Color Gel Filters and Split Gels

Everybody knows how to use gel. You select the color to enhance the mood you want to convey, slide it into a gel frame and place it in the gel frame holder in the front of your instrument. But sometimes you find you need a subtle mix of colors to achieve the look you want, such as a sunset, water or a stained-glass window effect. Sometimes you feel the need to add extra excitement to a pattern.

These effects are easily attained through the use of split gels- various pieces of gel taped together. The light from an instrument will blend the colors a little bit, but you’ll still get enough separation of color to achieve some interesting and unique looks. There are endless ways that colors can be used together to achieve a myriad of looks. It is important to note that a split gel will look entirely different depending on which way it is inserted in the instrument, which instrument and beam spread is being used, even which pattern you are using with the split gel. A stained-glass window split will have three different appearances when used with three different window patterns.