Lights Lights Lights

[bdeyes 0]

I have just been made resident DJ of a 5 star hotel, but they said they wanted me to incerease the lights that i used.

 

I was gigging there using only 2 abstract twister 3's, which was fine untill another dj turned up for one night and brought a light show that the queen would be proud of for her birthday.

 

 

I have purchased 4 abstract gladiators (The early type) which i will now use. would anyone recomend anything smaller and more effect. I would prefer to take as little as possible.

 

Also the other dj had a pair of abstract xp1's infront of his decks which looked very nice. I was thinking of buying some cheaper versions which are similar that would set me back £110 the pair, or would i be better off just buying a star cloth??

 

Everyones advice would be appreciated.

 

Cheers

 

Dave

[Jimbo55 0]

It is difficult to suggest idea's as it will depend on the size of the venue and the type of client base that the hotel is likely to get. Could you give us a rough idea.

 

Max capacity, ceiling hieght, etc.

 

Jimbo

[Andy Westcott 0]

(Gets ready to dive behind the sofa....)

 

Have you considered light screens?

If interesting and colouful, they certainly make an attractive feature of the disco, which is presumably what the guy was meaning.

[John Kidd 0]

Hi, Take a Look at the Martin Mania EFX500, Available on Ebay for £359.99, check it out on the Martin.com site.

 

A great light with a big output, Great for filling dancefloor space with something interesting.

 

Would also work as a centre piece for the Gladiators!

 

 

[Gary 0]

QUOTE (bdeyes @ Jan 9 2006, 02:35 AM)

I have just been made resident DJ of a 5 star hotel, but they said they wanted me to incerease the lights that i used. I was gigging there using only 2 abstract twister 3's, which was fine untill another dj turned up for one night and brought a light show that the queen would be proud of for her birthday. Dave

This to me, suggests that the hotel have "snapped you up" for your DJ'ing ability, music choice, mic work, audience ability etc,etc... rather than "John of 1,000 lights". This is of course, excellent news and just the way it should be... http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/notworthy.gif http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/thumbup.gif

 

(incidently, I heard a couple of weeks ago of a DJ loosing work at a former residency of theirs for his dress sense - eg: Jacket & Jeans... http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/yucky.gif )

 

Right, back on topic...I'd involve the venue who've asked you to get more lights. You could spend £1000's on some super-duper lighting which you, me, and every DJ on the isles thinks is the best thing since sliced bread, only to find out that you've not hit the "hot button" which the venue liked.

 

So, perhaps check the following, with the venue:

 

What sort of lights did they see in use at this other show that they liked in particular? Was it that the "other disco" was a great focal point eg: A big illuminated name sign, or LED scrolling sign, light screens, spot banks etc, Not just "8 black boxes 'anging' on a pole" - did they have some custom gobo's projecting around the room rather than ordinary "dot dot dot dot" moonflower type outputs. Maybe the hotel was under the temporary hypnotic trance often associated with the first few minutes of seeing moving heads etc. Were the back and side walls/ceiling being colour washed with slow, gradual colour crossfades etc.

 

One of my regular venues, for instance, simply loves it when I include their name on my LED moving message sign above the disco, and on the paper request slips eg: "Welcome to Blah Blah Park Hotel with XYZ Discos" (easy bit of "tweak the venue ego" there).

 

If you're thinking that approaching the venue on this matter is a bit "cold", then why not add a bit of "I'm asking, for our mutual benefit"... eg: Ask the venue is they've got any particular non-straightforward disco's in mind in the future eg: perhaps they're about to embark on a load of Wedding Fayres, fashion shows, or other "daylight" functions, in which case you can explain that your choice of what lighting to buy will be influenced by their future needs, meaning you'll look for flexible lighting which can perform well at both disco's and their other functions alike.

 

Such discussions, even if its only for a few casual minutes at a time when you were at the venue anyway, will show the venue that you've taken their comments about extra lighting on-board and are keen to meet their current and future needs.

 

Heck, even touch'em for an interest free loan for the gear, with re-payments met by a (tiny) percentage of each of your gigs with them. I've done this a couple of times in the past with different venues and its worked well for the venues and me.

Edited January 10, 2006 by Gary

[dj_dash 0]

QUOTE (John Kidd @ Jan 9 2006, 10:04 PM)

Hi, Take a Look at the Martin Mania EFX500, Available on Ebay for £359.99, check it out on the Martin.com site.

Speaking of the new Martin Mania scanners, anyone know where you can buy the bigger SCX600 ones in the UK? I've looked all over the internet and can't find any Martin supplier that sells them!! http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/thumbdown.gif

[norty303 0]

They're new and not available as yet. I'm keeping my eye out for them to see what the opening price is going to be. You're prob best to wait a while anyway as the price will drop once a lot of retailers get them and the competition factor kicks in.

 

They are also doing a 150w discharge version SCX700 with 1 more glass gobo and indexing on the gobos.

 

I love the fact they've got built in macros and like previous lights in the Martin range they have a mode of DMX operation where you just use the DMX channels to control the music triggered patterns rather than having to program every step.

 

Add in the ability to upgrade the software, i reckon this has got to be one of the best scanners to hit the market for years, i certainly expect to see a number of them on installs in the near future