General Lighting

• While a flashy light show is great for attracting crowds and pumping up the energy in a club or party room, you'll still need general lighting to make sure the wait staff can serve drinks and the dancers can find their way to and from the dance floor. Parabolic aluminum reflector (PAR) lights, often called PAR cans or light cans, are inexpensive fixtures that put out a lot of light. A standard of stage and music lighting, PARs can be colored with thin sheets of acrylic called "gels" to keep the atmosphere dim and moody. Keep a few PAR cans in your lighting kit just in case the room you're playing doesn't have adequate general lighting of its own.
  
  

Special Effects Lighting

• Typical DJ lighting instruments use colored lights, shapes, and tightly focused beams of colored light or laser beams to cast patterns on the floor and walls. Haze within the room--either artificially created or natural haze from smoke and steam--picks up the beams in the air. Motorized mirrors or moving parts inside the lighting instrument can move the beams of light to the beat of music (sound-activated), in pre-timed sequences or at the DJ's control.
  
  

Control

• Sound-activated fixtures and those using timed sequences may be run independently and simply turned on at the beginning of the evening and off after the show. However, for DJs who want more control, lighting consoles offer a variety of options. Simple consoles allow the DJ to turn lights on and off from a panel on the DJ stand, while more complex options allow a range of dimming options, crossfades from one light or set of lights to the next and even programmable sequences. DJ light boards do not generally need to be as complex as theatrical consoles, but the ability to preprogram several looks will help keep your show running smoothly.
  
  

Rigging

• All of these lights need a place to hang, and the process of hanging lights for a show is called rigging. If the club does not have pre-installed lighting bars securely fastened to the ceiling or walls, truss systems and lighting trees are used. A basic lighting tree has a vertical pipe attached to a weighted or tripod base, then one or two horizontal crossbars near the top of the vertical pipe. Lights are hung on the crossbars. These systems are easy to relocate, but not very sturdy on rowdy dance floors. Truss systems contain a series of metal pieces that are bolted together in various configurations. They can be used to create archways for lights to hang on above, in front of and behind the DJ stand.
  
  

Power

• DJs must always consider the power necessary for their lighting sources. A standard circuit can only power 2400 watts, so if your total power needs for lighting are more than that, you will need to find additional circuits in the room. It is also a good idea to keep all sound equipment on a separate circuit from lighting equipment, as dimmed lights can produce a hum on the circuit that speakers will pick up.