Lights on Speaker Stands

[doncolga]

I would LOVE to put my light bar (Chauvet 4 bar) underneath my top speakers all on the same stand.

http://www.chauvetlighting.com/4-bar.html

Any ideas on a good way to accomplish this? This would be a cleaner look with fewer stands and less gear to carry. Would really like to make this happen ASAP.

[Curtybob]

Why not go over the mains? Put a tophat in the top of the cabs, and then go up with the lights. Lights being too low may as well be left in the trailer, IME.

[David Raehn]

If your 4 Bar has the same through-hole as the 4 Play, it's as easy as it gets. If you have the plastic top hat on the 4 Bar you may be able to remove that and the correct through-hole would be right there. It may or may not have the required set screw, and that would require you to use a lighting clamp to keep it in place.

[CoronaOperator]

Why not go over the mains? Put a tophat in the top of the cabs, and then go up with the lights. Lights being too low may as well be left in the trailer, IME.

I agree, standard 3 point stage lighting has the front lighting 45 deg up, and 45 deg to either side of the performer (the 3rd point would be rear colored wash lighting). Any higher for the front lighting and you get really unnatural shadows under the eyes, nose and chin, any lower and you'll be squinting from the glare. If you had to choose higher or lower, lower would look better from the audience side of things but bring sunglasses .

[Curtybob]

That is a valid point. I may have assumed incorrectly that this was more of a DJ setup than a FOH for a live band. If it is indeed for DJ, then I stand by my thoughts. Lights too low just lights up dancers closest to the booth, and makes them shy away from you to minimize getting blinded.

[doncolga]

Thanks for the observations guys. This is mostly for DJ work. I normally like the speakers and lights about 7 feet up (at the top). If I have plenty of floor space, four stands are not a problem. About 8/10 jobs however, I need to fit in as compactly as possible, hence the desire to be able to deploy with just two stands that will handle the tops and lights. Also, sometimes the speakers and lights don't center around me. I may be off to the side and the lights and speakers are centered on the dance floor, so that would eliminate trussing that could handle both.

Last gig I did, I had to put the lights under speakers and I was very careful that no lights pointed at eye level to prevent glare (I do this anyway regardless of height but was especially careful here). They were pointed either up to the ceiling over the dance floor or to the dance floor. I was very happy with the coverage and effect for the venue. Since I was happy with it, this is what prompted me to investigate just two stands instead of four.

A tophat on the OT12's would work well when I used those, and I very well may do that on those. But for really small jobs I still use commercial powered tops and powered sub (a rig I can fit completely and comfortably into my Tahoe) and a top hat is a no-go on those. The small version of my BFM rig still needs the trailer, and the big rig definitely needs the trailer. Some places I just refuse to take the trailer (like downtown Savannah, GA or Charleston, SC). Complete pain to navigate and park.

So far my solution is a locking pin like the ones used on farm implements. The original 4Bars don't have the "thru" capability of the 4Bar Flex's, but they have fly points on the back, so I'm able to secure directly into those off the locking pin through the pole, then toss the speaker on the very top. I'm going to experiment more, but so far that's got a very clean look and meets the all the requirements.