Perhaps the recognizable and enduring lighting effect is the mirror ball. Used to reflect light with multiple mirrors, the mirror ball became hugely popular during the disco era of the 1970s. Although early versions had been in use since the 1920s, the mirror ball exemplified disco music, and still remains popular today. The most common mirror ball is a motorized spherical unit with small, square mirrors attached, but units and mirrors of other geometrical shapes are also used.
Developed in the 1930s for scientific and industrial use in the study of fast-moving objects, the strobe light became a popular nightclub effect during the psychedelic music era of the 1960s. Giving the illusion of slow motion, strobe lighting remains a popular effect today.
Mechanical lighting fixtures began with siren-type rotating effects. Engineering breakthroughs in robotic motors in the 1950s and 1960s gave way to mechanical lighting fixtures. Lights that pivot and rotate became more popular and affordable, as smaller and lighter motors were developed, and the addition of programmed computer chips to control movement made mechanized fixtures a staple lighting effect.
Colored lighting has been a mainstay nightclub lighting effect. Colored filters, called gels, are fastened to the fixture to create the desired color. Mechanical gel frames, on which are mounted any number of gel filters, are also employed to change colors in rotation. Newer LED color-change lights allow any number of colors to be programmed with a single fixture, either statically or at preset intervals.
Laser lighting became popular as a lighting effect in the mid-1970s, used primarily for large rock concerts. As laser technology advanced, making units smaller and more affordable, more and more nightclubs began installing them as part of their lighting effect arsenal. Now as commonplace in larger clubs as other mechanized fixtures, laser lighting is a standard, crowd-pleasing effect.
Lighting is controlled in a number of ways. Early manual lighting controllers used a simple system of switches and relays, later giving way to lower voltage electronic controllers. The development of DMX protocol (Digital Multiplexing) in the late 1980s streamlined lighting control, bringing it to the digital front, and is now the standard in theatrical lighting control.
MIDI controllers (Musical Instrument Digital Interface), was the forerunner of DMX, developed in the late 1970s. Midi controllers are still used for critical nightclub lighting effects were safety is a concern, such as with lasers and pyrotechnics.
Both MIDI and DMX protocols can be operated manually, using specially designed lighting effects consoles, or entire effects shows can be programmed and operated by computer.
Sound detectors also used for nightclub lighting, when fully automated, hands-off control is desired. Detectors can be standalone units controlling a number of connected fixtures, or may be built into individual lighting effects. The units detect sound and frequencies, and control lighting via microchip programs.