but you don't cover as much area. Like I said, given a light enough dance floor it could be a cool effect with 10-15 LEDs arranged around the dance floor. Of course with a dark dance floor the effect is completely lost.

Trust me, as an LD the hardest thing for me to learn to do was to think in three dimensions. But go with the pro on this one.

Mike
 
Well actually I have danced on a lighted dance floor before and it was lite from underneath the floor, not above or on it!
 
Thunder said:
Well actually I have danced on a lighted dance floor before and it was lite from underneath the floor, not above or on it!
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Yup, you can do that too if you have the $$$$$$$$$$$$$.

But I have seen it done from floor level as well. And of course a good LD is always aware of the effects of their lights on the floor.

Mike
 
jkcomputers said:
Honestly, if I have 10 - 15 par cans, I can do a much better effect by hanging them or doing uplighting than this floor stuff... As a mobile DJ, that going to be alot of work, alot hazards, and a lot of tape... Not worth it at all... Probably the same reason why I have never seen it done...
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First off, it was never about which effect was better or easier.

Uplighting is certainly easier for that position and uplighting is always cooler (going from low to high is always the strongest aggressive position when people are looking at the lights). I never said it would be easy (you are right, lot of work, lot of tape).

But it is a cool effect none the less. If you have lights left over after you do your uplighting and dance floor lighting and effects lighting, it is a cool, fun effect. The OP asked for things you could do with lights secured to speaker stands, so I was providing another alternative. Remember, just because you have not seen it before doesn't mean that it isn't cool (I am sure I have a lot of tricks that you have never seen before). I used to do it for wedding receptions with LEDs at a place I worked with in Austin (it has light wood floors). Fun effect that was even better when the clients would pay for cold fog. Not the most effective use of a limited number of lights, but if you have the resources, then it is a fun, cool effect.

Mike
 
Thunder said:
Well actually I have danced on a lighted dance floor before and it was lite from underneath the floor, not above or on it!
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Those were great, weren't they! Disco era! Loud shirts and bell bottom pants!
 
ahoustondj said:
Those were great, weren't they! Disco era! Loud shirts and bell bottom pants!
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They are still in use, although now they are either LED floor panels ($$$) or LCD floor panels ($$$$$$$$$).

We had a 20'x20' LCD floor for a concert that cost us $240000 to lease for 6 months.

Mike
 
Esoteric said:
They are still in use, although now they are either LED floor panels ($$$) or LCD floor panels ($$$$$$$$$).

We had a 20'x20' LCD floor for a concert that cost us $240000 to lease for 6 months.

Mike
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WOW! You think they'll give me a discount? LOL
 
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