# How to control lights on stage ?



## Picsou (Mar 11, 2019)

Hi everyone, 
I've been struggling with lighting control recently. We are running an ableton session with a dmxis box wich controls our lights that we bought and set to the right dmx channel. 
So this is my question : How do I control the lights that are already on stage without changing all my ableton live session and messing up with the tens of layers of automation ? I'm completely new on the lighting control and never understood how artists can just gig to any stage with awesome lighting without bringing any personnal lighting gear. 
Thank you so much for your answer !


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## lewis (Mar 12, 2019)

Picsou said:


> Hi everyone,
> I've been struggling with lighting control recently. We are running an ableton session with a dmxis box wich controls our lights that we bought and set to the right dmx channel.
> So this is my question : How do I control the lights that are already on stage without changing all my ableton live session and messing up with the tens of layers of automation ? I'm completely new on the lighting control and never understood how artists can just gig to any stage with awesome lighting without bringing any personnal lighting gear.
> Thank you so much for your answer !


i mean im a noob too but it seems that most stage lighting are like RGB and with an DMXis, can simply be hijacked/controlled.

So if you have programmed a midi light show in time with your full backing track, it should be as simple as connect the venues house lighting into the DMXis box?


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## GunpointMetal (Mar 12, 2019)

lewis said:


> i mean im a noob too but it seems that most stage lighting are like RGB and with an DMXis, can simply be hijacked/controlled.
> 
> So if you have programmed a midi light show in time with your full backing track, it should be as simple as connect the venues house lighting into the DMXis box?


It depends on how the house has their lights setup. This works if the lights are using the same DMX channels, but if you have "location" lighting (certain lights on the bass-player side, or behind drums, etc) and the house lights are evenly spread for different channels it kind of ruins the effect a little bit. I'd say if you're to the point of playing places big enough to need that kind of lighting, you'd still be better off bringing your own rig anyways just for control sake. We use four LED par cans and one strobe and that lights up a pretty decent-sized stage.


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## Picsou (Mar 12, 2019)

Hi ! 
Thank you for your answer, we don’t play on large stages so I think that will be enough, I just thought that using both our gear and the house lights as well would be awesome, I think our rig is enough for the size of the venues we play though. And I don’t think the houses will accept to change the fixtures channels just for us anyway. I think I’ll create a spare dmx automation that will follow the main RGBW + dimmer theme and change its address when fixtures that are sharing the same channels are available.
Thank you for your help !


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## donacianopuerto (Jun 18, 2022)

I guess it depends a lot on the level of artists we are talking about. Some of them have everything personalized, including the light for their concerts, and they do several rehearsals before the actual concert. Back to your case - I believe t depends on how the house has its lights set up; it is similar to how car lighting works. It works if the lights use the same DMX channels, but if you have "location" lighting (certain lights on the bass-player side, behind drums, etc.) and the house lights are evenly spread for different channels, it ruins the effect.


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