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March 12, 2023
Buying Guide: DJ Lighting
Whether you're DJing a house party or putting on a show in a huge club, your light show can make or break your performance. Choosing the best lights for your setup is an art form in itself. From moving lights to washes, strobes to lasers and even fog machines, zZounds has a solid selection of light fixtures ready to enhance your show. Follow our buying guide below to see some of our favorites.
PAR Lights and Spots
Throw an even wash of color over the stage with PAR lights. Once you've blanketed the stage with the glow of a few PAR cans, you can highlight individual performers with the narrow, focused beams of spotlights.
Where conventional PAR (Parabolic Aluminized Reflector) lamps can emit a lot of heat, newer lights use LEDs to stay cool. Even cooler: multiple LED fixtures can be combined to create animated pixel-mapping effects.
Where conventional PAR (Parabolic Aluminized Reflector) lamps can emit a lot of heat, newer lights use LEDs to stay cool. Even cooler: multiple LED fixtures can be combined to create animated pixel-mapping effects.
Motorized Lights
If you've seen a show in any good-sized venue, you've likely seen motorized lights -- or moving lights -- panning, tilting and spinning in time with the beat. Motorized lights can dance with the music in a range of speeds and patterns, from a slow breakdown to a huge build. And with their built-in sound-activated modes, moving lights don't require programming.
A must-have for adding depth and movement to your performances, moving lights can be set on tripod stands, hung from trusses over the stage, or set directly on the dance floor. They're perfect for the mobile DJ who wants to enhance their music with an extra kick.
A must-have for adding depth and movement to your performances, moving lights can be set on tripod stands, hung from trusses over the stage, or set directly on the dance floor. They're perfect for the mobile DJ who wants to enhance their music with an extra kick.
Bar Light Systems
With multiple light heads on a single bar, these lighting systems give you a whole show in one bag. Loaded with 4 or more individually adjustable PAR lights, spotlights, or moonflower lights, they deliver excellent bang-for-buck. Look for an included tripod stand to get your bar light system off the ground.
Strobe Lights
Powered by bright white LEDs or high-wattage Xenon lamps, strobes are a must-have fixture for any club. Placed behind the performer or off to the side, they create a great, energetic effect alongside colored lights, taking your light show to the next level by adding a fast-flashing pulse to the dance floor.
Lasers and Fog Machines
Laser lights can project hundreds of razor-sharp red or green beams onto your walls, ceiling, or dance floor. To really make your laser lighting effects stand out, add a fog machine to your setup. With your laser fixture on one end of a long bar or club, and just the right amount of fog, its beams will stretch across the entire venue.
Effect Lights
Captivate your crowd with effect lights -- from moonflower lights that cover the floor with rotating spots, to gobo projectors that put a custom-made design on display for the world to see. Whether you're an entertainer on the go, or the owner of a small club, effect lights can add another visual dimension to your shows -- filling an entire wall and turning a dull part of the venue into a highlight. Effect lights are also a great choice for outdoor bar or decks, where you don't want to have a full-on light show, but want to bump up the ambiance with color and light.
DMX Controllers
Like a mixer for your lights, a DMX controller gives you ultimate control over colors and movements, so you can choreograph your lights to your music set. DMX is a digital signal that can control hundreds of light fixtures daisy-chained together, usually with standard 3-pin XLR cables.
To set up your DMX system, start by assigning each light a DMX Address number. If you have four blue wash lights on the stage, you can give them the same DMX Address, and control all four with a single slider on the board. One light can occupy several DMX channels -- for example, if your lights on Address 1 have 7 channels of DMX control, then your next available DMX Address will be 8. Luckily, DMX gives you up to 512 possible addresses.
Once you've got your DMX controller talking to your lights, you can save different lighting looks as a series of "scenes" on the controller, and hit the "Go" button to seamlessly transition from scene to scene. With all this power at your fingertips, it's easy to see why the pros use DMX controllers!
To set up your DMX system, start by assigning each light a DMX Address number. If you have four blue wash lights on the stage, you can give them the same DMX Address, and control all four with a single slider on the board. One light can occupy several DMX channels -- for example, if your lights on Address 1 have 7 channels of DMX control, then your next available DMX Address will be 8. Luckily, DMX gives you up to 512 possible addresses.
Once you've got your DMX controller talking to your lights, you can save different lighting looks as a series of "scenes" on the controller, and hit the "Go" button to seamlessly transition from scene to scene. With all this power at your fingertips, it's easy to see why the pros use DMX controllers!
