Lights And Sounds: The Beginner’s Guide

Lights And Sounds: The Beginner's Guide

Lights and sounds can make or break your event.

Today I’m going to show you how to elevate your event and WOW the crowd even more!

I know you’ve got so many other suppliers left to handpick.

For the lights and sounds aspect alone, you already got so many options from rental suppliers, equipment, and packages. You’re left overwhelmed, am I right?

Well, let me make it one less complicated for you.

In this simple guide, I’ll explain the basics of event lighting and audio system so you’ll understand what you’re renting out.

And, decide for yourself which one you’ll actually need.

What are lights and sounds?

Lights And Sounds with a Rock Sign

Lights and sounds are the basic technical equipment in redefining the whole feel of your event.

Let me explain more in a bit.

Audio Equipment

Sound Reinforcement System

Imagine this…

It’s your moment and you’re so in the zone, pouring your heart out with the speech you’ve all planned out and been practicing for days. Just as you near the end, you notice people at the back staring at you with blank faces.

As you go down the stage, your friend told you there was a technical difficulty so almost all the audience didn’t understand a thing you’ve said.

WHAT A WASTE. You don’t want something similar to happen to you, right?

Keep this in mind for your event arrangements.

“All of the audience should enjoy high–quality sound that is loud enough and clear enough.”- David Mellor

This is the main duty of the sound system as it reinforces the sound throughout the venue.

Sound System for a Forum

Each person must hear what’s being said and experience the same audio quality.

Your basic sounds or PA (Public Address) system includes microphones, a mixer, speakers, and an amplifier.

This is automatic for every event, whether it be your birthday party, wedding, concert, or a conference you’re organizing.

DJ Equipment Rental

Sure, anybody can create a playlist of tracks especially that Spotify exists. The question is, will everybody in the crowd enjoy the music you think is great?

This is one of the reasons why you hire a Disk Jockey (DJ). He’s professionally trained to set the beat for the crowd and get the hype going, keeping the atmosphere alive.

Disk Jockey (DJ) mixing

Of course, DJs are nothing without his mixes. Laptops, turntables, and DJ multi-player like CDJ or playbacks are some of the equipment used by them.

Pioneer Nexus CDJ--DJ equipment

If you’re hiring a DJ, best to make sure if he’ll be providing his equipment. If not, better inform your lights and sounds for rent that you’ll be having one.

Backline

Band Equipment/Backline

The backline refers to the gears used by bands to intensify the sounds created through their usual instruments. What’s commonly included in a backline rider are the following;

  • Drum set with cymbals, drum throne, and carpet
  • Amplifiers for guitar, bass, and keyboard
  • Instrument microphones

The tricky thing about this is that every band prefers specific brands for the equipment. Perhaps, they’re already accustomed to one brand or their music sounds so much better with another?

At the end of the day, the lights and sounds rental service must adjust to their needs. You’re safe if your supplier has the following brands:

  • DW or YAMAHA for drumset
  • Zildijan for cymbals
  • Fender or Marshall for guitar amplifier
  • Ampeg for bass amplifier
  • Roland for keyboard amplifier
  • Sennheizer for instrumental microphones

Lights System

Exile Inc. Lights and Sounds for Patti Austin Concert

Do you know people remember their first impressions more because of the primacy effect?

First impressions are usually made through one glance.

What first impression do you want your guests to remember when they first step into your event’s venue?

This is where good event lighting comes in.

Strategic lighting complements a majestic venue styling.

WHY? It highlights the important pieces and spots to encapsulate the vibe of the theme.

Not only that, it evokes specific emotions in your audience.

For example, you’d want your guests to feel relaxed and at home in a rustic-themed wedding reception. With this, you’d want to use minimal lights with warm colors such as gold.

The lighting system is a crucial aspect of your event.

It not only sets the atmosphere of your venue but it can easily transform a dull set-up to a highly refined aesthetic event.

Also, it can be a cheaper alternative to achieve the captivating look you’re dreaming, without the extra ornaments.

For a forum or conference, you don’t need to add string lights as it would deliver the wrong impression to your audience, right? Perhaps, you’ll need a few LED Pars and Sharpy Moving Heads to emphasize the company’s colors and a spotlight for the main presenter so all eyes are on him/her?

The basics of your lighting system are LED pars to add more depth to a static background, moving heads for a simple amazing factor and a lighting control to balance the intensity.

Lights and Sounds Professional Team

EXILE Lights And Sounds Technical Team

Yay! You’ve chosen a sounds and lights rental company.

But are you really all set?

Remember, lights and sounds are more than just the equipment so you need a dependable team as well.

It’s the crew who will do the heavy lifting to set-up everything and make sure everything is in the right place.

It’s the technicians who’ll make the most magic out of the equipment for your event.
Beforehand, the technicians must already know the event specifications and the venue.

They’ll need to know which equipment to use and how many.
In the venue, a sound technician’s job requires the following:

  • Expertise in leading the rest of the crew to set-up the equipment & to connect the wires
  • In-depth knowledge & skill to operate the audio system especially mixing board
  • Deep understanding of the reasoning behind sounds
  • Precision in timing, to know when to adjust and balance the sound

With an exceptional eye, a light technician must discern which colors and effects play the best with each other for a specific theme. You wouldn’t want gloomy colors for a joyous celebration, right?


The point is, choose your team wisely because the success of your events lay in their hands.

Rather than scratching your head for a solution to a catastrophically technical mess,


I bet you’d want to sit back and enjoy the show!

CONCLUSION:

Thanks to ‘Lights And Sounds: The Beginner’s Guide’, you don’t need to spend extra hours contemplating which offer for lights and sounds rental to take.

As you saw in the guide, not only are sounds and lights services are automatic for your event but these can lead to its success or downfall.

Another key point is that the lights and sounds system are a direct means to your senses of hearing and sight. Yes, all of your senses are essential but you have to admit that both of these are usually the first to affect us.

As Helen Keller said, “Blindness cuts us off from things, but deafness cuts us off from people”.

Now you’ve got one less aspect to worry about your event as you understand the basics of lights and sounds.

Before you continue with your event preparations, make sure to leave a quick comment to let me know what you think of ‘Lights And Sounds: The Beginner’s Guide’,

Or if you have more questions to ask, don’t hesitate to email me at juno@exile.com.ph or to reach out to us.

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