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Light events pick which type of stage lighting to use for your venue. Most of this is done via text events, while spotlights have their own MIDI notes.

Having different types of light events for different sections, using light flashes to underscore big part of the song and fading between them can all be used to make your stage show pop. Try looking up live footage, music videos and other Rock Band venues for ideas of how to use these techniques.

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These light events don't animate at all, meaning they're good for cross fades or atmosphere:

• [lighting (silhouettes)] = Dark stage with green fog and faint silhouettes of the band.
• [lighting (silhouettes_spot)] = Dark stage with green fog and clearer silhouettes of the band.

• [lighting (blackout_slow)] = Turns off all lights. Has a slow fade in RB2, but is instant in RB3.
• [lighting (blackout_fast)] = Turns off all lights. Has a fast fade in RB2, but is instant in RB3.
• [lighting (blackout_spot)] = Turns off most lights, with faint lights just barely illuminating the band.

• [lighting (flare_slow)] = Massive bright, white, light that covers the screen. Has a slow fade in RB2, but is instant in RB3.
• [lighting (flare_fast)] = Massive bright, white, light that covers the screen. Has a fast fade in RB2, but is instant in RB3.

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These light events move around and animate automatically:

• [lighting (loop_cool)] = Light blue and cyan lights moving calmly.
• [lighting (loop_warm)] = Yellow and light orange lights moving calmly.
• [lighting (harmony)] = Orange and purple lights moving calmly.
• [lighting (sweep)] = Purple lights with big, sweeping spotlights going across the stage.
• [lighting (searchlights)] = Light blue lights with several smaller, fast moving searchlights animating semi-quickly.

• [lighting (strobe_slow)] = Turns on and off all lights every 16th. Use sparingly!
• [lighting (strobe_fast)] = Turns on and off all lights every 32th. Use very sparingly!

• [lighting (frenzy)] = Rainbow-colored lights, moving and changing quickly all over.
• [lighting (bre)] = Ultra fast rainbow-colored lights going berserk, usually used during Big Rock Endings. Use sparingly!

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These light events stay static unless you add additional animation events to go along with them. The main light events are:

• [lighting (verse)] = Earthy tones, changing between oranges, greens and yellows.
• [lighting (chorus)] = Bold colors, mostly various types of purple.
• [lighting (manual_cool)] = Light blue and cyan lights.
• [lighting (manual_warm)] = Yellow and light orange light.
• [lighting (dischord)] = Dissonant colors, often having reds and blues with green and yellow spotlights.
• [lighting (stomp)] = Turns all lights on or off.

Now, to animate these, put in one of these text events after it whenever you want the lights to change:

• [next]
• [previous] (doesn't work with stomp)
• [first] (doesn't work with stomp)

In most cases, putting in a [next] event whenever you want the lights to change and ignoring the other 2 is fine. Try to sync these up to the beat or various drum hits in the audio for best effect.

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You can fade two light events between each other, making a smoother transition between them. Here is how to do this:

1. Add in a copy of the currently active light event where you want the fade to start
2. Place the light event you want it to fade into where you want the fade to end

Its a simple trick but can be used to great effect to add lots of flair to your stage show. For example, starting with blackout or silhouettes, and then fading into lights as the song start or at the end of a mellow bridge.

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Spotlights work independently of the light events; they shine a spotlight at the desired character for the duration of a MIDI note. The spotlight takes a short moment to activate fully, so we recommend having them start a 16th triplet early to account for this.

Spotlights can be used with blackout and silhouettes to light up characters who are playing, visually accent loud hits in the music, or customize lights in various other ways. Be creative!