Sound & Lighting advice for small scale parties and events.

Hiring sound and lights can be a minefield if your not up on your technical jargon. What follows is a short jargon busting article on the names of products you may have to choose from when hiring sound and lighting for your event.

When choosing a sound system the main speakers you will hear the sound company talking about will be the top boxes. These will consist of one box with a cone shaped speaker providing low sounds and a 'tweeter' usually not visible past the flare shaped device holding it, this produces the really high sounds.

The other speaker you could hear about is the sub woofer, sub or bass driver (they all mean the same thing). This produces the really low bassy sounds, the sound that makes things vibrate if turned up.

One thing you need to ask is if the sound system comes with a Sub-woofer. If your looking to have a party with people dancing and 'feeling' the music, you will need a subwoofer to give a good overall sound. Remember the bass is the thing that makes you tap your foot or nod your head when your listening to music.

Another thing I would ask is the make and model of the speakers, type them in to google image search and get an idea for the size and look of the speakers. Dont judge the quality of sound based on the look but think; do I want speakers that look like this at my event?

In my opinion, lighting can be a minefield for someone hiring for an event. Im going to run through some of the different types of lighting you may be offered, what they are as well as some of the things you should consider.

PAR cans

These are really simple lights that don't move around but may change color if they are 'LED PAR cans' they are designed to provide a decent amount of light for an area and are commonly found on the live stage.

These produce moving beams of light in various shapes and colors and are quite effective in the disco setting.

These are similar to scanners in that they move and produce beams of light and move around but are generally higher quality than the scanners.

Usually green, they produce a laser beam that moves so fast it creates shapes on the floor or ceiling.

There are many other variations that you could be offered. I suggest giving the hire company a good idea of the type of event and size of the room so they can suggest a setup. Look for a setup that does not go over board and make the room look silly but make sure there will be enough lighting if you have hired a large room.

Following these small tips when hiring sound and lighting should go someway to making your event a success. Remember you can always ask for photos of the lighting set up. Personal recommendations from friends will always help when looking for a sound and lighting company as most people cant be sure of the quality of sound they will be getting.