Creating Concert Light Effects?

Question

Recently I programmed the light board in my church to sync with the music. However when the band plays slow songs the lighting tends to look bad. About how much would a "professional" system cost: new light controller/better controller, way to create light shows on a computer, etc?

What would you recommend for this situation?

Answer 1

Sound-to-light is never going to look wonderful.  What I'd recommend doing is finding someone to operate the lights for you - basically you program up a whole bunch of different "looks" (states) and then they fade between them according to what the band is playing.  That way they can pick the look to fit the song, whereas sound-to-light is pretty random.  From what I can find on the net, the Eurolite desk is able to have 24 scenes pre-recorded, plus 48 individual light channels - that should be plenty for a creative operator to "busk" the lights with.  You could go down the moving light road, but you'd probably need a new lighting console - which will not be cheap, and moving lights are expensive to buy and also need looking after or they just stop working, plus you'd again have to find an operator to run the whole thing - again, sound-to-light is pretty limited.  I'd advise finding someone to run the existing lighting desk; it's much the easiest and most effective way of improving your lighting in quick time.  If you still want more, then get a local lighting company to come in and have a look at your venue and advise on possible options for upgrading.

Answer 2

If you google ETC, Martin, or Whole Hog 2, you should get some options, all three have websites that sell boards.  

I don't know your church, but ETC is good for conventional lights and small spaces, Whole Hog is better for movers and larger venues.  (It depends what kind of lights you have installed.)  

WiseyWig will let you visualize a lightshow on a computer - I'm pretty certain there is a version of that you can create a show then pop it into a board, but it's expensive.  

Answer 3

Well the lighting board i have in my theatre is used with ques and stuff... so you sit there and do it yourself.. idk how much one of them actually costs but im guessing alot lol... usually it would be using a computer