Old No7 Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 OK, I'll admit it........ I get inspired more and enjoy playing in the dark or dim lighting! Maybe that's a carryover from when I played in bands way too long ago. It's just me and my 3 boards in the music room -- for now -- but I was finding it somewhat hard to see some knobs, buttons or switches in the dark, so for about $25 total, I added a 12 volt (via 8 AA batteries in a small case) red LED lighting system to my boards. So far, it's working great and I'm really pleased how it came out! Here are two views of all 3 boards (MX61, Mojo 61, FP-30 e-piano) lit up: (What looks like "3 white stripes" are pieces of white plastic U-channel from Lowe's with one side of the U taller than the other. Mounted upside down, the shorter front side is covered on the front with black Gorilla Tape (was easier to do than black paint), and the LED strips are glued inside it facing down. The white color you see is the inside of the back taller side of the U, so it helps reflect the red LED lighting down. I added small male/female connectors on each light strip and then used Velcro to attach them to my Apex AX-48 stand. It will all disconnect very easily when I move it or take it elsewhere.) And a view of the Mojo 61: And finally, a view of the FP-30's controls: (those aren't "gig friendly" for fast tonal changes, I'll admit...) If anyone's curious and wants more details on how I did it, I'll put some info together. Rock on! Old No7 Quote Yamaha MODX6 * Hammond SK Pro 73 * Roland Fantom-08 * Crumar Mojo Pedals * Mackie Thump 12As * Tascam DP-24SD * JBL 305 MkIIs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEMcCut Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 Looks cool Seven! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyRude Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 Shows that even an Old 7 can come up with a new how-to Quote Some music I've recorded and played over the years with a few different bands Tommy Rude Soundcloud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
analogman1 Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 Verrrrry Cool!!!!! Are they battery powered or plug in? ((( sorry re-read that it's batteries. ))) Quote Tom Nord Electro 5D, Modal Cobalt 8, Yamaha upright piano, numerous plug-ins... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CowboyNQ Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 I like it. Looks like the bridge of a space ship. I enjoy playing in low light too but draw the line at 'no light'. Have had some robust conversations with LD"s about this over the years! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EscapeRocks Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 That looks wonderful! Quote David Gig Rig:Depends on the day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe P Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 Nice! I think I'll do that to my rig tonight. I have a USB-powered strip of blue LEDS. Since my rig ain't goin' anywhere for a while anyway, now would be the perfect time for a little whimsy. Thanks for posting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GRollins Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 Strings of Christmas tree lights. You've already got 'em. Drag 'em out and give 'em some off-season use. Battery powered lights are the pits because they eat batteries. Tree lights are AC powered--good to go--and AC is always your cheapest source of power $/W in the long run. To be honest, I use the white strings--well, warm white--but colored strings are fair game. We buy lights at the end of the season when you can pick up a couple of boxes for practically nothing. Grey Quote I'm not interested in someone's ability to program. I'm interested in their ability to compose and play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamuelBLupowitz Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 Very cool! Reminds me of what Page McConnell has on his Hammond and grand piano with Phish. Quote Samuel B. Lupowitz Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnotherScott Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 Tricky thing about colored lights is that they will work differently in different contexts. If you have a red board with white legends, or a black board that has red legends, you're not going to be able to read the legends. Quote Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Docbop Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 Get a hardcore computer gamer to hook you up they have RGB lighting on everything even on the components inside their computer. The RGB lights have all sorts of lighting effects changing colors and fades it could be like the old days of the Fillmore in music room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iconoclast Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 I did the same thing to my rig. Doesn't just look cool, super functional for dark stages. Cheap cheap and you can control it with a small remote, even get the lights to change color. Two thumbs up! Quote You want me to start this song too slow or too fast? Forte7, Nord Stage 3, XK3c, OB-6, Arturia Collection, Mainstage, MotionSound KBR3D. A bunch of MusicMan Guitars, Line6 stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoken6 Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 Tricky thing about colored lights is that they will work differently in different contexts. If you have a red board with white legends, or a black board that has red legends, you're not going to be able to read the legends.A chance for me to nitpick I think? White-on-red illuminated by red will appear red-on-red, so difficult to read. But red-on-black under red light will appear red-on-black. Blue-on-black under red light is another story... I dug the pics but thought the red lights would prove too much for me on my rig. Blue would look cool. Cheers, Mike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EscapeRocks Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 I first came across the idea when I was able to check out Joseph Wooten's (Steve Miller Band) rig at the SMB-Journey show in Austin about 5 years ago. He has a strip of LEDs under his Fantom X7 so look cool and helps him see the controls, etc of the Nord that sits below. Quote David Gig Rig:Depends on the day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charleston Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 Looks great! I'm gonna steal that idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnotherScott Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 [A chance for me to nitpick I think? Ah yes! Quote Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoken6 Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 Thank you Scott, you've earned a Like. Cheers, Mike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 Next you will be fitting Lowrider kit to the keyboard stand ! Quote Col Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MathOfInsects Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 That looks really cool. I've thought about it, but don't want to add any additional components to my set-up until the mythical time in the future when I make my snake and pedal board. Going to a 2-board set-up has cramped my style a bit, even as I love the flexibility. Quote Now out! "Mind the Gap," a 24-song album of new material. www.joshweinstein.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b3maniac Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 That looks good! Quote Yamaha MOXF8, MOXF6, Radial Key Largo, Yamaha DXR 10's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Emm Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 Nicely done! I get good use from small USB LED bars here & there. That red would drive me batty, but blue or green ones like the EscapeRocks model would work. Even great synth displays can feel awkward when engaged live. I had a friend with a double-keyboard rig who built a second framework for his band's stage shows. It was simple. He cut some narrow but tough metal rods to stand semi-delicately just outside the actual rig. He'd place super-sprung clamps at the joints of his foldable mutant grid and zap, it became stable. Four rubber monsters- which rotated a lot- held tiny LED flashlights at the precise angles for the best panel illumination. He eventually added some flashlights pointed upwards, making his rig look like a big robot/bug hybrid. How can you not love that stuff? Quote "I like that rapper with the bullet in his nose!" "Yeah, Bulletnose! One sneeze and the whole place goes up!" ~ "King of the Hill" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old No7 Posted August 4, 2020 Author Share Posted August 4, 2020 Here's an update ~5 months later... To address one of the concerns noted above, the battery life has been great, even with 15 to 20 hours of playing per week. I'm still using the original set (6 x AAs), as the power consumption of the LED strips is low. I also just re-positioned several of the LED strips to give me even more visibility of the controls, especially for the Mojo 61's knobs. Here's the latest images taken at oh-dark-thirty this morning: With this setup, now I don't mind being "in the red"... Old No7 Quote Yamaha MODX6 * Hammond SK Pro 73 * Roland Fantom-08 * Crumar Mojo Pedals * Mackie Thump 12As * Tascam DP-24SD * JBL 305 MkIIs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EscapeRocks Posted August 4, 2020 Share Posted August 4, 2020 That is bad-ass! Quote David Gig Rig:Depends on the day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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