Lead your moving heads, don't just wave them

Positions first, movement second

Good targets are the base of every effect. Set up fixed ones such as dance floor center, left and right, fan, crossed and mirror ball, plus the couple and the cake for weddings. Changing positions often looks livelier than endless circles. Leave some stillness between changes.

Where to point

• Forward toward the crowd, above head height or down onto the dance floor.
• Not at the ceiling or backward for long stretches.
• Keep seated guests out of the beams, and never shine straight across at eye level.
• The mirror ball is a lovely target, but only where it fits, and not in every song.

Movement is an event

A still fan that takes off on the drop hits harder than circles that run through the whole song. Keep verses calm and give the chorus more. In ballads, the heads stay as still as possible.

Moving heads are mechanically slow. The faster the song, the smaller the movement. Above roughly 130 BPM, full sweeps on every beat look frantic, and many DJ fixtures can't do them cleanly. Run the movement at half speed or on whole bars instead. Brightness and color can follow faster.

Don't keep them all in sync

When all heads do exactly the same thing, it looks stiff. It comes alive when they take turns:

• Position: the heads change one after another or move against each other.
• Brightness: one head after the other lights up.
• Color: the color runs through the heads instead of changing everywhere at once.
• Circles: half turn clockwise, the other half counterclockwise.

Use the heads symmetrically, in pairs or groups of four, to keep the picture tidy. Get them into position before they light up, and change the color wheel or gobo while they're dark.