How to Shop for a Disco Ball

In the world of entertainment, we have engraved into our lives there there are several things that we must have in order to throw out that dance party, whether it be professional, like a bar or disco-tech, or personal, like having a birthday party or bash to celebrate an occasion.

You then go shopping for a disco ball and find out that there are several out there to choose from. you se different sizes and think, "What is the best size for me?"

Disco balls generally come in sizes of 4", 8", 12" 16"20", 28", and 54". There are a select few out there that have an off-beat number, but these even numbers are associated with about 98% of the disco balls sold today. Disco balls also come in rainbow color, but these are the type that don't produce as much reflection, and sometimes hard to see the effect they are suppose to give out, which is the primarily the source of what a disco ball is for.

Once you determine the reason, you will shop for a disco ball. On-line is a good source, but better yet, a lot of music stores will have disco balls. Some might not have them in stock, but they can order them and it usually takes about three days. Disco balls are not heavy, made mostly from styrofoam, the shipping charges are usually fair, so don't be afraid to shop online.

In this world of ours, we are always taught that more and bigger is better, with the exception of a few rare things. A disco ball is one of those things. Your disco ball does not have to be bigger to pull off an effect of reflection. A 4" ball does the same trick as a 54" ball. the only difference when it come to size, is how many reflective lights you want to produce in a square footage. A 4" disco ball, hanging 10' from the ground, will generally generate about 1 reflection every three square foot. A 12" disco ball will generate a reflective light every square foot, and a 54" ball with generate about 6 reflections, giving that the wall is generally squared off about twelve feet.

So, In general, the only difference in disco ball sizes, is how many lights you want to generate in any given height and footage. Other than that, most disco balls are made the same way, basically styrofoam and squared "mini-mirrors", with the give in that there will be a few mirrors "triangles" to give the ball more coverage around it's body. For home entertainment, the first three sizes will do the job. Entertainment halls and bars, as well as other businesses that thrive on entertainment, will generally get the bigger sizes. There are three reasons for this:

1. A disco ball is always hung higher, making due that they need more mirrors. This also applies to the reason that the establishment is usually also much wider.

2. cosmetically, a bigger disco ball attracts more attention in these establishments. No one in a dance hall wants to see a 4" disco ball.

3. There is usually more than one light source hitting the ball for reflection, and getting a bigger ball gives the staff of the establishment a bigger target to hit. One of the things necessary for proper light reflection is to overlap the lighting system on the ball. The reflection from the ball doesn't come out uniform, but this aspect never mattered when it came to disco balls.

Accessaries

Disco balls, with exception to the different types lighting you can buy with it, has very few accessaries. One of them is the motor to turn the ball. there are two types of motors when dealing with a disco ball; battery-operated and electrical. If you are just using your disco ball every so often, a battery-operated motor will do just fine, operating on one "D" battery. Entertainment operations on the other hand, uses their disco balls more often, therefore needing electricity. A disco ball can run a battery down in about 4 days, give or take a day, so it only makes since that they do you electricity.

Another accessary is a table stand for a disco ball. This usually comes with and is intended for a 4" or 8" disco ball. This just means you can set the disco ball on a table. It's never a good Idea to ever put a bigger disco ball on these stands, because they are not made to hold weight persay, but they are mainly used to just spin the smaller balls.

The last accessary you can get for a disco ball is a chain to adjust height. This is Important for entertainment establishments that try to get the maximum exposure from the disco ball, sometimes hanging it lower to actually keep the reflective lights from just hitting the ceilings above.

Overall

Disco balls can light up any occasion. Besides music, this is one of the breaking points to get people to actually dance, so it does serve it's purpose. The only thing you have to do now is make sure when you do put up a disco ball now is making sure your hook hit's a stud board, or hanging brace. One of the worse things that can happen is that a disco ball starts coming down, possibly falling on someone's head.

Have fun!