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Lighting Suggestions For Outdoor Backyard Party

FM Former Member
I've been working with a buddy of mine for about 6 months as a duo. He plays keyboards and sings. I play guitar and sing. We use backing tracks for bass and drums. Style 80's rock.

We have a backyard party coming up and we expect about 130 people to show up. I inherited a few lights from my father. The stuff I have is probably 10 years old or so. Here is what I have..

6 Can Lights with a bunch of gels
American DJ Scrambler
American DG Agressor
Martin Rainbow 2
Martin Magnum Pro 2000 Fogger
Chauvet power star
American DJ Model SC-8 lighting controller (on and off)
with Relay Pack model rp-8
Light Quest Gemini Controller (for the cans audio sensing)

3 lightng tripods with the horizontal bar across the top

2 lighting tripods with the hotizontal bar across the top with a 10 food truss.

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I could easily start attaching things to lighting stands and power up everything but I don't want the place to look cheezy. Is there any kind of a basic diagram for stage lighting or is it pretty much custom for every situation?

We only have one truss so I guess it would go in the very front of the stage? I only have about $500 to spend on additional lighting if I need to buy something. Cans look good. I guess I could put those all over the place but I don't want to blind everybody either.

I've seen some of the pic's on the board from others shows. I don't have any lights that are automated so I guess I could have a buddy run around and turn things off an on for different song?

Suggestions?
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FM Former Member
Thats a hard question. I really depends on what kind of effects you are looking for. Personally, I would use the par cans to light the stage up. I would use the FX lighting to light the crowd up. (for dancing). If I was the band, I would not want the lights to take the show away from the band. From my experiance, your first focus should be safety. You didnt mention if you were on the grass or on a stage, but (since the lights are older), its imparative the lights are grounded. (you know, that third plug everybody breaks off so it will fit upside doen in a plug). I had a party where one of my lights were not grounded and was on the ground pointing up. I happen to put my hand on the ground about 2 feet away and got a nasty shock and the ground was dirt and bone dry. thank god I found it and a guest did. Until that point, I thought it was not important and I have a degree in electronics. It made a believer out of me real quick. Got a little off subject here. Think of it from your guest point of view. will I be able to see the band? If I am dancing on grass, will it be light enough to see without tripping in a hole or a tree root? Answer these questions and your party should be fine.

Oh, and one more thing about outside (especally backyard) partys. Be sure the automatic sprinklers ane turned off. (ask me how I know this) Smiler


greg
FM Former Member
Thanks for the post. Good Suggestions. We setup in the living room tonight for our practice and to also see how the lights would work. It sure didn't take many lights to make a nice moody vibe. We used 2 of the cans and the American DJ scrambler. The scrambler has a nice pattern that hit the wall and moved to the music.. nice effect. We'll play round with the lights some more when I get back from my vacation next week. Thanks for the help.

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