Roadshow or "Compact Disco"

[Digital discos 0]

QUOTE

martin audio speakers

 

Last time I checked the 15" martin audio f15 tops were retailing at £1200, on they an overkill for smalller functions?

[mikeee 0]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - Less is More - Less kit, More money.

 

My show is what I would call medium. I need to take some more piccies, for you.

[Award Entertainment 0]

QUOTE (ADS Entertainments @ Mar 12 2005, 11:06 PM)

I often turn up with too much kit, but its always better that way.

Wouldn't you be better off finding out more about the event up front? Normally the only things I need to know in order to decide how much kit to take are these:

• Which venue and if applicable, which room?
• How many guests?
• What style of music predominantly?

Straight away I know that if it's a typical wedding for under 200 people in a standard sized venue and the music will be typical wedding style, then I can leave the laser, strobe, UV light, mirrorball and powered subwoofer at home. It's about forward planning for me and knowing the venues well.

[YourBigEvent 0]

But I take it, but don't use it, except as backup, plus some gigs are miles away, and I would never visit to see the room beforehand, like I could if the gig was only 40 odd miles away.

In the next three months I have about 4 gigs that are over 200 miles away, one is 400 miles away, so take it, leave it in the van, as use it as backup.

[C.S 0]

Agree with Richard wholeheartedly, for me forward planning makes or breaks the gig .

[mikeee 0]

Always visit a venue before hand, Always meet the duty manger or C&B manger, Always offer copies of PAT & PLI, Always meet the client prior to the event. Not everything can be sorted on the phone.

[Award Entertainment 0]

QUOTE (Digital discos @ Mar 12 2005, 09:04 AM)

www.sparksdiscos.co.uk you can see my standard setup on the home page- 4 evl spins and an HK Lucas 1000!

There's a good example here of a compact rig that can still be cleaned up further without any loss of sound or light integrity. If I may be so bold as to use your image Sparks Disco (sorry- don't know your name!), I'll show the picture from your website and say what I'd do to make it 1% better. First of all let me say that you've got a terrific set-up there and as is stands you're looking great.

 

http://www.sparksdiscos.co.uk/images/newrig.JPG

• Lose one speaker tripod by putting the speaker on a pole above the subwoofer.
• Replace the overhead truss with a sturdy single tripod T-bar
• Run a custom skirt around the front of the console so that no silver aluminium shows
• Try not to set up in front of a mirror- it makes it look like theres twice as much gear!

Obviously these are little refinements, but you'll find that fo an investment of (say) 100 pounds, you'll have the cleanest looking rig in the district and your customers will love you for it!

[Digital discos 0]

First thank you very much the advice Rendezvous. My only problem with one tbars is that my lights are pretty bulky so I'm not sure if 4 would fit on! and there would be quite a lot of cables running about both dmx and power! SO i wouldn't want it to get any messier. I will see how it looks but I'm a bit sceptical!

 

 

I have now added a red cloth round the deckstand.

 

 

I have TBars which I can use.

 

Do bare in mind that was a younger aged event.. and for generally kids/teens usually want a tad more gear http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/533.gif

 

Sorry if this was trying to sound contradictory to your advice, but your advice is most appreciated http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/smile.gif

[Hugmaster 0]

Hi

 

I used to take out a ton of gear.

 

Now I take as little as possible but enough for the room I'm playing.

 

I'd use a T-Bar for lights, however my overhead is hard wired, just plug lights into the bar, run a bulgin from the controller and there ya go.

 

Must do something about my frontage though, it looking a bit tatty.

 

Anything that declutters and saves time is good. As long as you have a good sound system, anything else on top of that is a bonus, and the customer won't know a scanner from a barrel from a lava lamp.

 

Currently we take out

 

Mackie SRM450's

Skytech Active base, when appropriate

 

lighting

 

2 x EVL Spins

2 x Source Murcielago's

1 x NJD Sword

 

Plus 2 x Prolight Cyberzap if we need some movement in a large room.

 

Most of the time we just use the spins, murcialago's and sword.

 

Darren

 

[Paul Forsyth 0]

This is a great topic, I tend to fall between the two stalls, and feel that the ideal is to have the right show for the right event/venue.

 

That said, occasionally there are time restraints. Ie gig finishes at midnight but you gotta be out by 12.30.

 

This is where a compact show comes into play, and can win you points.

 

I am currently trying to find different ways to configure my show, but feel that once I do, I'll probably use the quickest setup/break down most of the time.

 

Vinnie

 

PS - Time, room and people willing, I believe it would be really useful to have a show and tell type area where we could all share the benefits of how we set up and why it suits us at the next dju max.

 

 

[Dukesy 0]

Good points Vinnie.

 

Flexibility and being able to accomodate 'the venue & guests' is essential.

 

Yes indeed, less is more, but sometimes, the 'big set-up' or the 'medium set-up' is just as important as the 'small set-up'.

 

My 2d worth. http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/smile.gif

 

[Award Entertainment 0]

QUOTE (Digital discos @ Mar 13 2005, 10:09 PM)

First thank you very much the advice Rendezvous. My only problem with one tbars is that my lights are pretty bulky so I'm not sure if 4 would fit on! and there would be quite a lot of cables running about both dmx and power

I'm sorry- you hadn't asked for a critique, but I chose your picture because you'd just posted it. I apologise if I was out of order with my comments and I hope I haven't upset you. I understand the requirements of youth events- usually the more gear you can throw at them, the better you'll be received. Kids haven't yet learned class and distinction!

 

Here's a picture from a marquee wedding I did 2 weeks ago which shows my lighting T-bar with 4 effects (Martin Acrobat, 2 Moonflowers and an NJD Chaos) and the sub/speaker setup I mentioned. Ignore the messy cables on the lightstand upright as I hadn't finished my setup. When the first guest came into the reception it was as tidy as possible. I have a heavy duty crank-up T-bar stand coming in a couple of weeks for my lighting.

 

http://www.disco.co.nz/images/050305_01.jpg

Edited March 13, 2005 by Rendezvous

[Paul Forsyth 0]

Very tidy and compact set up Richard. And importantly it fits the overall feel of the venue.

 

One thing I would be concerned about a little, is the remoteness of the light stand. Is it fixed in any way to the column it is next to? Maybe it's just me, but I don't like tripod stands that accesible to the public.

 

Vinnie

[Award Entertainment 0]

Hi Vinnie,

 

Good question. No it's not secured to the marquee in any way, but the tripod's legs have a substantial spread. The big issue is stopping people from tripping over the tri-legs and I got around that by putting the black cases that I transport my lights in at the base, as well as chatting with those people who were seated around it. Visually discreet, but also effective.

Edited March 14, 2005 by Rendezvous

[Paul Forsyth 0]

http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/thumbup.gif

Thanks for the answer Richard, I've felt on occasions that the lighting might be better placed than close to me but have worried about this issue, so it's reassuring to hear from someone that has done this and had no issues with it.

 

Vinnie

[Award Entertainment 0]

QUOTE (Vinnie @ Mar 14 2005, 01:42 PM)

I've felt on occasions that the lighting might be better placed than close to me

I addressed this issue on another DJ forum in a thread I might have duplicated here, but I'm not sure.

 

Sorry - links to other dj forums are not allowed.

Edited March 14, 2005 by kazzachi

[darrell_seage 0]

I dont think your aloud to post links to other forums, i maybe wrong though. http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/smile.gif

 

 

[High Fidelity 0]

Correct.

 

Extract from rules:

 

This forum does have running costs which may in the future be partially met by DJU Meet-ups and other forum events. For this reason posting details of, or posting direct or indirect links to other DJ forums, their events, or advertising is prohibited.

Edited March 14, 2005 by High Fidelity

[Award Entertainment 0]

Oops! Sorry about that. Here's what I had thought:

 

It occurred to me that my lighting looked best from where I was standing because the light source was behind me and was shining on the dancefloor and the people dancing. Often the dance floor is between the DJ and the seated guests, so the DJ sees a better lightshow than the audience.

 

Where possible, I try to position my lighting rig so the gobos and colours are shining on the 'crowd' side of the dance floor, rather than the 'DJ' side, which makes the effect far more impressive for the guests and therefore makes the dance floor a more inviting place to be.

 

Here's a crude diagram:

 

http://www.disco.co.nz/pics/light_setup_example.jpg

 

Currently the seated guests see the 'dark' side of the people dancing and the DJ sees the 'illuminated' side and the full effect of his (or her!) expensive DMX toys. Imagine if the lighting rig was positioned in one of the other 3 positions. What effect would that have on the view of the dancers for those still seeated? Would it help encourage them to get onto the dancefloor? I believe so.

 

Of course this isn't always easy. If you've got a bulky truss rig, big par cans, low ceiling heaight, space concerns, etc there could be a real challenge and running a long DMX cable might not be appropriate, but give it some thought. Your light source doesn't need to be beside or behind the DJ.

[brianmole 0]

QUOTE

It occurred to me that my lighting looked best from where I was standing because the light source was behind me and was shining on the dancefloor and the people dancing

I have often thought that the DJ gets the best view of the dancers with most shows. The exception is in a nightclub where the lighting is from above, or when we lift the lighting to the top of a marquee.

[darrell_seage 0]

Or you could have a square truss like in the badly drawn picture, but you would need a big venue to do this and it would defeat the object of what Rendezvous is doing with his rig in making it as compact as possible, but for the big gigs it works very well.

 

http://tinypic.com/280cqc

edited link as not working...P http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/smile.gif

Edited March 14, 2005 by paula

[Digital discos 0]

Rendezvous- I openly welcome critique, you have misunderstood me..

 

I do actually find your method works great for the older gigs that I do and have adpoted your approach on many occasions,

 

As you do mention the youth of today obviously haven't aquired a taste for subtley and elegance! So the truss might still have to go out to those functions!

[Award Entertainment 0]

Darrell, I agree. For big events I'd consider making a one-night only nightclub, but for 99.9% of my targetted work, it's just not necessary. When I do have big events, I tend to build into my fee the cost for a lighting or sound company to come in and take care of the big gear, hireage, set up and pack down. That way I get the benefit without any of the hassles.

[kazzachi 0]

The problem with the big rigs that are above and surround the dance floor, is the H&S aspect..... We have yet to find a H&S inspector who can give us hard and fast rules - Having had ours inspected by both H&S and Fire inspectors, they have "recommended" that the legs be drilled to the floor..... not a great idea in a listed building!... and it be chained to the walls... even though the rig is totally stable! However, we have found that clients looking for this size rig tend to approach production companies rather than mobile djs.... and we have found that the need for the big rigs has dwindled over the years. Im totally for the compact set up!

[mick 0]

We take out a compact but well loaded rig. We use pair of Gladiators, Chaos and Blitzer, pair of par cans terminator or sunray. Plus all enclosed behind capped fairground lights and trunking to hide cables. We have hedgehog effect lights on the front as well. We have everything pre-wired and can set up in less than 30 mins.

Being a fairground showman old habbits are hard to die and on the fairs it's the flash that takes the cash. We also build everything to pull down quickly so I would be most embarrased to not be packed away in 30mins or less even with all our full rig. However - I agree with everything said here and I think that most of our set up is just a waste of money and time as I have only being complimented on the lights about twice in 5 years. I am going to down size simply to make the rig neater and as has been said to save on the frequent journeys to the van.

I go out in town and there is a guy who plays 60's stuff on 7" singles one light box and very old battered speakers and deck. He fills the dance floor and does not use the mic hardly at all but the punters love the music and the nostalgia.

Just a few thoughts - mick

Edited March 15, 2005 by mick