# Gel for general wash



## Weisert (Jul 13, 2005)

I want to set up my rear house bar (18 ETC Source 4's) for a general stage wash, suitable for almost any general stage activity. My question is, what gel color would you suggest I use? Should I mix a no color straw w/ a no color blue? Rosco has a wealth of info...but I am looking for some practical experience here...any suggestions?


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## erosing (Jul 13, 2005)

I ussually use either a amber wash or a blue wash, but it really depends on what you think your doing, but I'd say amber or the straw wash would be the most suitable for anything.


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## The_Guest (Jul 13, 2005)

Arez nailed it. Make a nicely balanced wash with your warms and your cools. Amber and Blue come to mind.


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## len (Jul 13, 2005)

The straw/blue combo is nice and I've used it to good general effect. I would also consider a couple no color pinks in there but it depends on how many fixtures and how much you need to cover.


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## zac850 (Jul 13, 2005)

The real question is how many fixtures do you need for the wash. If you need all the fixtures, then I would suggest a blue, just to put some color since I assume you have an amber in your FOH wash. 

If you can have 2 washes, I would do what everyone else is saying, mix amber with blue to get your warm and cool covered.

If you can have 3 or 4 washes, then once you get your warm and cool covered, you can have fun and find some interesting colors. What kinds of things do you have on stage? Is it more people talking and giving speeches, or will you have some kids going up with their class and dancing to music or some such. If its the second, you may want to chuck a strong red and strong blue in as a backlight position you can chase and give a good feel. You also could try some lavender, which is a good basic color to put in if you don't know what else to do.


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## lights11964 (Jul 13, 2005)

i always use R02 which is a bastard amber or i use R51 which is a white with a purpleish tint.


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## Traylen (Jul 13, 2005)

Assuming you're using the setup of warm on one side and cold on the other on your front stage wash, color combinations I'd recommend are:
R02 with R54 - Bastard Amber and Special Lavender (Or a R51 in R54's place - Surprise Pink)
R06 with R60 - No Color Straw and No Color Blue
R33 with R60 - No Color Pink with No Color Blue

Those are 3 of the most basic washes I've seen. Not putting forth too much color onto the actors, and giving you the warm and cool wash. From what I've heard the most commonly used combo is the NC straw and NC blue combo. 

Sorry if this post is incomplete, in a rush to leave....


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## Soundguydave (Jul 13, 2005)

You can't go wrong with R02 Bastard Amber then a No color blue.


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## sound_nerd (Jul 13, 2005)

bastard amber
no-colour, or med-light blue
surprise pink if you have the room for it, it adds a great balance to the wash, but surprise! its not much pink. Heh.


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## chslighttech (Jul 13, 2005)

We use R-360 clear water blue and R-02 Bastard amboer for our warm and cool wash.


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## foeglass (Jul 14, 2005)

I am quite a fan of blue myself. Whereever possible I willl put a blue-out which will help explain my suggestion of no color blue and perhaps a couple darker blues, R63 and so forth. Also as many here I like Bastard Amber. You Simply can't go wrong with Bastard Amber!


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## Switzerland (Aug 3, 2005)

I'm quite fond of rosco 02 and rosco 63. we also layer gels in scoops to give more depth. use a purple and a blue


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## Radman (Aug 4, 2005)

Well I'm glad to be apart from the majority, here, means I'm more of a unique thinker!

Rx05 Rose Tint
Rx66 Cool Blue (or if you're less woried about burning up the gels too quickly Rx67 Light Sky Blue)

It's always nice to have like a pink, it makes people look healthier. I think.


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## chieftfac (Aug 4, 2005)

*A world of possabilities*

Hey Weisert,

It would depend on the size of the stage and your fixture set-up. My FOH is 15 fixtures, set in 5 areas across the stage lip, 3 per area. I tend to like more saturated colors, so in the FOH I go with R35 from right, R52 from center and R62 from left. I've worked with a lot of euro groups and they like to double up on the color. (esp. the Russians) I've experimented, and can see why they do this. So now, I double up on the R62 and R52 but leave the R35 single. This leaves a good general light with a hint of saturated color around the edges of objects and in the cross shadows on the stage. I haven't used a "no-color" gel in years, and I never, absolutely never, use R02 in a general stage wash, unless there are african american skin tones to deal with. (Pull the R52 and substitute R02) Do you have time to experiment with color and fixture positions??? I can tell you what works for me, but please use this only as a jumping off point. My theater is light in color overall (off white walls, way too light) and I'm using black painted masonite for the stage floor, so what works for me might look terrible in your theater. 

Hope this helps...

Of course, I think outside the box often....I use R56 as back lighting


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