Stage Lighting & Effects

Stage lighting and light effects

Start in stage lighting to colour a stage, a dance floor or a wall. Many of our lights use built-in LEDs, and many are RGB, mixing their own colours. A light listed as RGBW adds a white LED for cleaner whites and softer pastels. Choose par cans for an even pool of colour, wash lights to spread it across a backdrop and a moving head for a beam that sweeps the room.

Where a listing gives a beam angle, a narrow beam picks out a performer and a wide beam floods the back wall. For movement, flashes and glow rather than steady colour, head to stage effects. Some of our lights are sound-activated, so they change with the music.

Rigging and controlling stage lighting

Alongside the lights, we stock DMX kit to control a whole rig from a single desk. Where a light lists its DMX channels, more channels give finer control, so check that your controller can address them. A few XLR leads carry DMX from the desk to the lights. On long or branching runs, a DMX booster splits and strengthens the signal.

A few lighting stands carry a T-bar for a row of lights beside the stage. Check a stand's maximum load and height adjustment before you rig it. A few mounting hooks clamp a light to a bar or truss.

Fog machines or haze machines

A fog machine, often called a smoke machine, pushes out thick clouds in short bursts. A haze machine lays a fine, even mist across the room, so light beams show without hiding the stage. A few low level fog machines keep a dense layer close to the floor.

Choose a more powerful machine for a bigger room. Where a listing gives a warm-up time, switch on well before you need fog. A bigger tank means fewer stops to refill. Several of our fog and haze machines come with a wireless or timer remote. A few can be cued from a DMX desk.

Choosing fog and haze effect fluids

Match the fluid to the machine: fog fluid for a fog machine, haze fluid for a haze machine and low level fluid for a low level machine. Where a listing shows density, dispersion and stability, they tell you how thick the fog looks, how quickly it clears and how well it stays in place.

Some fluids state the machine power they suit, so check that against yours. A few fragrances, such as vanilla, mint and coconut, add a scent to fog and haze. A few cleaning fluids help keep a fog machine in good order between shows.

Bubble machines and snow machines

A bubble machine sends streams of bubbles across a stage or dance floor, and a machine with more wheels and fans puts out more. A few bubble machines come with a remote control. Some bubble fluids are UV-reactive, so the bubbles glow under ultraviolet light from a UV bar or bulb.

A snow machine scatters a soft drift of artificial snow over a stage or a crowd. A few snow machines have RGB LEDs to light the flakes as they fall. Use snow fluid in a snow machine and bubble fluid in a bubble machine.

Disco balls and disco ball motors

A disco ball only sparkles when light hits it, so pair it with a spotlight or pin spot and a motor to turn it. Some of our disco balls are glass. Our largest have a polyethylene core. A bigger ball suits a bigger room, and smaller mirror tiles scatter finer points of light than larger ones.

Match the motor to the ball by checking its maximum load against the ball's weight. A few disco ball motors run on batteries, so the ball can hang where there is no socket.