Black lights

[ericlingus]

anyone hear have black lights and black light acesseries like posters in their studios? I'm decorating my studio/bedroom. I want a good atmosphere in here since im in here most of the time. I think it's important. So anyways do black lights interfere with anything? What are some good sites that carry them? Any information I should know about black lights? Thanks.

[David Katauskas]

I have a black light in mine...used to have two. Two was too many...it played tricks on my eyes. So I replaced it with a red bulb (at Target). Now the room is really cool...black light...red light...lava lamp...glow from monitor...can't get any better than that. It's dark enough to be cozy, but light enough to see.

[Innovations]

Well if this was a professional studio it would be completely out. People meet in studios, read documents, etc. and so forth. But of courst that does not apply to a bedroom/studio

[SonicClang]

I'd never... ever put a black light in my studio, unless I was hosting a halloween party and we were hanging out down here. After a while they give you a headache. Plus, if you put blacklight posters where you're playing, the bright colors would majorly distract you. Not to mention the whole thing is a little bit middle school... I guess it depends on your taste. I'm going for tasteful. I've got enough light in my studio to make it VERY bright, or I can tone it way down for a more calm experience.

[VSpaceBoy]

Make sure to use incandesant and not flouresant for noise.

[SonicClang]

Incandescent black lights don't really work. Only fluorescent bulbs put out ultraviolet light. Those black light "party lights" you see in the store, those don't work like a real black light. So, if you do use one of them, don't expect it to work like a real black light.

All a black light is, is a fluorescent light bulb with darkened glass. Only a certain section of the light spectrum escapes the tube, and when these light rays hit brightly colored objects they appear to light up. If you could see in ultraviolet the room would be just as bright as normal.

Also, watch it with the incandescent style bulbs. They’re so dim they bump them up to 60 watts. If you put that in a fixture only designed for 40 watt bulbs you could burn it up.

[ericlingus]

I noticed they are selling black lights at musicians friend for 10 bucks. I think i'll buy a couple. Can you get black/red light lava lamps?. I want a lava lamp in my studio as well.

[technominds]

hmmm. definately not my thing... You dont want it to look like a german nightclub.. you want it to look like a nice relaxing studio.. get some small lamps or dimmer lights so that you can control the mood of your studio, at nighttime there is nothing nicer than sitting down in my low-lit studio... blacklights are also known to give serious headaches and will piss you off if its in the corner of your eye... i dont think its a good idea, and i definately dont think it will make your studio look professional or even tasteful :S

(maybe slightly harsh words, but im into interior design and this kind of thing amazes me.. )

[ericlingus]

hmm you might be right about it annoying me. I get distracted pretty easily. I can see how it would also distract me while im trying to sleep! I just want to be able to set a nice mood in my studio/bedroom. Any suggestions for that besides just controlling how much light there is in a room?

[ericlingus]

I don't know maybe i'll try it out at least. Won't be a big loss if I decide I don't like it.

[Theros]

small directional spot lights

They always look pleasant, get em on a mount that you can move em... Perfect lighting

[frederic]

Black lights are useful for finding "kitten mistakes" on the sofa and carpeting.

Long term use will damage your eyes, so the scientists say.

Not that any of us listened...

[punkin]

I peronally like a nice neon sign hanging on the wall. What's even better is if you find one with a power supply on it's last leg. Plug it into a dimmer controlled outlet and you've got some serious ambiance happening . Something about the crackling sounds that come from it that makes me feel all creative -n- stuff.

Another idea might be to introduce a Tesla Coil. A lovely addition to any studio. My son and I built a rather sizeable coil some time ago. That's an item that can be a bit distracting...something about those 2 foot electrical discharges that redirect your attention.

[SonicClang]

You're on crack dude.

[ericlingus]

i'm thinking about buying a nice looking lamp, with a red lamp shade to have a nice dim red glow in the room. What do you think of that idea?

[SonicClang]

Try it out, see how it feels. Only you can know if you're going to like it. It's not my taste, but that's just me. Just watch the watts rating on the lamp you buy, make sure the red bulb isn't exceeding what the lamp is built for. (that goes for the rest of your house too, I hate when houses burn down)

[earworm]

when i move out i'm gonna build a studio and a chillout room,
the chill out room is a place where people can do drugs and watch those reflective yellow-green-lightning-crazy posters, enjoy the blacklights, lavalamps, maybe a disco ball, jacuzi and some naked girls,
in my studio i have one orange lamp of about $2 and it gives a PERFECT atmosphere, real cousy, makes everyone calm,
sometimes i burn a candle, peace and calmth is necessary in my studio,
i got soft and dark colors on my walls, like brown, darkblue,some gray,

i record all types of music, death metal, hiphop, pop, even some jazz-isch stuff, everyone likes the room eventough its EXTREMELY simple,

it gets hot when u're recording a 5-piece band in your homestudio,
all extra lamps give so much heath, they use electricity, u need to plug those damn wallwarts in everywhere, yeah, lets create another buzz in the electric circuit.....

i don't spend money on lava lamps, i buy more expensive cables in stead

i'm not part of the LAVA LAMP HYPE

[ericlingus]

im just buying one lamp., okay maybe two.

[TexRoadkill]

Originally Posted by SonicClang

You're on crack dude.

As is anyone who takes interior decorating advice from an audio engineer.

[SonicClang]

Good one...

[rory]

You need lava lamps in triads. One, or even two, is just not enough. You need the "pyramid of power"! Just remember, when you are doing vocals to have some extras for the singer (the bastard will take yours!).

[RezN8]

How about just getting a set or two of X-mas tree lights and stringing them around the room just below the ceiling? zYou can get different colors or all blue or all white... Just don't get the flashing ones - too distracting.

Try avoiding lighting that makes noise too.

[SonicClang]

You'd be MUCH better off getting rope lights. They're LED's so you don't have the problem of them going out every single time you touch them. You can actually buy rope light in any length you want. You can buy it on a 1,000 foot roll if you'd like and cut it to the size you want.

That's actually a good suggestion for brigning ambience to a room. We used this technique where I work when we remodeled our conference room.

[earworm]

a what about a camp fire,
but this can get hypnotizing...