Light for music desk

[Dafydd y Garreg Wen]

Any recommendations for lighting a music desk?

The organ in question has the console en fenêtre, so the music desk is about a foot back from the front of the case and there is thus a bit of “ceiling” to which the present light is attached. This is a fluorescent strip that sheds plenty of light onto the music, but also backwards into the player’s eyes.

I was going to make a shield/reflector to address this problem, but since the bulb has now gone am thinking of replacing the unit with a LED one. I shall probably still have to make some sort of shield.

Any thoughts?

(I have looked into battery-operated strip lights to make installation simpler. As this organ is not used much, batteries wouldn’t need to be replaced too often. But these lights all seem to be designed for use in cupboards, so have a motion sensor to turn them off when not much is going on, a feature that could be a nuisance.)

[mrbouffant]

An alternative might be USB-charged strip lights. If you have a socket near the console these could be easily charged and swapped in and out as necessary if you kept a couple of spares nearby.

[Robert Bowles]

Here's another alternative, assuming the fitting is serviceable and doesn't need replacing anyway.  It will avoid the need for periodic recharging, and the need for a qualified electrician to change the fitting.  Just fit a replacement bulb which is the same shape and has the same terminals, but has leds, not a tungsten filament.  They are available, but only from specialist lighting shops or online.  Not to be found in the hardware section of your local Sainsburys. 

e.g.  Here

Good luck!!

 

[handsoff]

I had a similar issue last year. The strip light with an incandescent filament failed but our churchwarden who owns several holiday cottages came up with an LED strip light used as a shaving/make-up light for a bathroom fixture. A simple changeover was made as the old fitting was simply plugged in behind the desk and already linked to the blower switch. A rectangular shade was made for a couple of pounds by a motor engineer who had the appropriate metal bending tool. This was screwed in place and that was that.

[Dafydd y Garreg Wen]

Thank you for these suggestions, all of which seem good ones, and which I shall explore. The current fitting is in working order.

I’m inclining towards using thin aluminium sheet to make a shade, as it’s light and easy to cut.

Very useful to have others’ thoughts to help get my mental machinery moving on this. One of the best things about this forum is that when one has a question (whether about repertoire, technique or more mundane things like this) the various suggestions help to reach the answer even when they do not provide it as such.

[Robert Bowles]

Aluminium is easy to cut, but it also conducts electricity, so be careful that you can't be accidentally connect it to the mains as you change a bulb - or you should earth it.

I suspect that you could use a piece of plywood to shade the bulb from the player's eyes.  These led replacement bulbs are so low-energy ( 5w??) that they don't generate enough heat to be a problem for shades - even if the shade is timber.  Tungsten filament bulbs were another matter, and I used to play at a Church where the plywood timber shade over the music desk was black at one end - due to a predecessor putting in  75w bulb when he should have used 25w.....

My grandmother always said "You should always listen to advice from others - but remember that you need never take it!"

Happy New Year to all !

[bam]

One of the many good things about LEDs is that they are directional.  If you rotate the LED tube so that the emitters are facing the music, you may not need a shade.

[Dafydd y Garreg Wen]

On 11/01/2021 at 10:44, bam said:

One of the many good things about LEDs is that they are directional.  If you rotate the LED tube so that the emitters are facing the music, you may not need a shade.

Ah, I hadn’t realised that. Thank you. Would save me some trouble if it works.

[Lausanne]

And the LEDs use low voltage, hence the transformer, usually at the plug-in end, so if you need to use metal as a shade there won't be a risk of shock.