TromboneChat

I’ve got an outdoor gig at dusk in a few weeks. Anyone have a favorite music stand light? Any to avoid?

Whatever you get, make sure it works with the stand you will use. My Giglight Super (discontinued) clips fine to full-size institutional stands, but I have to jump through hoops to get it to work with my normal wire stand.

Also, depending on battery technology, you might either get a hard lights-out when they are low or a gentle fade. I feel that the hard cut-off is just unacceptable. With mine, that means NiMH AA batteries; not the newer lithium ones. (I believe plain alkalines also fade out.)

I like the Mighty Bright. It can run on batteries or ac, and it's "mighty bright". Plus, it has two settings. I'd avoid those ones with two tiny little heads on stalks - they aren't bright, and for long gigs I don't think they run on ac.

I've been happy with this one from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D6 ... =UTF8&th=1

I’ll second the vote for the Mighty Bright.

Yeah, ++ for the Mighty Bright. Mine finally gave up on using batteries (after YEARS of use), but still works on the AC adapter. So it lives at home.

I got a Vekkia from Amazon to replace it. The light itself is fine, but it's only chargeable via USB -- which I don't like and have to always check before I leave in order to be sure it's charged. The switch is also a button push on/off that can get pushed on by something in your bag and drain the charge. On the other hand, it was about 30% the cost of the Mighty Bright. However, if I have to replace it, I'll probably get another Mighty Bright.

"StageLine" makes a really great unit with 24 tiny light modules. It can be recharged easily. It unfolds its three panels to make it very adjustable [with integral heavy duty music stand clips ] and has three different levels of brightness. It really does the job, unlike those miserable "bug antennae style" units. I used it mostly in rehearsals where lighting was poor and it performed brilliantly. I even left it on at the brightest setting through intermissions and it was still going strong after over two hours on the batteries alone. If you have on-stage AC you can tap into it and have an unlimited amount of lighting if you have enough "chops" to keep playing ! I think it was around $30 USD. Definitely recommended!

Many thanks for the tips. I have a wire music stand, so that will be a consideration. Maybe I'll just wear a headlamp.

I’ll look at the Mighty Bright and the StageLine.

"Maybe I'll just wear a headlamp."

If you're going to wear a headlamp, are you playing "head charts" ? Why do you need a light at all ?

Stefano wrote: ↑Wed Apr 03, 2024 5:39 pm Many thanks for the tips. I have a wire music stand, so that will be a consideration. Maybe I'll just wear a headlamp.

I’ll look at the Mighty Bright and the StageLine.

Wire stands and stand lights are always a problem. Even that small weight difference can make the stand unstable. Or the clamp has nowhere to hold and falls off.

My big issue with head lamps is they often don't point exactly where you are looking so you wind up holding the instrument in an uncomfortable position in order to have your music illuminated.

BGuttman wrote: ↑Wed Apr 03, 2024 7:22 pm My big issue with head lamps is they often don't point exactly where you are looking so you wind up holding the instrument in an uncomfortable position in order to have your music illuminated.

And I'll bet the conductor would know every time you look up.

Not dazzling the conductor is something to consider any time you set up a light.

BGuttman wrote: ↑Wed Apr 03, 2024 7:22 pm Wire stands and stand lights are always a problem. Even that small weight difference can make the stand unstable. Or the clamp has nowhere to hold and falls off.

This is undoubtedly true. So I think I'll take a minute and explain how I cope with it. First, I use the most substantial wire stand I could find: K&M 10810. To that I add a Manhasset accessory shelf, which adds stability. Then I put an 14"x11" sheet of clear polycarbonate on the desk, in landscape orientation. The accessory shelf helps to keep it from sliding off. The stand light can clamp to both the plastic sheet and the stand's decorative lyre. The polycarbonate sheet fits in most band/orchestra black folders, and the accessory shelf fits around the stand, so this rig doesn't take up much extra space in the bag. Easier than hauling around a Manhasset Voyager.

If I really needed to use a flimsy wire stand, I'd at least look for a light that could run without batteries (light weight), either with an AC adapter, or USB; then leave a USB power bank on the ground.

hyperbolica wrote: ↑Wed Apr 03, 2024 7:24 pm

BGuttman wrote: ↑Wed Apr 03, 2024 7:22 pm My big issue with head lamps is they often don't point exactly where you are looking so you wind up holding the instrument in an uncomfortable position in order to have your music illuminated.

And I'll bet the conductor would know every time you look up.

Look up? I'm supposed to look up?

A lot of auto parts stores carry a USB chargeable light that is very similar to a Mighty Bright hammerhead except the gooseneck goes into the end.
Advance Auto
Li-Ion LED Clip Flex Light
$14.99
Limited Lifetime Replacement
Performance Tool Li-Ion LED Clip Flex Light
Part # W9209

Auto Zone has the same one too.

https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/per ... 12415549-P

Doug Elliott wrote: ↑Thu Apr 04, 2024 1:34 am very similar to a Mighty Bright hammerhead

The Hammerhead puts out 28 lumens. The one at Advance claims 200+. AutoZone says 500 lumens. Holy moly!

I use both together sometimes. They're not very different. Somebody's wrong, both of those numbers don't seem right at all. And both have 2 light levels.
For $15 you can't beat it.

After reading through the comments and doing some research, I decided to get a new non-wire stand. I got the Vekkia perforated music stand, bundled with the Vekkia 42 LED rechargeable folding light, for $60. I’ll let folks know how they worked together after the gig.

Doug Elliott wrote: ↑Thu Apr 04, 2024 7:54 am I use both together sometimes. They're not very different. ... For $15 you can't beat it.

I was curious about the difference between a $30 light and a $15 one, so I went down to Autozone and picked one up. The difference is written right on the package: "Wear safety glasses when using tools". The Mighty Bright must have extra safety built in.

I have this one.



https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09YR ... =UTF8&th=1

They call it a piano light, but it's a typical music stand light. It claims 150 lumens, which by my use seems to be as much as most folks will ever need. It's brighter than most bulb stand lights.

Good things: It has five brightness settings, three color settings (bright white, daylight, and amber), it's wide so it illuminates the pages evenly, and the rechargeable battery last a long time. It clips to stands or stands by itself on a flat surface. And it's thirty bucks.

Bad things: If you carry it in a mute bag like I do, it can accidentally get turned on and blow its charge while sitting in your home in your mute bag. Also it's a USB3 charger, which some folks don't like.

If I was in charge of designing a stand light, I would make sure the switch couldn't accidentally turn on, and it would have a built in voltmeter so you could see the status of the batteries.

As it is now, most of my lights are Mighty Bright Orchestra lights and I put a piece of tape over the switch to keep it off, and I carry a battery tester and extra batteries. I'm usually carrying 6 of those lights and a few of the smaller Hammerheads.

One of the nice things about the Giglight is how it packs down into a compact brick, with a carrying case that does a good job keeping the switch from getting flipped. The latest version (which I don't have) has a low battery indicator light. Not quite a voltmeter, but close.

Another solution is to always use your light with a USB battery pack. I have one that constantly displays its capacity in percent. And they don't discharge themselves in a mute bag.

Doug Elliott wrote: ↑Fri Apr 05, 2024 3:47 pm If I was in charge of designing a stand light, I would make sure the switch couldn't accidentally turn on, ...

Yeah. How much thought by the design team does that take -- especially since Mighty Brite has had that nailed for decades with a sliding switch?

Doug Elliott wrote: ... and it would have a built in voltmeter so you could see the status of the batteries.

My Vekkia does have such a display: 1, 2, 3, or 4 dots for charge state. It's displayed while charging, and there's a tiny (recessed) button you can push to see the charge state when it's not charging. It's really quite a decent design that overall is almost as good as the Mighty Brite light, has three levels of light, but is not quite as big as the Orchestra light. I need to add some sort of "push protector" to the on/off switch -- maybe a little piece of flat aluminum with Velcro that I put on and off easily.

But of course the big advantage of the replaceable batteries is that they can be replaced -- with ones that are easy to carry. And I much prefer that.

Mighty Brite gets my vote now the the Super gig light seems to be gone. I’ve had great luck with this one. It packs up small!

The Original Mighty Bright... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07S76BZ67?re ... b_ap_share

According to that Amazon page, the light is 1"x1"x1" -- which I feel is a bit small for most of the uses I would need it for.

ghmerrill wrote: ↑Sun Apr 07, 2024 3:02 pm According to that Amazon page, the light is 1"x1"x1" -- which I feel is a bit small for most of the uses I would need it for.

Obviously an Amazon misprint / typo. See photo of light.

Posaunus wrote: ↑Sun Apr 07, 2024 9:38 pm
Obviously an Amazon misprint / typo. See photo of light.

Not a misprint. Not a typo. Not fumble fingers. It was put there explicitly, and is just another example of how sloppy and undependable Amazon has become in terms of its product descriptions. Just copy and paste from another product description.

It may seem a bit humorous, but it's constant now, and it means that no one (especially at Amazon) is reviewing or editing those descriptions for any kind of accuracy -- and so you really can't depend on ANYTHING you see in them without verifying it in some other way. They depend on "customer feedback" to do their work. It's why you have to be so careful in doing consistency checks on those postings and go over the customer feedback to be sure of the details -- which also doesn't work because the customer comments for a product may not be on the specific version of the product you're looking at.

This includes photos of products in some instances as well. I've had to return a number of things at this point (and over the last few years) because of fundamental inaccuracies in the product descriptions. Luckily (at least with the extra cost of Prime) returns seem never to be a problem, and just tossing them on the counter of the local UPS store three miles away has become an easy fix, though way too frequent. And that's extra time out of your life. What a way to do business.

Let me say about the mighty brite I referred to on Amazon - It works fine and illuminates to 2 pages at once on my music stand. It will run connected with a usb charger, and off the gig it recharges to full in 3-5 hours with a 5W usb charger. It does have indicators on it to show the charge.

I'm stunned no one else uses this light. It can even blink to get attention, and fits perfectly on my bass cork barrel to provide aimable direct illumination.

https://www.walmart.com/c/kp/safety-light-for-walkers

heldenbone wrote: ↑Mon Apr 15, 2024 10:10 am fits perfectly on my bass cork barrel

That may not blind the conductor, but it's surely an annoying spot of light. Just imagine if the whole band did that! I try to keep 90 degrees between the light path and the conductor's sight lines.

Yeah, it seems as though only in hopefully very rare cases would it make the conducting better. Also, the next move up would appear to be a headlamp.

I got this stand light from Amazon about 18 months ago:

https://www.amazon.com/Music-Orchestra- ... 581&sr=8-5

Price hasn't increased. Performance and convenience are great. Wide enough to easily illuminate 3 sheets of music on the stand. 6 different brightness settings, from "Cool Warm" to bright white. Rechargeable Li-ion batteries (via supplied USB charger & 2-meter cable) charge quickly and last a very long time between charges. Can play while charging if necessary. Can adjust the flexible gooseneck to keep the bright light out of the audience's (and conductor') eyes. I'm very happy with this light.

Best music stand light.

AtomicClock wrote: ↑Mon Apr 15, 2024 10:32 am

heldenbone wrote: ↑Mon Apr 15, 2024 10:10 am fits perfectly on my bass cork barrel

That may not blind the conductor, but it's surely an annoying spot of light. Just imagine if the whole band did that! I try to keep 90 degrees between the light path and the conductor's sight lines.

Yes, it is annoying, and instantly makes the user (me) an abuse sink. I bought it as a gag. It turned out to be useful in exactly one context - illuminating music on a lyre during a nighttime Christmas thing at the S.A. Kroc Center.


Blinding the conductor would just be an unintended side benefit.

.

ssking2b wrote: ↑Sun Apr 07, 2024 2:33 pm now the the Super gig light seems to be gone

To be clear, the Super has been replaced by the Max, with more-or-less the same form.factoe.

Stefano wrote: ↑Thu Apr 04, 2024 8:48 am I’ll let folks know how they worked together after the gig.

I'm looking forward to it.

AtomicClock wrote: ↑Thu Apr 25, 2024 9:34 pm

Stefano wrote: ↑Thu Apr 04, 2024 8:48 am I’ll let folks know how they worked together after the gig.

I'm looking forward to it.

The gig was moved up an hour, so we didn’t need the light! I did discover that the sturdy yet lightweight music stand I bought for outdoors has a . . . Lip on the edges making it difficult to use clothespins to secure the edges. So I’m doing plexiglass on top for now, and am moving towards getting an Ipad Pro 12.9 (used) to read off of. That might negate the need for the light I bought!

Stefano wrote: ↑Sat Apr 27, 2024 10:50 am ... am moving towards getting an Ipad Pro 12.9 (used) to read off of. That might negate the need for the light I bought!

What about sun glare on the tablet screen?

Posaunus wrote: ↑Sat Apr 27, 2024 12:39 pm

Stefano wrote: ↑Sat Apr 27, 2024 10:50 am ... am moving towards getting an Ipad Pro 12.9 (used) to read off of. That might negate the need for the light I bought!

What about sun glare on the tablet screen?

Screen protectors are sold that eliminate the glare so it's not an issue.

Stefano wrote: ↑Sat Apr 27, 2024 10:50 am

AtomicClock wrote: ↑Thu Apr 25, 2024 9:34 pm

I'm looking forward to it.

The gig was moved up an hour, so we didn’t need the light! I did discover that the sturdy yet lightweight music stand I bought for outdoors has a . . . Lip on the edges making it difficult to use clothespins to secure the edges. So I’m doing plexiglass on top for now, and am moving towards getting an Ipad Pro 12.9 (used) to read off of. That might negate the need for the light I bought!

I prefer file bands to a sheet of plexiglass. These are giant rubber bands that stretch the width of a stand. Put a couple on the stand and they hold the sheet music in pretty good wind, and with no sun glare; also they are easier for me to change sheets than the plastic.

A tablet works well too. I prefer Android but iPads work.

K&M now has a USB-rechargeable, two-head, gooseneck light: model 12259.

The light spectrum can be a little different than older K&M goosenecks, but it's not harsh or overly warm. I haven't had it fade during a performance (aka several hours). I don't know how it compares to other brands. I'm just glad I don't have to buy batteries anymore.