You have bought the perfect music stand and now it is time to buy music stand lights to go with it. This can be quite a chore as there are so many available in the market. You need to choose a light that will allow you to see your music but will not get in the way of the audience enjoying it. There are several qualities that all music stand lights have in common, so here is what you should be looking for:
•    The light should be bright enough. The best way to measure the brightness of music lights is to switch them on and see how well you can see the bottom centre of the music stand – you may very well see the top but if you cannot see the bottom then the light is not bright enough.
•    A good light will have a shield on top of it so that the audience cannot look directly into it – if they do it will only serve to distract them from the music.
•    There are 2 kinds of bulbs that you can choose from – the traditional incandescent type which only produces one shade of light, and the more modern LED which comes in several colors. It is up to you to pick the one that you are more comfortable with, but keep in mind that LED lights last a lot longer than incandescent ones and are generally less problematic. If you want a brighter LED get one that has a higher LED brightness measurement.
•    Do you want a battery powered light or one that will be plugged into a wall socket? If you choose battery powered lights make sure that you always have an extra set of batteries close by just in case. Although wall powered lights are better they are not always practical because the stand may not be standing close to a wall. There are some brands that allow you to use both batteries and direct electricity depending on what is convenient for you, but these will cost you more.
•    Music stand lights can be made of different materials – plastic, aluminum or even steel. When you are thinking about the material that you want your lights made out of think about weight – if they are made of a heavy material they will only add to the weight of everything that you have to carry around.
•    How well do the lights attach to the stand? They are usually attached using clips, and lights with more clips are better because they reduce the risk of mishaps.
•    Think about the lip thickness of your stand – the lip is where the lights will be mounted and if it is too thick the light clips may not be able to attach.
If you want to see a wide array of music lights you should visit RATstands. They have plenty of different models in their showroom so you can be sure that you will find a set that is just right for your stand. You can find out more on their website, http://www.ratstands.com/.