 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: WhitePlainsDave
Date: 2015-04-15 16:38
Pardon for a question important to clarinetists, but certainly not exclusive to such musicians...
Maybe these eyes are getting older, but some cheap LED music stand lights I bought recently just aren't doing the trick for me, either with the number of lumens they shed on the page, or their ability to have light reach portions of the printed page that are most distanced from the light source.
I recently came across this webpage http://www.musiclightreviews.com/battery-lights which, while independent of me, I have no guarantees is independent in its reviews. I seek a bright, long lasting, battery operated stand light(s) that both limits and concentrates light to the confines of the stand below them.
Does anyone have experience with these or others? How's about the Maestro stand light? http://www.q-lighting.com/Q_Lighting/Maestro.html
I think the Maestro's been out for a while, although it appears to have been updated. One of my fellow players has this and it shines brightly, even from across the room (not necessarily a good thing).
Bboard posts on this subject seem somewhat dated, so I thought fresh discussion of the subject matter, especially since technology may have changed since last discussed here, might be okay.
Thanks.
Post Edited (2015-04-15 16:39)
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-04-15 16:51
Though the bigger, fixed lights at the top of the first review look cool, they are not adjustable as to where the light is pointing.
I have had GREAT success with the Mighty Brights (the ones I've used have two brightness settings). They are more than bright enough for all occasions, have a good wide angle of light and are infinitely adjustable.
Of course good light protocol is to have them positioned so the light is pointed down and not backwards toward your audience (some players inadvertently point them AT the music - bad).
.............Paul Aviles
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2015-04-15 18:02
If you use a sturdy stand, such as the big old black Manhasset stand (my choice), then check around the thrift shops and flea markets in your community and see whether you can get the big clip-on light that uses a tube-shaped incandescent bulb (still available -- grandfathered in) under a black metal hood. The hood clamps to the top of the stand and adjusts up and down easily to angles that keep the light on the pages and out of the musician's eyes. I don't think any of the modern stand lights are as good as those old ones.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2015-04-15 18:41
In October I bought 30 music stand lights from an EBay supplier in China. They have 2 heads on flexible necks and offer 2 levels of brightness. The spread of light adequately covers a Manhasset stand and even at the lowest level the page is readable even to my dim old eyes. Cost was under $5 with free postage to Australia. We had 1 early failure, but at $5 it's not worth pursuing. They run on 3 AAA batteries.
Tony F.
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Author: BartHx
Date: 2015-04-15 19:44
I use a combination of the above suggestions. I found a plug in light, similar to what Tony describes, that really did the job for me. As an LED light, it had a transformer to bring the line voltage down to what it needs. I cut the wire to the transformer, got a six volt screw terminal lantern battery, and added a pot to bring the voltage down to match the output from the transformer. The lantern battery will last much longer than the AAA batteries and, if (when) it eventually starts to weaken, I can adjust the pot to bring the voltage at the light back up to the 4+ volts it needs. I also have the option of plugging it back into the transformer if I ever have the need to use it as a plug in. The lantern battery does take up some space in the gig bag, but it is much smaller and lighter than a UPS. You just need to be ready to take gas from the other musicians when you bring out your battery.
There are square 6v or 12v batteries that are smaller than the lantern battery and you could adapt to spring terminals with alligator clips. That would take less space in the gig bag. Part of my routine when I need to use my stand light is to check the voltage at the light with my VOM before I leave home. However, I doubt that two decimal place precision is actually necessary. I expect it would be fairly easy to build a tester using a Zener diode (>4.0v and <4.5v) and a small LED.
Post Edited (2015-04-15 20:48)
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2015-04-15 21:47
for about $10 you get a 3.7v li-ion battery including charger - no bulk, and no electronics needed...
--
Ben
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Author: Lee
Date: 2015-04-15 23:48
I've had good luck with the Manhasset 1050 that the OP referenced. When charged it easily last for over 4 hours. For a plug in light I like the:
manhassetstandlightsmall.jpg Manhasset Stand Light
$19.50
The ultimate in attractive design and simplicity. Features include glare-free, full-width, audience-shielded illumination. It has ample clearance of even the taller scores of music, and dual clips for assured attachment, yet easily installed and removed. Complete with 40-watt bulb, 8-foot cord, and switch. Durable black enamel finish. Rigorously inspected and tested, this lamp is ETL and CSA approved, and is designed for years of trouble-free service.
Post Edited (2015-04-15 23:53)
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Author: Roxann
Date: 2015-04-16 00:20
I have a Mighty Bright that's 3" wide and contains 6 LED lights. It does the trick, but I wish I'd popped for the wider one with more LED's as the lighting just isn't as wide as I sometimes need it to be. It clips to the stand, I can position it many ways, it has 2 brightness settings, and it can operate off a wall outlet or batteries. I'm very happy with it. In a nutshell, get a big one! AND...get the adaptor designed specifically for the one you purchase. I made a BIG mistake and used an adaptor I had on hand and burned out the first Mighty Bright. Live and learn.
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Author: Ed
Date: 2015-04-16 00:49
I have used Lampcraft Super giglight for a few years. I am not sure if they are still available. One thing I like is that I can plug it in if needed at home, but can take to a gig and use battery power. I carry spare batteries so that if it starts to run low, I can swap them out. The rechargeable light don't give that option and if you run low, you may be out of luck.
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Author: Bennett ★2017
Date: 2015-04-16 01:02
I use the Lampcraft Fermata $40. Less than half the brightness of the brightest in the review (but 1/4 the cost.) Comes w. 30 day money-back
guarantee if you want to try it. http://www.lampcraft.com/fermata.aspx As the review notes, it can be a bit dim in the upper left and right corner but it can be easily and quickly reaimed if necessary.
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Author: BartHx
Date: 2015-04-16 04:09
WhitePlainsDave: That is actually what I use. I got tired of dealing with AAA batteries and rarely am in a location where I can plug in. I figured there must be a better way. I spent thirty years as an entire high school science department, so I had the background to set it up. I did not want to go over the normal voltage for the LEDs in the light and shorten their life. However, with the 6v battery and pot, I can keep them at full brightness even when the battery is nearing the end of its life (I get a warning well before I have to put up with dimming lights). And, yes, I am old enough to remember Rube Goldberg. I tend to be a bit of one myself. I am honored by your reference to him in comparison to myself. I used to give my physics students an assignment where they had to put a golf ball in a hole in the side of a box and have it come back out of the box via a hole at a higher level. No electricity or wind-up motors were allowed -- just put the ball in the lower hole and have it come out the higher hole. Some of them got really creative. They were allowed to have a set-up that needed to be reset in order to repeat.
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Author: gwie
Date: 2015-04-16 12:23
I just conducted a school run of Les Miserables with the aforementioned Mighty Bright Orchestra Light (the big one with a lot of LEDs). It worked really well for hundreds of pages of score and tiny notes.
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2015-04-16 17:24
GBK wrote,
>Skip the old fashioned fish tank tube lights which are housed in a metal enclosure and would clip on to the old metal Manhasset stands. These were the standard pit lights for generations, but now it's old technology - replaced by the more powerful and efficient LED lights.
>
Then I'm glad I only play at home for the amusement of Jane Feline, because I dislike LED lights. Granted, they're way better than fluorescent bulbs, which grossly distort colors and come with a maddening hum supplied free of charge. Unfortunately, the LED lights distort color, too, although not as badly; and I find that in a long practice session, LEDs give me eyestrain.
(I write that even though I use the newer, quieter fluorescent bulbs all over the house in order to save energy, do the right thing for the planet and all that. I've got an LED light in my miner's head lamp for walking at night. LEDs really do represent progress. However, it's progress that's still in progress -- and I draw the line at my music stand.)
I'm waiting for manufacturers to figure out that they could solve the worst of the problems with both fluorescents and LEDs by casing them in pale amber glass instead of white glass.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: BartHx
Date: 2015-04-16 20:10
You usually have to special order them, but fluorescent lights are available in a color temperature that matches sunlight. When the one window my classroom had got blocked, I got them installed in that room. I didn't tell the students what the difference was, but many of them remarked about feeling better when they came into my room from other classrooms. Although they would not work on a music stand, the individual folding OTT-LITEs use that color balance. You can occasionally see them go by in the background on "Antiques Roadshow" (for those outside the U.S. that is a television show). On the other hand, you seem to be saying that you prefer the redish cast of incandescent light.
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2015-04-16 21:36
Yes, I do prefer a warmer tone. And different manufacturers have different ideas about how to label their wares. About two years go, I bought some fluorescent bulbs labelled "Daylight" that turned out to be the most screamingly bright, bluish-white of any electric lights I've ever seen. They looked nothing like real daylight and they put such a glaring blue cast over everything in the room that red looked purple and yellow looked chartreuse. I returned the unopened packages to the store and gave the package I'd opened to Goodwill, with the used-for-half-an-hour bulb inside and a handwritten label where I warned, "BRIGHT BLUE-WHITE." Who knows, maybe they were exactly what somebody wanted.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: BartHx
Date: 2015-04-16 23:42
The temperature range of incandescent lights is roughly 2,700K to 3,300K. Warm (or soft) fluorescents generally run about 3,000K. Cool white (or daylight) fluorescents are about 5,000K and actual vertical daylight (white) is in the range of 5,500K to 6,000K. As we go through the temperature range of visible light, it starts with red at the cool end (which, for some reason, we refer to as warmer light) through white in the middle to blue at the hot end (which for some reason, we refer to as cooler light). There are LEDs available in each of these color ranges. Perhaps the real issue is to convince the manufactures of music stand lights to offer a variety of colors so that each user can pick the color that works best for them. Manufacturers of other lighting have already done so. Since we each see the world through our own eyes and with our own brains, there is no way to say that we all see the same colors in the same way. In fact, we do know that orientals are able to sort pearls by color differences that are undetectable to occidentals. Thus, the sorting of pearls to make a string that will continue to appear matched under all lighting conditions is normally done by someone with oriental genetics.
Stepping away from my physics teacher podium.
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Author: Varied
Date: 2015-04-18 10:12
Whilst we're on the subject of the Mighty Bright Orchestra light, I bought one of them a few years ago and it was a brilliant purchase - you should see the looks of envy on the faces of my fellow musicians when I get it set up in the orchestra pit! I wrote a review of it which you can find here: http://www.adventuresinwoodwindland.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/review-mighty-bright-orchestra-light.html
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Author: MSK
Date: 2015-04-22 05:26
My orchestra has a small number of the Manhasset 1050 and similar models as well as other old incandescents with the spring type clamp. I can't stand the Manhasset 1050 because the clip requires attaching directly to the stand. I much prefer to clip to the black orchestra folder. I purchased a cheap knock off of the mighty bright orchestra light. The battery compartment shorted out during the second concert so I now have to be tethered to the electrical outlet. While it lasted could get about 8 hours using rechargeables. The light still works with the AC adaptor, but next time I'll pay the $$ for the Might Bright Orchestra Light
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Author: William Hughes ★2017
Date: 2015-04-23 22:33
A couple of years back, I grew dissatisfied with my old stand light. I found a clamp-on light on line which featured no less than 20 LED lights. I thought that ought to do the trick. When I turned it on at our first night outdoor concert, however, the light was so bright white as to not only make the notes unreadable, but it actually hurt my eyes to even look at the page. Lesson learned: more is not always better.
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Author: MSK
Date: 2015-04-25 05:39
Two trumpet players in my orchestra had unmarked LED lights similar in appearance to the Mighty Bright Orchestra light that are rechargeable without needing to remove the batteries. Although they came from that major US online shopping site, the products appear to have been discontinued. I wish I could find a source. Unlike my cheap light, theirs have lasted two years.
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Author: BartHx
Date: 2015-04-25 21:11
My Rube Goldberg device (see above) is on its third year with the same battery. The battery voltage is still well above the minimum required. However, I am still taking gas about being able to power lights for the whole band every time I take it out.
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