Good Gig, Bad Gig.

[Imagine]

Decided to use the Maui 28G2. Was unsure if the would cope with the numbers. Luckily they did.

During the meal, angled them out , wound the bass right down. Managed to get some sound to the extremities without deafening the closest tables.

After the meals, pointed to the dance floor, set levels back to 0db, and off we go.

I have to agree with m'learned miserable old git from oop North that yes, the 28's are brilliant bits of kit. I don't use mine too often since I got the Evolves (which are even better and my personal weapons of choice), but when they do go out...they never fail to impress!

Music wise, one thing I've noticed this party season is that 80's-90's seem to be in favor, with a little Motown and northern soul.

And here's where I'll agree to disagree. I LOVE the 80s. It's when I started out on this whimsical career choice of mine and it has SOOOO much to offer. Alas, a LOT of my weddings in 2019 went to the 1970s (now't wrong with that in my book....'twas a brilliant decade of dance music and at the end of the day I'm attracting the more mature wedding couples at the moment....again...happy DJ ).

OK - to my last one of 2019 (eek!)

It was a strange one. As mentioned earlier in this thread, it was an unpaid community job for the village in which I live (and I do an awful LOT for my local village....it scores a lot of Brownie points in future bookings!)

The brief (received literally 10 days before the event), we need PA for a carol concert. How hard can that actually be?

VERY!

No electric for a start. Yes, I had the option of connection to some very dubious builders-type generators (no thanks!), so opted for my Maui5GO paired with a QTX Busker for a bit more "oomph". It's a c**p speaker that QTX....but it sort of works when needed so long as you don't turn the gains up to max and distort it!

All of the music was played out over an iPad....what could possibly go wrong?

A LOT!

For starters, I opened the door of the car and got very wet. The village green on which this little soiree was to happen on, was under water! Luckily, I'm a Scout leader and as such, have access to some very robust sheltering tentage

So everything set up and working (it took oooh....30 seconds) and I'm playing festive music for my fellow villagers who are arriving en-masse with wellies and brollies....yup....it's one of those evenings.

And then we come to the organisation of said event. It was the first time by the way that this one had been done.

Whilst I don't mind chipping in on this type of thing, the organiser likes to shall we say....do everything herself. There was no consultation as to what would work best, there were no conversations on how the evening was to run. She was running around like the proverbial fly with a blue bottom or a chicken without a head! I (as was the dear lady wife who accompanied me on this one) was constantly chasing my tail to find out what was happening next, who was singing next, and who in the name of all that's holy needed a backing track.

Sadly, the singists that need the backing tracks decided to set up 50 feet away from me well after I'd taken root!
The speakers who needed use of the entirely battery operated mics decided to stand out of range of where I was standing (not helped by a Parish Councillor delivering a rooted Xmas tree to be planted during the event parking his tank Morris Minor made of half inch steel directly between me and the wireless mics and thus blocking any chance of a signal).

But do you know what? It sort of worked!

Whilst things could have been done a LOT better (and WILL be next year) - everyone was happy. The Maui5GO was EXCEPTIONAL (I'm getting another one of those next year because they're just AWESOME for the smaller event...the ground where I was standing was shaking at times).

The villagers (mostly friends) could see the conditions I was trying to work in, they understood I was doing my best. They weren't expecting concert grade PA and they most certainly didn't get it.....but what they did get worked . That Maui5Go was AWESOME on the night!n The QTX Busker left a lot to be desired and was very distorted....but hey ho!

I have a day tomorrow of cleaning the mud of of the leads and PA, and generally sorting out my lock-up (there may well be a sale of unused kit coming up in the new year because there's stuff in there collecting dust!)

I don't do New Year's Eve and haven't for several years. This year, I'm babysitting my one year old grandson which is worth a LOT more than any number of bank notes a lot of p****d up party-goers can offer

So, Merry Xmas and a happy new year to all of you. It's been a rollercoaster of a ride this year for one reason or another, but 2020 is looking very nice indeed

I'm off now until 18th January (which is a full on retro-roadshow 80's and 90's night which I'm looking forward to...a LOT!)

[Excalibur]

. Alas, a LOT of my weddings in 2019 went to the 1970s (now't wrong with that in my book...

I'd have killed for a few of those. And no more of the " alas", thank you very much. We all know that the music actually died at 11.59pm 31st December 1979.

[Imagine]

I'd have killed for a few of those. And no more of the " alas", thank you very much. We all know that the music actually died at 11.59pm 31st December 1979.

Actually - it properly died somewhere in the mid 1990's when the proper clubland stuff stopped being made.
Give me weddings with musical selections between 1970 and 1996 and I'm a very happy DJ indeed

Actually....looking through the weddings I've already got booked for 2020....it looks like more of the same coming up. I must be finally attracting the right sort of customer

[mattydj50]

I must say that while Facebook has been full of DJs venting their spleens about poor customer behaviour, I must say that the ones at Forest Pines have behaved in an exemplary fashion, nice to see.

That has been commented on by the staff and management there. Not a drop of spilt blood or excessive alcoholism anywhere. A few staggerations noticed and one pile of recycled turkey dinner last Saturday, but that was very much the exception.

One comment was made that we are giving the customers such an enjoyable night, they're just happy, happy, happy!

[Excalibur]

Well, last night was probably a notable first. I can't remember being booked to provide Karaoke alongside a resident DJ before.

The whole event was marked by misunderstanding and misinformation. An NaD enquiry came in for Disco and Karaoke at a hotel which could hardly have been easier to get to. Down the M18, one junction along the M1, and a mile further along at the roundabout. I quoted a decent price, and got it. Telephone call from customer informs me that he has to have the resident DJ, who doesn't do the dreaded Karaoke, so can I turn up and provide this service? Of course says I, just sign the contract, and I'll contact venue and DJ to ensure it all goes smoothly.

You're ahead of me, aren't you? I just know you are. Adobe Sign contract unsigned, NaD not closed, and radio silence. Whoopee. I text him the day before to tell him I'm all set, and get an affirmative reply. I'm not overly confident about this, so set off early, and on arrival, find that very few people have the full picture of the night's entertainment. Client hasn't told venue I'm coming, I haven't told them, as I'm still not sure I'm going to be playing, and there are so many guests and tables that there's not really enough room for the resident, let alone me.

Nevertheless, a plan of campaign is hatched, tables and chairs are moved round, and I'm given a space to get the Micron in, with the RCF 710s on gravity poles, as is my TV monitor. Couldn't have been any more compact, I'm quite proud of it. Resident DJ turns up, and is surprised to see me, to say the least. Now, dear reader, you may have to suspend disbelief here, but he's a mature DJ, in attitude, and years. In actual fact, he's a year older than me, eek! Absolutely lovely fella, couldn't have been nicer, or more accomodating. We work out how we're going to cope, and we're both ready to go.

Now, I mentioned I had got the little RCFs in play, and from first impressions, I'm expecting something in the sort of Alto territory, which I'm confident the RCFs will compare favourably against, as they've got quite a bit of horsepower under the bonnets. From the size of the room, I know I've got the right cabs for the job. What does Mr Resident carry in? Fifteen inch Peavey Impulse 500s, driven by an old Peavey amp that looks as if it needs a whole reactor from Drax B to power it! He gets his kit set up, and starts making a noise. A lot of noise. I bet he hasn't got that amp past tickover yet.

Client arrives, shakes hands, pays me instantly, and that's it, over to us. We expect that the resident will probably play music up to buffet, and after that, we'll juggle music and karaoke. How wrong can you be? We get the first bit right, and he does indeed play up to and including the 9pm buffet. We have been approached by Elvis himself, who appears to be the reason we've got karaoke. Entrance to See See Rider, and three or four songs straight off the reel, before Elvis leaves the building. At this point, we don't expect a big take up of karaoke, nor dancing, as they look as if they want to chat and drink. Elvis does his bit, and then I hand back to the DJ. Surprisingly, karaoke slips start coming in, and as soon as I have got enough for a slot, I take over. My singers never really stop coming up, and apart from singers being in the toilet when called, and me having an unexpected battery swap in a mic, the DJ never really plays a song until I finish the night at midnight! All in all, a great night.

Now the misinformation/miscommunication bit. Although the resident was happy to work alongside me, ( and to be fair, we had a lovely time, two old stagers comparing stories) his presence wasn't mandatory. As long as I could show PLI, I could have done the whole thing, and saved the client some money. I could have had room to get a full booth in, full mixer and kitchen sink as well. No atter, we coped very well, and everyone was happy. Job done.

[DJ Jules]

Now, I mentioned I had got the little RCFs in play, and from first impressions, I'm expecting something in the sort of Alto territory, which I'm confident the RCFs will compare favourably against, as they've got quite a bit of horsepower under the bonnets. From the size of the room, I know I've got the right cabs for the job. What does Mr Resident carry in? Fifteen inch Peavey Impulse 500s, driven by an old Peavey amp that looks as if it needs a whole reactor from Drax B to power it! He gets his kit set up, and starts making a noise. A lot of noise. I bet he hasn't got that amp past tickover yet.

This is always my concern when I'm working alongside another act (or a band). When you move from one performer to another (and one PA to another) how is one going to sound against the other? Generally, the public won't notice if a PA sounds nice or not or is very loud or not - as long as you don't give them a side by side comparison!! It's like doing A-B system testing with a live audience. I've been taking FBT J8's out to most of my gigs since I bought them earlier this year. For the kids ones, they've been the only speakers I've taken as they go plenty loud enough, they just don't have much below about 80hz and they loose what they do have as you get louder and the DSP profiles it off. For the adult gigs they've been supported by a 15" sub that fills in the missing bottom end. For the majority of gigs Joe public would never know that I've saved myself a (sometimes lengthy) trip to the van by using them. But if I ran them, by themselves next to a full range 12" or 15" cab, it'd be obvious what they're lacking

Anyway.... Back on topic. Friday night saw me at a staff party for a nearby venue. Promised 60-70 guests, got 26. Booked for Karaoke, Disco and Photobooth and, had the numbers been more, I'm sure we would have been busy with all three. As it was, those who turned up had a good night and the feedback was positive. Can't say much more about that really.

Yesterday afternoon I'd been booked by a local agent for a kids party in the afternoon. Turned up to find a bouncy castle, and that most of the kids were 30mins early arriving, and they're only 2-3 years old. Oh, and there's only 9 of them. Kicked off 15mins early, broke out the balloon modelling at half time and left a happy client.

Yesterday evening was a 30th birthday party and the guests were instructed to come in fancy dress. With only 2 exceptions, they did, and the costumes were excellent. Slightly odd setup in the skittle alley section of the building away from the guests (sadly this is typical of the Bristol/North Somerset area where Skittles rule and pubs were built around the alleys!!) Luckily, I came prepared with compact booth, booth mounted Startecs, the RCF 422's and battery powered freedom stick/pars - lucky because the full booth wouldn't have fit in the alley! This was a familiar crowd from a wedding I did back in October so dance, DnB and trance ruled most of the night and I got a reasonable little dance floor going once the Beer Pong tournament finished

No NYE for me this year (banned by the wife) which is kind of lucky in a way as I'm booked for weddings on the 2nd and 3rd and a birthday on the 4th

[Excalibur]

Re speaker sizes and capabilities, Julian, when Andy and I were doing our little speaker shootout to find some tops to go with my newly acquired Db 612 subs, the J8s acquitted themselves admirably, but were ruled out on price, and how much they could do on their own. A selection of 10" cabs were tried and were perfectly acceptable, but when we put an old LD 12"Stinger on top, well wow! The difference was night and day. As a wise man once said, " ye cannae change the laws of physics".

OK, last night. A venue where working there the second time would be a doddle. Knowledge is power. A Transit won't fit through the entrance to the hotel car park, but if you know to drive round the venue ( keeping it on your left at all times ) you find the main car park entrance, and a delivery area where you can park the van. Also, you can go round to the unloading area, which is on the pavement on another street. Easy when you know how, and thank you to the lovely girl on reception for the information.

21st Party, with all the wedding trimmings. Candy Cart, chocolate fountains, photo booth, and even a table magician. My playlist was Indie, R&B, and lots of lovely EDM. Thus, I used the stingers over the subs, for that little bit of extra horsepower.
Never prejudge. This was more of a family event, rather than friends, so I had lots of over 21s in the audience. Didn't need such a big PA in what wasn't a huge room. Ah well, you can turn a big one down................................

I wasn't spoken to by client or parents at all during the night, and was treated with what amounted at best to a spot of foot tapping and chair dancing. Not my all time favourite gig really, but a learning experience.

[Excalibur]

I nicked that from somewhere else. OK, my wedding venue from hell ( there's a thread in Supporters, £1 a month lets you see what made me consider baling on it ) turned out to have moved upstairs to Heaven.
The declaration of war they sent me disguised as noise regulations turns out to be an old form which isn't relevant now, and needs rewriting to merely say " don't trip the sound limiter". I sent the old form to someone who knows about them, and it baffled them. It was also totally unworkable.

Having made contact with the venue, I was put in touch with " The Director of Romance", aka Wedding Coordinator, Amy. A pleasure to deal with, and an absolute delight in person. Turn round times were too tight to achieve easily, so after negotiation, I was allowed to put a tiny rig in mid afternoon, and saunter in at kick off time to press play. Lovely easy access too.

Almost everything ran exactly as it should have, except that some of the guests hadn't grasped the idea of dance music. This was a wedding for a couple probably in their fifties, and the person who asked for Metallica was definitely not on my side. Cotton Eye Joe wasn't a lot better, and nor were many others, Bohemian Rhapsody and We Are The Champions included.

One way or another I managed the impossible balancing act, but failed to find a space for many of the requests, or would have played them if the requester hadn't gone home.

We managed the midnight bit nicely, and shortly after that, guests disappeared rapidly. I switched off at 12.45, and set off home. Fortunately for me, I'd been in contact with Matthew Western during the night, angling for a free pint on my way home. Sadly for me, the motorway past him, my normal route home, was closed due to a big smash in the fog. This turned out to be Good News, Bad News for me.

The normal route is through the middle of Lincoln, and up the A15, neither of which are any fun, especially as that road limits my Transit to 50mph.
Plan B is to go cross country until I hit the A1, head North, and when I hit Blyth Services, stick it on the limiter at 68mph. Although the way I went was the longest in terms of distance, it offered the highest speeds, and easiest drive. Six and two threes. I got home at 3.15, had a beer and unwound a bit.

Happy New Year everyone, all the best.

[Imagine]

First night out on the road of 2020 and a party I'd been looking forward to for a very long time....a Retro 80s birthday party for a lovely young lady who keeps booking me for her work's Xmas doo every year (so, she knows what I'm capable of).

Tonight, a venue I've not been in for the best part of 30 years....and it's hardly changed . Except for one very major annoyance which will be become apparent shortly...

So, full 16ft Retro rig set up on a stage (I like it like that....punters can't push/pull it over ), and a run out for my much forgotten DXR15's. I've not really had the chance to test them since re-bracing them last year so tonight being in a fairly big hall was a good opportunity....or so I thought.

Sound tests done and settle into background music for a while whilst a plethora of nylon and lycra arrive, and they've settled in and eaten. Time to announce the buffet and whoops.....there's a sound limiter in here somewhere which I've not been made aware of. 10 second penalty later and the music's automagically started itself up again whilst I go off in search of a caretaker, bar-person or somebody else connected with the venue to see what's what after carefully explaining to the client what had just happened.

Now I have no problem with limiters when a) they're visible, b) have some sort of indication other than a single lamp, and c) I know what I'm working against. They're there for a reason, it's part of this job, I crack on and work with it (usually).

Turns out there's a very discrete yellow lamp I need to crane my neck to see which gives me 5 seconds of warning before cutting everything.....lovely! Even worse, it's unfathomable what it's listening for! The bar staff reckoned that anyone doing Karaoke had nightmares so assumed it was working on vocals (eh?).

Okey dokey....let's see then. Volume, no problem - could hit 100db easily at the right frequencies. Bass, again didn't seem to be a problem. It seemed to be listening for something in the mid-range, but also seemed to fluctuate when it was going to "hear" it, a lot. Kylie didn't affect it, Dolly did. So, a constant night on edge watching this silly little light, tweaking levels every 30 seconds or so and hoping for the best....

Now you'd think that it's just a tweak of the mids and treble and job's a goodun from what I've just described wouldn't you? WRONG!

I tend to be fairly interactive during 80s nights and on the mic....a lot. Every time I uttered anything no matter what the levels, the yellow light of doom came on. It made announcing things like the best dressed guest, cutting of the cake and last orders a struggle. The rest of the evening....the mic didn't get used much for fear of tripping the power. I certainly don't sound like Dolly or Kylie, so it was something more than mids and treble it was working on. Just couldn't get to the bottom of it!

As for the rest of the evening - brilliant if you forget about the limiter. I'd printed request cards for this one (nice cheap advert after all) and requests came in aplenty....more than I could possibly deal with. Plenty of dancing and singing and a hall full of very happy guests (they all knew what problems I was facing as I'd made a comment about not making the light come on whilst announcing the best dressed . Plus it was a chance to dress up myself in double-denim and a mullet wig

The only other small snag, the re-bracing hasn't worked (I didn't think it'd hold properly....there just isn't enough cab to secure it to where it's supposed to be). So, time to look for some ply and make floor standing cabs out of them at last methinks.

All in all, a good night which was made waaaay to stressful by the silly limiter. Despite having been looking forward to it for so long, I didn't half give a sigh of relief when the final song of the night faded and I got my round of applause.

[Excalibur]

Wayne, it may not come as a bolt from the blue when I say " been there".................................... I have a suspicion that there's a type of limiter that reacts to vocals. Many years ago, I was test pilot for one at a venue, and having played music no problem at all for hours, I announced the buffet, and cut the power!
Now the interesting bit, when Wayne says that the limiter differentiates between Dolly and Kylie, I can relate to that. I swapped my normal microphone for a different make I had in the bag, and this improved things immensely, so yes, there appear to be frequencies or characteristics, which can trigger them. Compare and contrast with mine on NYE, where I was looking straight at the tree of lights, I had twelve seconds of solid red before tripping, and best of all, if I cut the bass, I could get the levels higher than was comfortable! Wayne, I feel your pain. As you say, if a venue is going to have a limiter, at least make it workable.

OK, my gig. First one of the year ( Decade? ) and it was an FFN one, for a newish client. A lady who had previously organised some had handed the reins to her daughter, who had done a fabulous job, and packed the venue to capacity ( in fact I think we even had to slot in a few more chairs to accommodate the extras)!

Well, to an extent, they were victims of their own success. They were very receptive to the FFN, taking part eagerly, and also the huge raffle ate into the available time, so much so that I only had an hour to play. In the main, the clients were younger ( ie 25 to 35, rather than 45 to 55, as is often the case) and requests reflected this to an extent. Everything was well received, so much so that they asked for an extra half hour. That would have required me negotiating extra pay from the clients, or effectively donating money to the charity. Certain venues book extra time in advance, and pay for the priveledge, as midnight is the standard contracted finish time.
Fortunately for me, as the venue was a Village Hall, there was a big sign on the wall behind me, stating in capital letters that on Saturdays, entertainment must end at Midnight. Since I had statute, a big sign, and the off switch on my side, my argument prevailed.