Virtual Event Planning &amp; Event Production Hire Services With The Sound &amp; Light Hire Company (A short story)

+44 800 861 1136

10 Hillspur Close

Guildford

Surrey

GU2 8HF

22nd February 2021/by Tim Maysh

What Is A Preamp & What Does A Preamp Do?

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Hey guys, girls This is Peter at The Sound & Light Hire Company in Surrey.

In this article, we’ll be talking about preamps. What they are, what they do, and different types of them that will help you choose the right one for your purposes. Before we dive in, you should know that The Sound & Light Hire Company is not only a great resource for information about sound, lighting, staging or LED screen equipment, but also that we’ve got hundreds of thousands of products available in our hire stock at any given time, with sound engineers like myself waiting to help you out. So visit us today at The Sound & Light Hire Company at https://truesoundhire.co.uk/ Let’s get started.

So, what is a preamp? Preamp is short for preamplifier.

A preamp is a kind of amplifier that’s designed specifically to take really weak signals and, well, make them louder. Think about like a microphone. When you plug it into something like a mixer or a recording interface. What it’s going into is a kind of preamp. You might wonder why you might be presenting your preamp with a weak signal to begin with.

So, to better understand this, we’ve gotta talk about microphones as a kind of electrical device called a transducer. A transducer, at, at its most basic form is any kind of device that takes one form of energy, in this case the vibrations of molecules in the air that we perceive as sound, and trans, uh, transduce it into something that, uh an electrical device like a mixer or a recording interface can use, a voltage.

If you think about what a microphone is doing, the diaphragm inside is responding to really, really tiny vibrations of those air molecules. So, when that energy gets tra- transduced into an electrical signal, it’s a really, really tiny signal at the level of millivolts. But our devices, like mixers or recording interfaces or speakers, can’t really use that signal, it’s too low. So that’s why that microphone has to first go into a preamp that can give it the amount of gain necessary without inducing a lot of distortion or noise into the signal. This is why preamps are a kind of specialty amplifier, because they have to take that really weak signal and make it louder without inducing a lot of noise.

Preamps do this in different ways. There are different circuits, there’s, uh, different components that are used in different types of preamps to make this happen. Some use technologies like, uh, tubes, that you might be familiar with. Some use transistors. Regardless of the kind of preamp, at the end of the day, it’s still taking your microphone signal and essentially making it louder in a clean or coloured way, so that the devices further down the chain can use that signal.

Let’s talk about different scenarios in which you might need a preamp.

Let’s say you’re performing, uh, live with your band, and you’re singing into a microphone. Chances are you’re going into a mixer like this one. The microphone input on this mixer is a kind of preamp. It takes the signal coming off of that microphone, and helps you add gain to it so that the rest of the mixer can use that signal, so that it can be mixed with other signals, and then eventually be sent on to a recording device, or, uh, monitors, or your main PA speaker system.

Same thing if you’re using preamps in a recording environment. Let’s say you’re at home, in your project studio, recording a microphone on vocals or an instrument. Chances are you might be going through an interface like this one, which microphone input on that interface would also be your preamp. Or you might be going through an outboard preamp like this one here, which is more of a specialty piece that would still need to go into a different kind of device, like a converter, downstream.

In any case in any of these situations, you’re still using a preamp, which is helping to take your microphone signal and add gain to it, so that devices down the chain can use that signal.

Any electrical device, just by its very nature, is going to add a little bit of noise to your signal, right. But preamps have to be designed in a specific way so that they can minimize that while giving you what you really want, which is the sound of your microphone, so that you can get a bunch of clean gain without adding that extra distortion or noise.

You’ll see these things in technical specifications for preamps when you’re picking them. You’ll see distortion listed as THD, which stand for total harmonic distortion, or, uh, the noise floor spec, which refers to, uh, when no signal is passing through that preamp, what is that idle noise floor?

Both of these are important specs to keep in mind, but at the end of the day, we also need to remember that preamps are, uh, different flavours in our recording or live sound setups like this Live Sound Package. Some preamps might colour our sound, or add character to our sound in a way that’s pleasing to our ears. Others are designed to be very clean or transparent, meaning that they don’t add a lot of color or extra harmonic saturation to your signal, but allow you to get a bunch of clean gain from that signal so that it can be processed however you like later on.

Whether we’re using a clean preamp or a coloured, or character preamp, it’s important to know the different types that are available.

They’re all ultimately different tools that we can use in our musical setups, whether you’re performing live or recording in the studio. Another important thing to consider when choosing your preamp is the type of microphone that you’re gonna be using with it. Because different types of microphones output different signal strengths, this is something to keep in mind when choosing that preamp.

So, for example, a condenser microphone, which typically gets power, uh, over phantom power, is gonna output a hotter signal. It’s more sensitive, and it might not need as much gain as a low-gain microphone like a Shure SM7B, for example, or an Electro-Voice RE20 would need. These types of dynamic microphones are low-gain microphones because they need more gain from the preamp. The signal coming off of that microphone is a little bit lower, so it needs a little bit more help before it can go on to the rest of your signal path.

Consider ribbon microphones as well. By their very nature, because of how the transducing mechanism works, they also output a much lower signal. In fact, there are preamps that are designed specifically for ribbon microphones to help you get a bunch of gain in a really clean way to preserve the character of the ribbon microphone, while also getting you the amount of signal you need for the rest of your path.

As you can see, there’s lots of factors to consider when selecting a preamp, and we’re just starting to scratch the surface. The Sound & Light Hire Company audio engineers are here to help you pick. We’ll talk to you about what’s in your setup, and what might be the right addition moving forward. Be sure to like this blog if you want to see more like it, and leave us a comment below. Thanks for reading .

The Sound & Light Hire Company

+44 800 861 1136

10 Hillspur Close

Guildford

Surrey

GU2 8HF

15th February 2021/by Tim Maysh

The Sound & Light Hire Company Become Audio Visual Supplier for Guildford Borough Council Moving into 2021 for Local Events & Outdoor Cinemas in Surrey

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Moving into 2021 for Local Events & Outdoor Cinemas in Surrey….

Well, we’ve certainly started the new year with a bang! First, we told you about the slightly unexpected but very welcome boom in demand for our outdoor stages this summer, and now we’ve won a council contract for several events planned for the spring and summer of 2021!

Of course, we have worked with Guildford Borough Council before on numerous occasions over the years, and we have a great relationship with all of the fantastic team over there. Still, it’s really nice to win another contract when the world is more than a little topsy-turvy at the moment!

So without wasting any more of your time, let’s tell you all about it!

The Sound & Light Hire Company Win a Contract to Supply Audio Visual and Event Production Services for 2021 Outdoor Events

As mentioned, we’ve worked with Guildford Borough Council on numerous events over the last decade. However, this contract represents a change of tack, with many events that traditionally take place indoors now moving outdoors for fairly obvious reasons! What that means is that, for the first time ever, we will be supplying outdoor cinema hire services to this Surrey council.

So what are the events in question we hear you ask? Well, they are a range of family fun days (eight in total) that will have all kinds of attractions put on for kids and big kids (sorry, adults) to enjoy alike. The main attraction will be the enormous outdoor cinema, which will screen a family-friendly movie to bring the proceedings to a close.

Of course, as any of you that will have attended an outdoor cinema screening (which might be quite a lot of you since they’ve made quite the comeback in the 2020s) will know, we’ll be supplying far more than just the LED screen hire. We’ll also provide the Guildford Borough Council team with outdoor stage hire and a full range of audio visual (AV) services.

So let’s take a look at those services in a little more detail.

Outdoor Stage Hire for Surrey Council

Of course, an outdoor cinema needs staging. There are a few ways you can use truss and staging structures to support an outdoor LED screen installation. You can choose to “fly” (suspend) an LED screen from a purpose-built truss structure. Or, instead, you can have the LED screen ground supported by the staging equipment.

In this instance, we will be supporting the LED screens from “the ground up,” as it were. The reason is that it gives the council event planners the option to have a versatile stage area for the day in addition to the outdoor cinema. So they, should they wish, could use the stage for live performances from children’s entertainers, or even a live band, should they want to.

As is the case with all events at the moment, these fun days are all pending, so the finer details are yet to be worked out. Still, we’re at least 90% sure that we’ll provide this kind of set up from the point of view of versatility as much as anything else.

So with the staging covered, let’s take a closer look at the LED video panels themselves.

Surrey Outdoor Cinema Screen Hire for Local Authority Events

Of course, an outdoor cinema experience wouldn’t amount to much with the screen! So let’s talk about the specifications of the LED screens we’ll be supplying in a little more detail.

Perhaps the first thing to note about our screens is that they are 3.9mm pixel pitch, which is about as sharp as it gets in this industry. What that means in the real world is that those in attendance can be as little as a few metres away and still enjoy crystal-clear, stunning HD footage without seeing those tiny black spaces in between the LED nodes.

These screens also score very highly in terms of nits (a measure of brightness), so even if these events are blessed with copious amounts of sunshine, our LED video panels won’t struggle. They have a brightness output of over 4,000 nits, more than enough to deal with even the most dazzling of sunny days.

Given that these screening will take place in the evening, the sun shouldn’t really be a factor, but it’s always good to let you know just how impressive our equipment is anyway 😉 These video panels are also IP 65-rated, meaning they’ll withstand the rain should the weather do it’s best to put a dampener on proceedings.

Finally, in terms of the size of the screen we build, we’ve still yet to receive confirmation from the council, but we imagine it will be 5m x 3m as this size is one of the best configurations for 16:9 aspect ratio (HD) video content.

Staging and LED screen aside, there’s still plenty of our event equipment hire services that we’ll be supplying to these fun days, so let’s take a look at them.

Event Lighting Hire for Local Surrey Borough Council

Of course, any stage production needs accompanying event lighting equipment to bring it to life. In this case, we will be providing a relatively all-encompassing set of lighting fixtures to draw in attention to the stage and keep it focused there.

We will have all of the usual suspects such as spotlights and moving head stage washes, but we will also install a few showstoppers to really create an immersive experience for audience members. We’ve already got a few OPSL laser systems lined up, along with a fog machine, but we’ll keep the rest close to our chest so as not to ruin the surprises in store!

More broadly speaking, we have also been tasked with providing atmospheric lighting for in and around the outdoor cinema area. For these purposes, we are going to be using our wireless LED uplighters.

Since they are battery powered, there’s no need to worry about those attending the event tripping over cables. Better yet, the performance figures on these lights are just staggering. Thanks to their energy-efficient LEDs, these lights can run for around 20 hours off a full charge. Yes, that’s right, 20 hours! We could come back in the morning to pack everything away, and they would still be going!

But enough about lighting, let’s tell you all about the sound options we’ve got in store for these events.

Sound Equipment Hire Services For Surrey Council Funday Events

Unless you’re in the business of showing screening silent films, then you’re going to need a sound system fit for totally immersing the audience in what they are watching. Whether it’s the Avengers or a Pixar movie, soundtracks carry the film every bit as much as the visuals do, which is why we are going to be supplying the best outdoor PA speaker system in the business.

For those of you unfamiliar, there is one stand-out brand when it comes to outdoor (and indoor for that matter) PA speaker systems, and that’s d&b audiotechnik. This German company has been streets ahead in terms of audio quality and sheer power for quite some time now, which is obviously why we stock so much of their kit!

We’re not 100% sure on the exact arrangement the council will opt for, but we know it’ll be d&b, as there’s no other solution that comes close. In terms of the equipment, we’ll be supplying line array speakers and accompanying subs. Depending on how the stage will be used for the rest of the day, we may provide additional sound equipment such as stage monitors and amps.

Surrey Audio Visual (AV) and Event Production Services Handled By The Sound & Light Hire Company Team

Of course, we couldn’t go without mentioning that none of these services can be provided without the help of our excellent team. Upon the award of the contract, the Guildford Borough Council noted the previous performance of our on-site staff members being a factor in securing the work.

In case you’re wondering, we don’t just supply all of the equipment from our in-hour inventory. We have a team made up of some of the most experienced and highly-skilled technicians and engineers in the business. From the moment our stage crews arrive, to the final minutes of loading up the last van full of equipment to head back to the warehouse, our team members are friendly, polite, and the ultimate professionals. We couldn’t be any prouder of them!

In terms of these events specifically, our team will be taking care of stage and truss structure construction, the rigging of the lighting fixtures, the assembly and set up of the screen, and the installation and positioning all of the associated sound equipment. We’ll then keep a few engineers and technicians around for the duration to ensure that everything runs as planned.

It’s another reason why The Sound & Light Hire is such a good fit for these types of events. Because we have the experienced team on hand, we can provide a turnkey solution whereby we handle all of the AV and associated technical aspects for you. All you (or in this case, the council) have to do is specify their requirements, and we’ll handle the rest. Yes; it really can be that simple!

Choose the Sound & Light Hire Company for Your Outdoor Events This Summer

If you’ve been smart and reading between the lines, you’ll have noticed that’s potentially eight dates whereby a decent chunk of our premium equipment is already reserved to go out on hire. While we are a large scale operation that serves multiple events every day, there is a limit to how much we equipment we can hire out (although we do have some pretty big warehouses!).

That’s why you need to act fast if you want to book in some equipment hire with us. Even if you only want to reserve a PA speaker hire package for a weekend in June to use with your phone or laptop, we’re anticipating one of the busiest summers on record.

Most (if not all) of us are ready to celebrate the end of COVID-19’s grip on our lives, and so even the smaller equipment hire packages are going to even more popular this year. That’s without mentioning the sheer amount of cancelled, postponed, and brand new events lined up right across Surrey for this summer!

Even if you just THINK you might need something from us or just want some friendly advice about putting together an outdoor event such as a garden party, give us a call on 0800 8611136 today.

We are open seven days a week, and we can’t wait to hear about what you’ve got planned!

10 Hillspur Close, Guildford GU2 8HF, United Kingdom

10th February 2021/by Tim Maysh

Surrey’s Premium Sound, Lighting & Stage Hire Company

The Sound & Light Hire Company LogoSound Light Equipment Hire Surrey

Here at the Sound & Light Hire Company,

We’ve worked hard over the years to become Surrey’s leading provider of sound, lighting, stage, and LED screen hire to name but a few of our ever-growing arsenal of event services.

Whether you need to hire an outdoor stage for your festival event at Nonsuch Park, or you need some speakers for your summer garden party in Guildford, we have you covered! Better yet, not only do we provide our equipment with helpful, friendly advice and a smile, but we can also help to set everything up for you, should you wish.

We are proud of what we’ve managed to build over the last 20+ years, and we’re continually striving to add new event hire services to ensure we remain at the top of the pecking order when it comes to event equipment hire services in Surrey.

But what if you’ve never heard of us before? Perhaps you’re organising your first event, or you’ve been living under a rock? Either way, we thought we would use this space to outline the massive number of services we can provide for your birthday party, wedding, corporate event, or music festival taking place in Surrey.

Let’s start with our bread and butter, Surrey sound hire!

Sound Hire Surrey

Sound hire services are the first we offered way back when we helped DJs back in the nineties put on the best parties in town! Fast forward almost thirty years, and we still provide the best in the business concerning sound equipment hire for your events.

Whether you need a PA system for your live DJ set, or you’ve booked the local band for your wedding reception we’ve got everything you need in stock to ensure the sound is nothing less than perfect. We can even include live sound engineer hire from as little as £125 per day should you wish to have a professional overseeing the sound mixing.

If you’re a little apprehensive about the fact that you’re not sure what you actually need, fear not! Our expert sound team is always on hand to listen to your requirements before providing a package that is a perfect match for your particular event.

In this regard, we tend to stand out from competitors because we simply have more experience (sadly; we’re getting old!). On far too many occasions to recall, we’ve had to save the day when other equipment hire companies have supplied equipment not capable of even half the duties they were hired for. So always make sure you hire sound equipment such as speakers that are powerful enough for your event requirements.

On a related note, we also differentiate ourselves as Surrey’s top sound hire company because we only stock industry-leading brands. We supply predominately d&b audiotechnik audio equipment, a company that is widely regarded as the best in the business and demanded by many leading international music artists such as Coldplay on their riders.

Not only do we stock the best brands, but we also take good care of them too. We service all items in our inventory every six months, check each item as it comes in and when it leaves the warehouse, and we sell and subsequently replace any piece of equipment that is older than three years. How’s that for a commitment to quality?!

It’s the main reason why we’ve never experienced any significant failures when hiring out our sound equipment, and that’s not a track record we intend on letting slip any time soon.

But if you’re planning an event in Surrey, sound equipment will only get you so far. So let’s move on and take a look at some of other essential event equipment hire services.

Event Lighting Hire Surrey

Your event lighting is often just as important as your sound setup. As mentioned, when we first started, we were a sound-hire-only company. But as we quickly found out, what’s a party od a DJ set without any disco lights? Within a few months, we were a sound and lighting hire company, hence the new name!

We didn’t waste any time assembling a lighting equipment inventory that puts many lighting hire specialists to shame. LED uplighters, “sound to light” disco lighting fixtures, and high-end intelligent moving head fixtures, we literally stock everything you could need regardless of the specific event you’re hosting.

We specialise in providing the latest and greatest in LED technology. We passionately believe that LEDs represent the industry’s future and have therefore invested heavily in this particular type of versatile lighting equipment. They are kinder to the environment, they are easily programmed, and they don’t suffer from the heat-related issues that traditional lighting formats do.

We know that if you plan and getting people up and dancing, excellent lighting can make the dance floor all the more enticing. For DJ performances, parties, and weddings, lighting setups are crucial to your event’s success. Whether you need disco lighting hire, or you want to hire some laser machines to add a touch of professionalism, we can provide you with demos of any of our lighting fixtures to ensure your completely wowed before making your investment.

We also supply all of the associated equipment such as lighting stands and cabling, just in case you wondered!

With the crucial aspects of sound and lighting taken care, you might have what you need for your specific event. However, what if you need more? Don’t worry; we’re only just getting started with our range of services!

Stage Hire Surrey

Some events, such as local community gatherings, fundraisers, outdoor music festivals, and even weddings, need a stage. Fortunately, we’ve been providing stage hire services to Surrey clients for almost a decade now, so we’ve developed a lot of expertise in this area too!

If you’re hosting an outdoor event such as a music festival, then you’ll want to take a look at our selection of outdoor stage hire packages. The beauty of these packages is that they include our top of the range sound and lighting equipment, giving you a complete stage production.

However, we’ve got indoor events covered too! Whether you need to hire a stage for the live band at your wedding or need an indoor stage for your club night DJ set in Farnham, we can supply a stage solution that works for you. Once again, these packages come with lighting and sound equipment included, making them unbeatable in terms of value for money.

Also included in the price is the setup of these stages by our experienced stage crews. Of course, we’ll also have our lighting technicians and sound engineers on hand to set up their respective pieces of equipment too.

Therefore, if you need to hire a stage with all of the associated production for your event, you can count on us to deliver a turnkey solution for your event!

Thought we were done? No! We’ve still got more to cover!

LED Screen Hire Surrey

The 2020s so far have been the decade of the LED screens. Outdoor cinema events, in particular, have been making a comeback. We’ve invested heavily to create one of the largest LED screen inventories in the country.

Our high-resolution LED video wall panels grab attention and can give your event that stand-out factor. They boast 3.9mm pixel pitch, 4500+ nits score (brightness rating), and they’re IP 56-rated, meaning even the most robust British shower won’t interfere with their operation. You can have your attendees just a few metres away, and they can drink in the crystal clear HD footage your broadcasting.

We can build you want a solid wall, suspend them from truss structures, or provide separate screen areas depending on your event’s requirements. We have over 120 square metres of LED video panels in stock to meet even the most challenging of demands.

While we have plenty of other equipment choices available such as special effects hire and LED furniture hire, we thought we should quickly cover our event production support services, which are available with all of our equipment hire packages.

Event Production Support Services Surrey

Whether you’re planning a wedding or organising your daughters’ 21st birthday bash, you might have enough on your plate as it is. The thought of setting up sound systems and lighting fixtures might seem like the last thing you want to be doing.

To be clear, we feel all of the equipment we dry hire is incredibly accessible, and we spend as long as it takes for you to understand what you need to do when setting up and dismantling. However, sometimes you don’t want the hassle. You might want to focus on selling tickets to your event or decorating the venue. We get it. That’s why we offer our personnel should you want them there to oversee the technical side of your event.

You might need an experienced sound engineer to mix the sound levels for the live band you’ve booked for your party, or you may need a skilled lighting technician to choreograph and program a spectacular light display to accompany your bonfire night celebrations. Whatever you need from our technical support team, they can provide it for you.

Which Areas of Surrey Does the Sound & Light Hire Cover?

We couldn’t let you go without answering our most commonly asked question. The truth is, if you or your event is based in Surrey, then we can help you. The truth is we actually cover a much larger area that includes all of London, Hampshire, and most of Hertfordshire and Berkshire too.

However, if you want specifics, here are some of the most popular Surrey locations to which we provide our event hire services:

Ashford
Camberley
Dorking
Epsom
Farnham
Godalming
Guildford
Haslemere
Horley
Leatherhead
Oxted
Reigate
Staines-upon-Thames
Sunbury-on-Thames
Weybridge
Woking
And everywhere in between!

Why Choose The Sound & Light hire Company for Your Surrey Event Equipment Hire Services?

Over the last several years, we have worked hard to establish our reputation as Surrey’s number one event equipment hire company. Our 7-days-a-week operation allows us to give our customers unrivalled support, and our straightforward hire packages will enable you to understand precisely what you’re getting for your money.

Unlike so many other companies, we cover the entire spectrum of event services. From small iPod/mobile phone speaker hire packages to the grandest of outdoor festival stage productions, there’s no Surrey event too big or too small for us to help out. With one of the biggest equipment inventories in Europe, we often serve dozens of customers simultaneously every single day.

So if you have any further questions before hiring equipment from us, just give us a call on 0800 8611136, and we’ll be more than happy to chat about what you need for your event. We can’t wait to hear from you!

The Sound & Light Hire Company
https://www.google.com/maps?cid=177697462353676083
+44 800 861 1136

1st February 2021/by Tim Maysh

The Sound & Light Hire Company Invest in More Outdoor Stages

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As we move into 2021, it’s become abundantly clear that whatever happens with the coronavirus currently plaguing our lives, the vast majority of events will be moving outdoors. We’ve already spoken to many of our customers who usually put on indoor events, and their plans all involve more outdoor elements. So we’ve decided to act.

As you’ll be aware, we’ve never been ones to sit still, we’ve continued to make some serious investments into our outdoor event equipment despite the challenges presented by the pandemic. With the summer just around the corner, we’re already well underway with the preparations for a season of celebration and relief!

Those preparations include investing in more outdoor stages to expand our current line up of outdoor stage hire packages. So let’s tell you all about them!

The Sound & Light Hire Company Buy Two More Outdoor Stages

So without further ado, let’s tell you a little more about the investments we’ve been making. First up on our list of new acquisitions was a 6m x 4m outdoor stage.

6m x 4m Outdoor Stage

If you’ve worked with us before, you’ll already be well aware that we already have a couple of these stages in stock. However, given the number of events already booked in to take place outdoors in what is just a few months’ time, we had to expand our arsenal even further!

The reasons we stock so many stages with these dimensions is that they are so versatile. Firstly, they are at home either indoors or out. They are just as happy providing a platform for local bands at a summer village fête as they are hosting an indoor comedy performance.

Better still, they can be assembled and dismantled quickly on-site. With perfect weather conditions and easy access to the venue, our fantastic stage crew can have this built, rigged with equipment, and ready to go in less than two hours. Pretty impressive we think you’ll agree!

With yet another of these stages in stock, we can provide our services to even more events come the busy summer season. We can’t wait!

8m x 6m Outdoor Stage

Not content with our first purchase, we went and spent even more money (don’t tell our accountants!). We’ve been increasingly asked about providing a bigger stage than our 6m x 4m stage hire option without having to shell out for some of the enormous festival stage hire options we provide in conjunction with our sister company Outdoor Stages.

Our customers spoke, so we listened! We went out and acquired an 8m x 6m outdoor stage, which provides a better solution for a number of events.

One of the most significant selling points about this particular stage is its range of stage heights. With available stage deck heights of 1.5ft, 1m or 1.3m, this is the most flexible stage hire option we have on offer, and it works for a variety of events. Whether you’re hosting an outdoor cinema screening or a local music festival, this particular stage can support productions for up to 1,000 guests.

New Acquisitions Complete Outdoor Stage Hire Lineup for 2021

As mentioned, staging services are going to be in high demand this year. Never before has there been such a demand for outdoor events. Even though it may well be the case that we can host indoor events again, the success of outdoor events held during the pandemic has solidified demand.

Furthermore, just because the virus may not be as much of a deadly threat to public health in a few months’ time, that doesn’t mean that health and safety will suddenly occupy a less significant spot in all of our minds. Therefore, these acquisitions have helped us to better serve you, our customers, for all of the outdoor events you have planned for later this year.

Remember, we have a full range of outdoor stages to offer you. From the smaller 6m x 4m option just mentioned to our vast 10m x 8m and 12m x 9m festival stages we can offer you through our subsidiary company, there’s no type of event that we can’t help you with when it comes to outdoor stages.

From small and mobile, to mega outdoor structures, we’ve got something for everyone this year, and we can’t wait to hear about what you have planned. However, we need to warn you that you need to act fast this year when booking your outdoor stage hire.

Why You Need to Book Your Outdoor Stage Hire Today for Summer 2021

Yes, we are still in the late stages of winter, but 2021 will be different from any year that has preceded it.

In all our time as a staging services provider, never have we had a whole season effectively cancelled and postponed to a year later. What that means is that, not only do we have a considerable number of events already booked in, but we’ve also got a wave of event planners contacting us about new possibilities to squeeze in on top!

One thing’s for sure; it’s going to be a busy spring and summer!

In case you’re wondering just how busy, remember this startling fact: in the UK alone, over 7,000 outdoor events take place every year. When you add in pent up demand, postponed events from last year, and new events explicitly designed to celebrate the fact that we CAN have outdoor events, that annual figure will likely surpass 10,000.

The issue? Not only is demand up, but those requests have got to be squeezed in between April and September, our warmest and sunniest months. There’s also a finite number of outdoor stage providers in the UK. Once they start to book up, you’ll quickly run out of options for your outdoor event.

Therefore, if you don’t get your act together within the next couple of months, finding a stage that’s suitable for your specific demands and within your allocated budget could be akin to looking for a needle in a haystack.

We’re always as flexible as possible when it comes to client demands. Still, we find ourselves in a situation whereby we are already taking bookings for the summer, and we have already run out of availability on specific dates. While that’s obviously great news for us after the year that was 2020, we’d love to help you as many customers as possible put on their events.

That’s why even if you just want to start a conversation about the nature of your event or discuss any ideas and dates you may be throwing around, it’s worth just getting in touch to give us a heads up.

While we do have good availability with our 6m x 4m stage hire packages in particular, if you’re leaving it until April or May to get it booked in for an August event, we can’t guarantee anything in terms of availability.

If you’re reading this and it’s already post-March 2021, it’s still worth picking up the phone to us. You never know, we might have something available, and we’ll always do our best to help. Even if that means pointing you in the direction of another outfit. We’re nice and helpful like that!

As vital as stage hire services might be to your planned outdoor event, don’t forget that you’re going to need a whole host of additional event equipment. So let’s just spend a moment to explain what we can offer you this summer.

Hire Complementary Stage Production Extras from the Sound & Light Hire Company

While you may need a stage to complete your outdoor event, in many ways it probably only represents the start of the event equipment hire services you’re going to need. Let’s be honest, what’s a festival stage without the array of lighting fixtures, sound equipment, and dazzling LED screens?

It’s fair to say that we’ve come a long way when it comes to our staging services. When we started back in the 1990s, we would never have imagined that by the 2020s we would offer an all-inclusive technical stage production service for outdoor events with audiences of up to 10,000 people and beyond!

But enough reminiscing, let’s talk to you about how we can help take a load off your plate by supplying everything you could possibly need for your stage.

As you know, we have a full suite of event lighting packages that are perfectly suited to outdoor stages. From spotlights to stage blinders, we stock it all! That’s the case for sound too. We can provide you with the full shebang. From suspended PA line arrays to stage monitors, amplifiers, mics, and mixing desks, we can supply turnkey PA system solutions for outdoor events.

Don’t forget we can enhance the stage structurally too. We can add some imposing PA wings on either side to give yourself the show-stopping stage production you’re looking for. These are an absolute must if you’re thinking about hiring some of our razor-sharp 3.9mm pixel-pitch LED screens.

To top it all off, we have some of the best in the business when it comes to construction, rigging, installation and overseeing artistic direction. From our experienced stage crews to our highly-skilled lighting technicians and sound engineers, you can count us to deliver a silky-smooth stage production.

Speaking of which, you can focus your finite energy and resources on other crucial aspects of your event while we’re busy creating the best stage set up you’ve ever seen!

Unlike some other companies, we mean it when we say that we are full-service event production suppliers. Here is just a smattering of the equipment hire services we can provide for your event:

Stage lighting
Professional sound equipment
LED screens
PA wings
Event equipment storage “sheds”
Power generators
Stage drapes
Truss structures and rigging
And much, much more!

The Sound & Light Company is the Perfect Partner For Your Outdoor Event This Summer

Regardless of whether you’re putting on an outdoor cinema event, or you’re merely returning to an event that was cancelled or postponed last year, you need an events partner you can trust.

Here at the Sound & Light Hire Company, we offer the turnkey solution you need. We can take care of all technical production aspects while you focus on ticketing, merchandising, booking agents, refreshments, and all other elements of your outdoor event.

You can relax safe in the knowledge that while you’re organising those essential elements, we’re hard at work turning the vision for your outdoor stage production from an idea to reality.

So what are you waiting for? Give us a call on 0800 861 1136 any day of the week to discuss what you’ve got in mind – before all of our stages are booked up!

10 Hillspur Close

Guildford

GU2 8HF

United Kingdom

Sunday 1–2PM

Monday 9AM–7PM

Tuesday 9AM–7PM

Wednesday 9AM–7PM

Thursday 9AM–9PM

Friday 9AM–7PM

Saturday 9AM–2PM

24th January 2021/by Tim Maysh

If you’re looking to hire LED furniture for your party, then The Sound & Light Hire Company has the answer

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Do You want To Hire LED Furniture For Your Party? The Sound & Light Hire Company Can Help !

With 2021 shaping up to be a year to celebrate the mass vaccination of the world’s population, slowly but surely it looks like we can get back to celebrating the old-fashioned way! Parties will hopefully return. Weddings can once again resume with the number of guests that brides and grooms had always envisioned. And we can all generally get our lives back on track!

Given the awful year that was 2020, we can’t wait to start 2021 on the front foot, and we’ve already seen an uptick in bookings for spring and summer party season. A lot of people have used this as an opportunity to try out new themes and reinvent their annual celebrations.

We’ve already noticed through multiple orders placed so far for LED furniture hire in Surrey, that this trend is going to play a big part of those new celebration ideas, and we couldn’t be better positioned to help you out as an event planner.

So let’s use this space to shed a little more light on what we can offer you in terms of LED furniture, starting with LED mobile bar hire.

LED Mobile Bar Hire in Surrey, London, Hampshire

Of course one of the central focal points of any party is the bar! It’s where everyone heads at least a few times during the event to get refreshments of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. So why not make it unique?

Our LED-illuminated mobile bar options are a perfect fit for all types of parties, including wedding receptions. For a start, we can provide you with what many people would term a “traditional” straight bar shape. We can supply the bar in a length of up to 8m, and it’s just as sturdy as traditional structures, capable of standing up to the rigorous demands of serving drinks to guests for hours on end. Speaking of hours, the battery life runs to eight hours, long enough for even the most extravagant of parties!

But wait, there’s more! We can also supply an LED mobile bar in either a semi, a full circle design. We’ve found this to be a really popular choice for outdoor parties in marquees that have less space to play with. As with the traditional bar, these quirky units will keep going for eight to ten hours. You can also choose from several static colours to fit in with the overall theme of your party, or you can use the included remote control have the bar cycle through a range of eye-catching alternatives dynamically.

Of course, these bars don’t just look great; they’re practical too. They come complete with under-the-counter storage, and you could choose to add a real touch of class by hiring complementary LED ice buckets! If you’re hosting some VIP guests, these little extras are a must!

But of course, the bar, while prominent, is only one feature of a party. You’re going to need plenty more furniture to complete your requirements. Let’s make a start by giving your guests somewhere very cool to sit!

Round LED Mobile Bar Hire

LED Cube Hire in London, Surrey, Hampshire

For many, the next place to visit after the bar is the dancefloor, drink in hand. But (despite your guests’ best efforts) energetic dancing in high heels and the finest dancing shoes is going to inevitably require some rest at some point. Enter your LED-lit seating options!

LED cube hire provides you with a funky seating option that will provide a talking point and help your party furniture to stand out. Don’t let their square shapes fool you; these are as comfortable as many other conventional seating options. They are topped with plush leather to ensure that your guests will be happy to sit on them for hours and chat the evening away.

Due to their smaller size, they boast improved battery performance too. These versatile cubes will last 10 hours, and once again, you have the option of several static or dynamic colour choices. Like our mobile LED-lit bar, these cube seats are just as happy indoors in a nightclub as they are at an outdoor garden party. The choice is yours!

Seating aside, there is still one crucial aspect of furniture that we haven’t yet tackled – tables. You need somewhere to put your drinks, of course! So let’s move on to LED poseur hire.

LED Poseur Hire in Surrey, London, Hampshire

Poseur tables have long been permanent fixtures in bars and nightclubs up and down the country. They offer a perfect focal point for small huddles of individuals who want to chat and have somewhere to place their drinks (and food if necessary). Their unique design also adds a touch of exclusivity and sophistication to your party, especially if you’re putting them in an unusual location such as your own home or a marquee.

But hiring LED-lit versions elevates them further still. Their bright colours make them an excellent addition to darker environments (such as at the edge of the dancefloor). Better yet, like our entire range of LED-lit furniture, they are battery-powered, so you don’t have the issue of having to run cables everywhere, potentially causing a trip hazard.

You can combine them with the LED cubes mentioned above, or you could decide to give them their own designated area at your venue. Perhaps the best feature of these tables is their versatility, they fit in anywhere, at pretty much any type of event!

But we aren’t done yet; there’s plenty more LED-lit furniture we can offer you here at the Sound & Light Hire Company!

Massive Range of London LED Furniture Hire Available

Whether you’ve booked a swanky hotel function room, or you’ve “escaped to the country” for a wedding on a country estate, we have a full suite of LED furniture that is guaranteed to impress your guests. The list of items we have on our inventory is pretty extensive. While we don’t have the space to get into the nitty-gritty details of every single item, here is just a snapshot of what we have in stock when it comes to LED furniture available for hire:

Mobile bars
Cubes
Poseur tables
Benches
Curved seating
Bubble chairs
Champagne buckets
Stools
Conventional tables
Dancefloors
And much, much more!

If you’ve attended an event before with LED-lit furniture and want to know if we can supply the same thing to your party, the answer will invariably be yes. In short, we have one of the biggest selections in the country, so you’d be foolish to go anywhere else!

But whether you are planning an event for yourself, or on behalf of another individual or company, you’re going to be thinking about one important factor – price. So let’s quickly address the elephant in the room!

LED Poseur Table Hire

The short answer is not as much as you might have thought! If you’ve got this far through this article and still think that hiring this type of unique and exclusive furniture is something that only corporate companies or wealthy individuals can afford, then you’re wrong!

Our LED furniture hire packages start at less than £25. Yes, you read that correctly! Not too shabby, right? Especially when you evaluate those hire costs on an hourly basis! For a few hundred pounds, you can create a pretty spectacular setup. For a few hundred more, you can hire a mobile LED bar that is really going to steal the show!

If you’re planning a ticketed event, then it’s these kinds of touches that can pay themselves back in spades when word travels around at how unique and exclusive your event felt. With tickets selling out fast for your next organised party, you can afford to push the boat out even further fo the next one!

Speaking of hiring budgets, you aren’t going to want to stop at LED furniture. You’re going to need a whole host of hired equipment, including sound equipment, lighting fixtures, and maybe even some special effects packages! So let’s take a moment to remind you what we have available for those of planning a big celebration in the near future!

Hire Everything You Need for Your Party from the Sound & Light Hire Company!

We have a range of party equipment hire packages that are perfect for parties of all descriptions. Whether you’re hosting a milestone birthday party or a wedding reception party, we’ve got a hire package that includes everything you need to have a great time.

Just take our platinum wedding party hire package as an example. We’ve bundled everything you could possibly need together to secure you huge savings over hiring the equipment from separate outfits.

On the sound side, we’ve included two d&b audiotechnik PA speakers, two subwoofers, and an amp. Those impressive pieces of kit are matched on the lighting side by 20 (yes, 20!) wireless LED uplighters, eight R17 beams and eight metres of truss podium upon which to rig them.

Still not impressed? Good, we’re nowhere near done yet! In addition to that industry-leading sound and lighting hire setup, we will supply you with a 16ft x 16ft white LED-starlit dancefloor, an 8m x 4m LED-starlit backdrop, and an LED DJ booth! Can we just remind you this is all part of one hire package that costs less than £1500!

If that somehow wasn’t enough, we have a range of special effects hire packages including bubble machines, lasers, confetti canons, and flame machines starting at just £25 per item hire.

The best part? We can send our expert engineers and technicians down to your venue to both set everything up and take everything away for you should you wish. They can stick around during the event too if you need help overseeing tasks such as mixing the sound for your live band/DJ or running special effects machines and dazzling light shows for your guests!

We really are your one-stop party equipment hire solution.

Call Us Today to Secure Your Equipment for Spring/Summer 2021

If 2020 was the year of cancellations and postponements, then 2021 is shaping up to be the year of celebration and pure relief. The spring and summer party season is already set to be the biggest of the century thus far, which means you need to act now or face disappointment. As much as we’d like to help everyone out with our equipment hire and support services, the truth of the matter is we are booking up fast due to phenomenal demand.

We are currently benefitting from a perfect storm of rearranged hire orders from last year meeting a surge in new bookings for parties celebrating set to coincide the end of COVID restrictions on the horizon. So if you know you’ve got a big celebration planned for the spring or summer of 2021, don’t delay!

We’ve got sound, lighting, special effects, and LED furniture hire slots left on most spring and summer weekends, but they are fast disappearing. So act now to get yours booked in before somebody else beats you to your preferred dates!

You can call us on 0800 861 1136 seven days a week during the hours listed below to discuss your requirements. We can’t wait to hear all about your party ideas!

This light up LED Light Up Cube is part of our LED furniture hire stock

13th December 2020/by Tim Maysh

Popular Sound & Lighting Packages & Whats On Offer

https://www.truesoundhire.co.uk

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The Sound & Light Hire Company Discuss Our Most Popular Dry Hire Products Which Are Suitable For All Types Of Smaller Functions:

This may be useful for those looking to do something fun over the festive period all from the comfort of your own home!

So, it looks like Christmas parties and New Years Eve will be spent inside, at home, rather than going on a pub crawl or watching a pantomime performance over the festive period & we will all miss the outdoor Christmas light switch on’s !We normally would be out building our outdoor stages.

Well what can we say, most people stay at home with their loved ones for Christmas anyway, it is just the lead up where the parties will be put on hold this winter. Don’t fret! You can still have as much fun at home with your own party set up rather than spending lots of money elsewhere then trying to get home late into the evening.

The most popular speakers we do are:

Our popular EV active 12” speakers on stands which work perfectly for house parties & smaller gatherings of up to 70 people. We call it our ‘small ipod system’ don’t be fooled by the name it doesn’t just connect to an ipod or come compact in size. This system is 2 x speakers on stands and we provide a cable which will connect to anything with a headphone output. This system is absolutely perfect for letting your hair down in your own 4 walls and dancing the night away. The speakers are not huge but a decent size, they fit easily into any car as with most our customers they prefer the option of collecting this themselves rather than opting for a delivery service, as this is such an easy thing to set up.

If you are after something with a little bit of extra punch then add a subwoofer to give the ultimate bass experience. The sub is a 12” active sub so no external amplification has to be added it is prebuilt inside. This goes for the top speakers as well. That is another reason why these systems are so popular, they are so easy to set up and low hassle, no fiddly connection of amplifiers which can be quite daunting when you are a novice at setting up anything audio related.

MEDIUM IPOD Speaker Hire Package

The 2 x top speakers with a sub we call our ‘medium ipod system’.

Of course, you can add 2 subs to the top speakers to make it an even distribution of bass. You may think that this is all going to cost an arm and a leg but on the contrary, the small system is £45, medium is £75 and finally the large ipod system is £90.

Any of the above set ups we would suggest for use at home that is why these systems are the perfect solution for all the in-house party festivities which will be going on this winter.

When you turn up at our unit we set the system up for you to run through how it works and to show you it in working order before you take it away. This gives complete confidence and reassurance that you will be perfectly competent when you get the speakers the other end to set up!

Most customers are after the full shebang and require lighting in addition to the sound requirements to really enhance that party vibe. Not a problem we have lots of disco lighting products in stock, again they are the perfect accompaniment to the speaker systems mentioned above.

Our sound to light activated disco lights are sent out in pairs, and we provide a lighting t bar stand for them to hang from as well. They are the Equinox Revolution lighting effect, which are so easy to use and noticeably light in weight indeed. The lights just require a standard power plug in the back, turn your music up loud and away they go they do their own thing. You don’t require any lighting desk or a special assistant to press play, stop etc. they are just a plug and play solution for your house party. They offer different colours and patterns thrown out from the lighting fixture, which remains static but the patterns move.

Perhaps you are having a marquee in the garden or hiring a hall in the New Year for a birthday celebration

And are just after some form of moving light to give a party atmosphere, well these lights are perfect for exactly that. If you would prefer to not hang them on the lighting t bar stand then that is absolutely fine they have a bracket on the top so they can sit on that and adjusted in the direction you want the light to shine. It is advised though to use the stand as this gives a much better spread of light across your party room.

Special Effects Hire Surrey

Another great enhancer of the light is one of our smoke machines. These smoke machines are so effective and so easy to operate. It is just a case of pressing a button to start then pressing another to stop it with the controller. Should the controller not be with it then you will need to manually hold the ‘go’ button then release to stop. The smoke fills up a room really quickly and doesn’t use that much fluid at all. We guarantee you will not use all the fluid that is provided with the smoke machine for your party. Yes, that is right the smoke fluid is also provided as well at no extra cost!

Don’t get this smoke machine mixed up with dry ice/ low lying fog effect that is something different which remains low to the ground without rising whereas the smoke machine rises and fills up a room, depending on how much you want to fill it up of course! We do also stock the low-lying fog machine, but we will discuss that product another time, as the blog is really about all the popular hire items we get requests for that are easy to use. We do get asked a lot will the smoke machine set off my smoke alarm. Well the truthful answer is possibly yes! If you are using the smoke machine in the same room as your smoke alarm or close proximity, then yes it will do. It is best to use it in spurts and away from the smoke alarms.

Thinking ahead to New Years Eve at home, why not try our 30mw green lasers? These are just the most fun solution to a party at home. Add these to the disco lighting set up and a smoke machine and you really do have your own club experience in your living room! They offer green beams of light which are sound to light activated making them an automatic laser system which means they are incredibly easy to use, just plug and play the same as the disco lights. We do suggest using the smoke machine alongside the lasers to really get the most from the lasers, it is quite impressive how much more impactful the lasers are in amongst the midst of the smoke.

Something we decided to invest in earlier this year which is something we were asked for a lot is a battery powered speaker system. This is a great choice for more compact party areas especially in the home environment or outside where no power is nearby. The Bose Pro1 system is a battery powered high impact speaker with clear sounding audio, lightweight and versatile usability. It can connect to your phone/ laptop through a cable we would provide but it also has Bluetooth capability which is another popular request from our customers. Just connect your Bluetooth and play your music from a distance- this is suitable for garden or marquee parties. This speaker we would recommend using for up to around 50 people as a rough guideline. It has a battery life of up to 12 hours of use, so this gives you plenty of time to dance the night away!

This takes us onto another battery powered product we stock

That again is high in demand for all types of events, our wireless LED up lighters. These are a fail-safe solution to adding subtle or vibrant ambient lighting to any venue environment. They can be placed up against dull walls, in marquees, against buildings or outside against trees. We do always advise the more up lighters used the better as the greater the lighting result and as a general rule of thumb one light every 2 meters. The battery life on these lights are between 8-10 hours and the colour can be set to your choice or have the colours fade from one to another via the in built colour reel.

A lot of people hiring disco lighting also enquire about these wireless up lighters which are normally placed at the opposite side of the room to the disco lights, one end becomes the dance area the other is a more chill out area but still adds to the party atmosphere. Not only can these be used for house parties & garden parties they are very popular for weddings, product launches and Christmas productions. We can provide some charging cables for you if you would like, especially for those people hiring for longer than a 1 day rental, they will come in quite handy.

Another battery powered item we do is our LED furniture range. The smaller items are fine for dry hire, whereby the customer collects from us, the larger items though would require delivery and collection an additional service we offer within Surrey, Hampshire & Berkshire. We have LED cubes which come with a black padded top for extra comfort and can also be used as a small table, the top can be lifted off so these make great versatile units.

Our LED poseur tables are either rectangular or circular, these alongside the cubes are great for garden parties where some additional seating/ tables are required or just used as another form of lighting- they are very cool products.

For larger gatherings we do LED curved benches and an LED curved bar. If you are after more bespoke LED furniture such as a straight LED bar just let us know and we can help with this as well.

Being based in Guildford, Surrey we are in a great location for people looking to hire locally within Hampshire and Surrey towns.

We are also closely linked to London as we are just off the main road which leads to the motorway so you can get to south London within 45 mins (on a good day!) If you are not convinced about having to collect, set up and then return after your event that is not a problem we do offer a delivery service.

One of our team would be happy to set up the equipment for you and return at an agreed time the following day to collect. You don’t even have to pack it away they will take it apart for you as part of the service. We do try and advise people to collect themselves for smaller hires as this keeps it extremely cost efficient for you, but the option is there for you to decide. This is based on our availability of course!

As mentioned, this article was focusing on the hire items which are used everyday and our most popular products people ask for. We do cater for all types of events so if you are having a larger outdoor production, festival, wedding or product launch in the New Year once the current Covid restrictions are lifted, please do contact us and we would be more than happy to assist you with your staging, LED video screen, sound and lighting requirements.

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17th November 2020/by Tim Maysh

The Sound & Light Hire Company Talks Christmas Parties & Event Production

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Normally at this time of year The Sound & Light Hire Company is busy planning Christmas parties…

Corporate Christmas dos, light switch ons and we would be talking to brides finalizing their winter weddings. This year however will be slightly different for a lot of us! This article will explain how you can still put on an event, plan a party and enjoy Christmas.

This year we have seen an increase in the demand for outdoor covered mobile stages. As all events are basically taking place outside due to Covid regulations, The Sound & Light Hire Company have been busy talking to local councils and event promoters about supplying outdoor stages for Christmas fairs, fetes, and light switch ons. Let us discuss a couple of the most popular packages that event organisers/ companies hire when they are looking for an outdoor stage package.

We will start with our 6m x 4m arce’d roof festival stage which is the perfect size stage for local fetes, fairs and Christmas town productions. We won’t go over all the technical details about this stage but some of the key points about this stage and why this seems to be the more popular choice is the low hire cost point. To give you an example to hire this stage in the Surrey/ Hampshire area for a day would be £1200. That cost includes the crew to build and de rig after the event, as well as the transportation cost. Not only does this come in at a very reasonable price point it is also very quick to set up ideal for those who have limited restrictions on set up time/ get out times.

We can set this stage at the standard height of 1.5ft but we can raise it on higher legs if this is preferred to 1m. We have noticed that during the Covid time more people are opting for a higher stage height due to the audience being more spread out for distancing reasons.

The 6m stage will comfortably hold a 6-8 piece band and at Christmas it is common for councils to organise performances from rock choirs where you can have a large group of people performing. We suggest 10-20 people on the stage at one given time as the limitation is roughly between 18-20 people. However, with the current regulations in place we would recommend halving that so people can distance from one another.

Most event companies / planners come to us for the sound and stage lighting as well. This is because we stock a vast range of sound systems, lighting and special effects all in house. We can put together packages of all different sizes enabling us to meet the most basic or more demanding of technical requirements. Not only do we cover the production side we offer LED video screen as well which we will come onto further into this blog.

For those putting on slightly bigger outdoor Christmas show that have more live music or bigger bands or perhaps they just require more space on stage to run the event in line with current Covid regulations our 8x6m covered stage will comfortably hold up to 30 people giving you that extra needed room. To give an example of the price point for this stage you would be looking at £2000 which covers the crew costs and transportation within Surrey & Hampshire areas. Again, most people opt for an all-inclusive package which caters for stage, sound and lighting. Not only do we supply this, but we provide a professional technician to remain onsite throughout the event to ensure it runs without a hiccup. What Is quite common with this stage is adding on LED outdoor screen and this year more than ever promoters and local councils are all looking to hire some form of outdoor digital signage. Promoting things like local events, Christmas performances and local awareness messages about current restrictions and lockdowns.

Continuing This Topic of Outdoor LED Screen

We can supply screens either side of your stage ground supported or flown, or we can supply one large screen at the back of your stage. We have some newly released renders on our Instagram page to show this, as well as our previous jobs displaying the stages setup.

Perhaps you are after one big outdoor LED screen to watch Christmas films on for example or outdoor winter wonderland cinema nights, we stock a vast amount of LED video wall and with a competitive price point of just £75 per square meter we are one of the leading screen hire companies in the Surrey, Hampshire, London and Berkshire areas.

We would say the more popular choice of hire item during the Covid crisis which has turned into a newfound form of entertainment for people is hiring the LED video screens for outdoor films to become a cinema experience. This can be achieved with ease as people can remain in their cars and we can tune the sound to their car radio, enabling them to stay comfortably seated inside. This has worked well over the last few months and we foresee this will continue to be popular over Christmas into the New Year.

Moving onto lighting, what lighting do we have on offer this Christmas and what lighting packages do we recommend getting you through this Christmas without having to spend lots of money?

An old-time favourite are our LED wireless up lighters, why are they popular and why do we still recommend using them after all these years? Well they are battery operated which makes them handy units to dot around and spread some festive light. The battery life lasts between 8-10 hours having said that though if they are left in really cold environments this drains the battery quicker which many people don’t know so a little tip there for you! We ensure they are fully charged before they are sent out on hire so don’t worry about that. The fact they are wireless means no messy looking cables, so not only is this great if you don’t have access to power but also if you are trying to keep it looking slick you don’t have to worry about reels of cables around the room/ marquee.

We can provide you with covers for them so they can be placed outside safely without worrying about them getting wet/ damp as the covers are IP rated.

So perhaps uplighters aren’t your thing and you are planning on a small intimate gathering at home we have more vibrant lighting suitable for disco lighting. Packages start from £20 and can turn any home into a dance floor! They can be hung form lighting t bars which we provide and just plug into the mains, extremely easy to use and just do the job. Sending out lots of colours and patterns for a great festive party atmosphere. We stock a vast range of different lighting options so if you have more bespoke lighting requirements with a custom light set up in mind then no problem we can help with that. This article is not covering everything we stock/ offer it is just to give you an idea of popular hire choices over the festive season.

What better piece of equipment to hire at Christmas with or without Covid, is our snow machine. This highly professional machine will enable you to spray fake snow in your garden, over your house, on your stairs or in the lounge! These machines are cheap to run and amazingly effective at covering a small area which is what we have found customers want. With this machine you can project your fake snow up to 15-20m away. Whenever you hire a snow machine, we suggest raising above head height which adds to the effect with the spectacular falling foam but please make sure this is put in a secure safe place, the last thing we want is for any accidents to occur. We must also note that although the snow fluid is not hazardous it should not be sprayed into peoples face or rubbed in people’s eyes as it will sting it can also potentially stain hard surfaces and carpet so an outdoor grassed area with adult supervision is recommended.

One Big Announcement

Is the fact that we are moving our forever popular speaker hire packages to wireless battery powered PA systems. One of out latest additions is our Bose Pro1 battery powered portable speaker. This wireless speaker will give you clear thunderous, powerful sound at your house party or outdoor event in a small slick package. Weighing only a few kilos the performance from this Bose powered speaker system is nothing but exceptional. Stream your favourite music from your iPhone/ laptop or iPad or plug in directly to the back of the speaker and for £65 you will get up to 12 hours of music. It also has the ability to connect to your device via Bluetooth which is definitely a plus point for those not wanting any cabling whatsoever.

We would suggest this speaker to cover a party of up to about 50 people, so if you are having a larger gathering or want that extra punch of bass don’t worry we still have our popular systems which include top speakers and subs requiring power.

All these systems are super easy to use, do it yourself set up packages which give you great sound at a very reasonable hire price.

Recently we have not been delivering as much due to the demand being much less, but we are still able to offer delivery should this be something you really require, within the Surrey & Hampshire areas.

Another firm favourite at Christmas is our large white LED light up sparkly dance floor. This twinkling dance floor is suitable for all size parties as we can offer this in several sizes from compact intimate spaces for your house party to a large 20ft x 20ft dance floor in a marquee. Please ensure the flooring we lay the dance floor onto is flat and level, this is important to keep the panels safely firmly together! White is definitely a colour of choice for the Christmas season, but we can also offer this in black if this is preferred!

What goes well with the dance floor at Christmas time? A low-level fog effect! Add this low-lying fog effect to your Christmas party to really enhance the Christmas vibe, like you are dancing on the clouds without a care in the world.

To sum up on everything we have discussed in this blog, we have all had to adapt and make changes to our lives during this dire time, but don’t let it stop you having fun especially at Christmas time. Whether you attend any outdoor events that are put on by local councils or you are making sure you stay at home, The Sound & Light Hire Company really do have sound, lighting, special effects, and production equipment to suit all eventualities so give us a call to see all the deals we have to offer.

So what are you waiting for? Call us on 0800 8611136 or send us an email to tell us all about your plans, we can’t wait to help you turn them into a reality!

Contact The Sound & Light Hire Company on the details below:

28th October 2020/by Tim Maysh

The Sound & Light Hire Company Discuss The Past, Present & Future In The Events Industry

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The Sound & Light Hire Company in the events industry as a event production hire company

The purpose of this article is to discuss & recap over the past 7 months in dealing with the Covid situation and how this has shifted a completely different change in the events industry.

We will also discuss some of the essential services we supply to the wedding, corporate and private event sectors. With this we will continue to improve each service and thus where we see our business heading in the future and some of the new hire products and services we will be offering moving forward.

Let’s go back to November, December 2019… our event diary was fully booked, we were finishing off some of our Christmas parties and we were getting ready to supply a production for The Novikov in London for New Years Eve. We were looking ahead to a stable, reliable fully booked 2020, with a happy customer base. January & February were booking up fast and we were already turning away work for May onwards. Then shit hit the fan!! If you are reading this thinking it is unprofessional to put it that bluntly then I apologize, but I think most people would agree that the events industry has been one of the worst hit with the Covid-19 saga. Within 12 weeks of the pandemic announcement our bookings had dropped nearly 80%. Most calls or emails were from clients asking about rescheduling or cancelling.

Let’s not dwell on what’s happened we need to be positive looking forward. It hasn’t been all doom and gloom. Once the government eased certain restrictions and regulations event promoters were keen to put on any form of event as this pandemic has not just hit suppliers but also the event planners & event organizers who have spent months planning events only to be held back and restricted whilst the world works out how to solve the crisis.

Now we have got the negative bit out the way let’s talk about the events we did work on this summer, what we have changed and new products we have brought into our hire stock as an outcome of the above.

What we have found as a company is anyone who was putting on an event quickly moved this to be an outdoors gathering, socially distanced of course but a huge shift to move events outside. This is where it comes in handy if you own a stage, outdoor screen and sound equipment…

Below we will talk about and explain the package we supplied to a local orchestral music event.

When Simon from Squarebox Events approached us with his idea of a socially distanced outdoor music festival, he was looking for a local event production company in Surrey who would be able to supply outdoor stage, sound, lighting and outdoor LED screen. Hence why he came to us!

”Surrey’s Leading Festival Stage Hire Company”

The events were to be spread across 10 weekends with the addition of 3 outdoor cinema nights across this time period as well. It was imperative to make sure that the artists were safely, socially distanced whilst on stage performing, so they opted for a 10m x 8m outdoor covered stage which gave them a minimum of 2m distance from one another, allowing licensing officers to sign the event off.

The event was capped at 350 per event where guests were to be separated and sectioned off into 3mx3m grass squares with the option of upgrading your ticket and hiring a raised stage platform for better viewing experience.

The events primarily took place in the daytime with all events finishing by the early evening. This meant that lighting acted more as eye candy rather than the need for a full-on lighting show. With this in mind we installed a comprehensive package of 24 B-eye moving head washes, 18 LED tourcans and a pair of 5m x 3m LED screens hung either side of the stage.

The screens allowed ticket holders to text and have their text displayed as digital signage on the large LED screens when artists were not performing, footage was not being played or they weren’t using the screens for the outdoor cinema.

The orchestral performances were stripped back so there was no need for lots of visuals as they are incredible talented people, gripping the attention of the audience with simple basic lighting and calming content displayed on the screens. The screens were really for interaction for the audience and for displaying the film.

When it came to the outdoor cinema events customers would be sectioned off into their area, lights would be turned off on the stage, sound system turned up and voila what do you have an incredibly sounding, amazing viewing experience.

It is at this point we must give you some more information about our LED video screen.

Previously event organisers would opt for a trailer style pop up mobile LED screen. These cheap inferior products don’t have the pixel density, the refresh rate or the overall quality to reproduce video content. Mobile screens are great for events where you need logos or signage put up or messages displayed but when it comes to showing live event footage or films there is a vast difference between that an a modular screen like we use. Also most of these screens have a pixel pitch of 8mm or even 10 or 12 mm and when your audience is only 10-15m back this isn’t acceptable these days and event organisers / planners are looking for a company that can supply LED screens with superior HD quality.

Outdoor LED screen has a pixel pitch of 3.9mm with a refresh rate of over 4000hz and a maximum brightness of 5000 nitts. You can watch your film outside even in direct sunlight and with such a small pixel pitch you can stand just 2.5m back and watch a seamless video in incredible quality.

To accompany the LED screen they needed a decent sound system. Without a well-designed sound system the event would be nothing! As with any event it is nothing without good sound.

Hire Outdoor Screen Hire From The Sound & Light Hire Company

What did we provide for this orchestral music event…

The client wanted a flown PA system with the addition of distributed PA speakers around the site as the clientele at this event would be of a slightly older generation and to meet the regulations of the licensing a flown array of cardioid subs was put forward by the licensing officer. As well as this to minimize offsite noise a CSA sub array across the front helped with this.

Due to the restrictions on how many artists could be on stage at one time, any act that played were relatively small and compact. We opted to use the trusted Midas M32 digital mixing console for front of house with the smaller Midas M32r on stage monitor duty.

Shure, Sennheiser and DP mics were used on the production giving us a vast and professional choice for these incredibly talented musicians.

Stage monitoring was taken care of by an 8-way mix using the proven and reliable formula (the d&b Audiotechnik M4 stage wedge) while processing and system delay was the job of our XTA digital sound processors.

Lighting control was via the Chamsys MQ60 and although not supplied by us we instructed production company On Tour Events to install 1500m of festoon across the site lighting up walkways, entrances and exits and public toilets across the site. There were also some large trees that the client wanted lit up so outdoor lights were supplied by On Tour Event as we generally don’t deal with architectural lighting.

The events were highly successful with lots of positive feedback from audience goers. People were delighted they were able to get out and enjoy themselves again in a slightly different way to before. This allowed further events to be planned for summer 2021 in a socially distanced organized format, complying with the current state of affairs.

The next section to this blog leads us onto the future of our company and where we see our events going, We don’t see events going anywhere, but we foresee most event organisers planning on outdoor productions just like the above.

Although we have discussed stage, sound, screen and lighting nothing happens without one thing…..

Power!

When Simon first contacted us, it was made noticeably clear whoever the production company was they had to supply everything, under one contract and power was included in this. As we all know in this industry finding a reliable generator company can be tricky and it is common knowledge that unless you are hiring a lot of generators you are left with a very small number of suppliers.

With this in mind it was to be that we would invest in a brand-new state of the art road towable generator. So, what are the specs or skip this part if you are not into reading the technical jargon!

We invested in a 70KVA road towable generator, UK manufactured and UK built this generator has an overspecd alternator, deep sea control panel for power and load monitoring and we stock a vast and extensive range of rubber box power distribution enabling us to safely distribute power across your stage.

It must be noted we don’t currently, nor do we plan to offer full site power for festivals or catering power at events. We would rather leave that side of the industry to power companies who specialize in site power. A lot of our events are for 1 / 2 stages and the event organisers are looking for a company to supply everything within a package.

One of the reasons we invested in a road towable generator is even if you don’t need to hire a stage for your outdoor event most events for the next year or so are most likely going to be outside. Outdoor cinemas will become more popular and the want and need for showing content outside on large screens is becoming ever more popular. As with most locations or fields, or larger outdoor spaces there is no power on site. So before organisers can plan anything they need to source where the power is coming from.

If you are an event planner it is a lot easier when one production company can supply everything, If you are using that company because they have a very good reputation for delivering an exceptional sound & lighting production it makes sense they would need the power to come from the same company so although we aren’t the biggest power company in Surrey or London we plan on being one of the most reliable power companies.

If you are planning a festival or event outside, that requires lighting, sound, stage, LED screen or power you know you can turn to that long and well established sound & lighting hire company that started 15 years ago and that company morphed from True Sound Hire rebranded into the Sound & Light Hire company.

For more information on our event services / hire stock we would love to talk to you to understand more about what you are trying to achieve and in turn give you a competitive & comprehensive quote.

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog, and here is to a happy, malleable 2021!

Contact The Sound & Light Hire Company on the details below:

8th October 2020/by Tim Maysh

The Sound & Light Hire Company Remains Positive Whiling Investing in The Future

The Sound & Light Hire Company Logo

Well, there’s no doubt about it, 2020 has been an unprecedented year in all manner of ways. The events industry has had to rally together to keep moving forward through what has been an incredibly tough and challenging period.

Here at The Sound & Light Hire Company,:

we’ve been rapidly adapting to the situation with each twist and turn of government guidelines, providing our outstanding service throughout, and developing a wide range of new equipment hire services. We would just like to reiterate that we are going nowhere (contrary to some malicious reports) and are, in fact, using this period this invest more money into equipment that is going to prove more pivotal moving forward.

So let’s start by taking stock of the events industry as it stands, state why we remain optimistic that the sector will recover, and talk about those investments into the future in a little more detail.

COVID-19’s Impact on the Event Service and Equipment Hire Industry

There’s no point in trying to dress the impact of COVID up as anything other than disastrous for the events industry as a whole. The ban of large gatherings of people effectively put an end to the festival season before it had even begun. Weddings, birthday parties, and almost all forms of collective celebrations were put on hold, as were events such as conferences, exhibitions, sports events, and live music concerts.

To put some figures on the impacts of those events being cancelled, arts and cultural events contribute £5.6 billion to the economy, festivals, fairs and shows produce £6.0 billion, music events rake in £17.6 billion, and sporting events add a further £9.6 billion. Of the million-plus jobs that depend on a thriving events industry, up to 600,000 could be lost without further support from the government. Those figures don’t even take into account the economic impact of the cancellation of private celebrations such as weddings or birthday parties.

However, the picture may not be as gloomy as it may seem, and we’ve been busy helping clients make alternative arrangements to ensure that they’re planned events could still go ahead, albeit it outside and a reduced number of attendees. What’s more, even though continental Europe is experiencing a second wave, the events industry has already demonstrated that events can go ahead even if the virus is here to stay.

There’s another reason to be positive, too. We are at the onset of rapid testing.

Advances in Testing Capabilities Give Cause for Optimism

Another reason behind our upbeat outlook is due to the rapid advance of testing technology and availability. Already, some tests exist that can determine the COVID status with a high degree of accuracy within 15-minutes. While they cannot, at this moment, be used as the sole method for screening individuals prior to entering a venue, large public events, or sporting events, they are a very much a start along the right path.

With the government attempting to pull off Operation Moonshot – a plan to test the whole UK population once a week by the end of next spring – further rapid testing at venues for parties, celebrations, and public events will provide an additional layer of biosecurity. With individuals knowing their COVID status on at least a weekly basis, the behaviours we’ve all avoided for so long such as being in close proximity to others can safely return, and we can begin to restore some form of normality in the wait for a viable vaccine.

As stated, these tests exist today. Now it’s merely a case of waiting for these rapid tests to reach the manufacturing capacity of several million per day. Once available on that scale, fans can return to music concerts, weddings can be restored to their former glory, and birthday parties can do away with limits on the number of guests in attendance.

So how are we preparing and investing for the future here at The Sound & Light hire Company? Well, we’re glad you asked.

The Sound & Light Hire Company Invests in the Future

As you can imagine, we’ve been planning for the future with our equipment hire services. We’ve made significant strides to adapt to the current situation, and will be launching several new products for 2021. But let’s start with the expansion of existing hire services we already offer.

Indoor and Outdoor LED Screens

LED screens and outdoor LED screens, in particular, are going to be hugely important going into 2021 and beyond with events increasingly being held outdoors. Outdoor cinemas, garden parties, movie nights, music festivals, and many more events will all benefit from the presence of LED video walls and screens.

We’ve started by expanding the number of LED HD TV screens we stock, before going all out on our range of LED video walls. Moving forwards, we can build outdoor LED screens from 2m x 1m right up to an enormous 8m x 6m! Screens this size would be absolutely perfect to hire for a drive-in cinema event or music festival.

We also have two options available concerning pixel pitch our indoor LED screens & outdoor LED screens both have a pixel pitch of 3.9mm. The our SmaRT#Tech screens offer a much crisper picture high-definition picture, especially for lower cap events where your attendees won’t be too far from the screen. By contrast, for larger events with viewers set to be positioned further away, 3.9mm pixel pitch video panels will just look even better ! And our LED screen hire prices offer a more cost-effective solution to any other outdoor LED screen system.

Embracing the Future of Gaming

Moving on to totally new equipment that we’ve never made available for hire before, will shortly have in stock two VR gaming PCs complete with HTC Vine Pro headsets. This otherworldly experience would be a great addition to any social occasion.

Imagine playing with your friends in a completely immersive game, with every movement you make reflected in what you see in front of you. The would also make an excellent focal point for birthday celebrations, as you laugh along at older family members getting to grips with the technology for the first time!

Towable Power Generators

As mentioned, even with enhanced testing in place, outdoor events are still going to be very much the order of the day for the majority of 2021, barring a minor miracle. That’s why we’ve invested in towable generators. From now on, any clients booking staging hire with us will have the option to for us to look after their power requirements too.

In fact, that offer is extended to all outdoor events requiring a power supply. By hiring one or a couple of generators with us, you needn’t worry about getting power to your outdoor speaker hire, stage hire, LED video wall hire, or lighting hire equipment.

New Wireless Lighting Options

Sticking with the theme of outdoor events, wireless, battery-powered lighting is going to play a pivotal role in many public and private events over the course of the next 12 months. We’re busy constructing a totally wireless lighting package that builds on our existing wireless LED uplighter hire options. These battery-powered options will be great for celebrations and events whereby power is not available, and a generator is not cost-effective.

Extending the Range of Battery-Powered Sound Options

On a similar note, we’ve invested heavily in increasing the number of battery-powered speakers for hire. These speakers have been popular since the onset of the pandemic, and we expect they’ll continue to be favoured well into next year and beyond. They are great pieces of kit and will comfortably last for 7-8 hours of playback at 75% volume.

We’re also crafting a completely wireless lighting and sound hire package, for those events held in more extensive gardens, fields, and other similar settings that may play host to an event over the next couple of years.

The Event Industry is Certainly Down, But By No Means Out

As we’ve stated, here at The Sound & Light Hire Company, we’re going nowhere. We know that this period has been challenging, regardless of industry. The events sector has been no different. Actually, we would argue that it’s very much been at the sharp end, considering the economic hardship caused by the cancellations of so many events, festivals, weddings, parties, and other celebrations.

However, we’re not ones to sit still. We’ve changed the way we operate, implemented all of the necessary additional health & safety protocols, and, as laid out above, we’ve invested heavily into our inventory to provide a broad spectrum of equipment hire options that cover almost every base.

Don’t forget we can provide all manner of event services too. Our event production teams have already designed, directed, and overseen some of the first-ever socially-distanced events with massive success. We can take care of everything, from setting up and mixing the sound for the live band you’ve booked, to rigging lighting fixtures to trusses and choreographing a dazzling lighting show for your wedding celebration. We can do it all.

Why Choose the Sound & Light Company for Your Equipment Hire Needs?

2020 has been a challenging year for all of us, so it’s only right that once we’ve got to grips with it as a society, you’ll want to celebrate and enjoy events and parties just as you did before lockdown was even a word. Here at The Sound & Light Hire Company, we are in the perfect position to help you out.

Whether you need to hire a small PA speaker system for your kid’s birthday party, or you need us to handle the entire event production of an extravagant wedding, we are just as committed to excellence in either arena. We have one of the biggest inventories in the whole country when it comes to sound and lighting equipment.

Better still, if you’re hiring from us, you’re receiving brand names that are widely regarded as the best in the business, we never, EVER, cheap out on equipment, even for small equipment hire packages. We’ve never had a piece of equipment let us down, which we think you’ll agree is incredible after being in business for over a decade.

Then there’s our friendly team. We are here, seven days a week giving on the spot training to dry-hire customers, mixing live music acts in front of thousands of fans as well as delivering and setting up equipment all over Surrey, London, and surrounding areas. We never stopped and have gone the extra mile this year to ensure our customers have hosted successful events.

So if you’ve got a corporate event lined up at a central London hotel, or you’ve got a wedding booked in the Surrey countryside, we can supply everything you could ever need. Just give us a call any day of the week on 0800 8611136 to have a chat with us. We can’t wait to hear what you’ve got planned!

Contact The Sound & Light Hire Company on the details below: