[Replace All Those Nuts And Bolts On Your Lighting Rig!]

My triangular truss on two tripods requires me to fasten and unfasten 3 bolts to join the two halves of truss together and two bolts at each stand to secure it. I have also replaced all safety locking pins with the same. This also means I have to carry an allen key, similar tools and spares.

 

I have replaced all of these bolts with bicycle quick release seat clamps and believe I have reduced setting up and taking down time by 5 minutes on each. I also use these on some less heavy led lighting effects and I have also replaced all safety locking pins with the same.

 

If you have no idea what they look like, view this link.

 

http://thumbs2.ebaystatic.com/d/l180/pict/...74431693_25.jpg

 

adds a bit if colour if you don't just want black...... and some of my dj friends have copied the idea so I thought I would share.

[Music For the whole gig. Order of events.]

Hi Guys,

 

I have been a mobile dj for a fair few years, previously with an agency who took far to big a %, and now working and promoting my own set-up. My set-up is digital. Amp, Mixer, Computer, Monitor, Lighting Controller etc is all flight cased in one unit. 3 hard drives currently hold around 45,000 tracks! I carry one cd and here is why:

 

A few months ago I had the misfortune of setting up my equipment with half an hour to spare. I switched everything on and took ten minutes to deduce that my monitor had completely packed up. Disaster! No spare.

 

Gig cancelled? No way! I placed one cd into the cd drive, Grandmaster Party 3, it auto played in real player. I then jumped into the car, drove to the nearest 24 hour Asda super store, purchased a 19inch monitor with my credit card and drove back to the venue. I had been gone 45minutes, and I wondered what to expect.

 

What do you know, the dance floor was packed! I grabbed the mic, did the intoduction bit, and left it playing while I set up the monitor! I was approached by the person who had booked the gig, I think the box and polystyrene, plastic bags etc. was a bit of a giveaway. I explained what had happened.

 

End result, a fantastic non profit making night, that got me 4 further bookings.

 

my personal tip for ending the night at any birthday, wedding or family function is to play a 'Dirty Dancing' mix ending with 'I've had the time of my life', a sure fire way to finish on a high and gets all the couples on the dance floor for a slow one.

 

Andy.