Traditional Setup..

[Sarum DJ]

Hi All

Firstly, I did my first proper 'payed' gig last night..all went well a bit wierd because it was celebrating 3 40th anniversaries, so was often asked to turn it down 'a bit' because "hearing aids are whistling". Never the less everyone expressed there enjoyment and had some good feed back (possible bookings..:eek: ).

Back to the subject...

As I was sitting eating one of those strange ball shaped things from the buffet, I wandered if all mobile Disco's are the same basic setup..E.G. Two speakers each side lights over the top, and a light box on the floor. With technology these days (and budget not too limiting) surley it would be possible to spread the gear out a bit (maybe wireslessly), some lights at each side of the hall, more speakers at the other end etc. etc...

Maybe this has been done before, or maybe i'm talking out of my :Censored: .

Cheers

Dave

[Penfold42]

No straight set up here.
Depends on the customer.

Last nght....lashed it up....didn't care, last minute booking....but good enough for them......cowboy??

Hell yes.....for the idiot that double booked himself (not me)....:sofa:

[Excalibur]

Hi All

Firstly, I did my first proper 'payed' gig last night..all went well a bit wierd because it was celebrating 3 40th anniversaries, so was often asked to turn it down 'a bit' because "hearing aids are whistling". Never the less everyone expressed there enjoyment and had some good feed back (possible bookings..:eek: ).

Back to the subject...

As I was sitting eating one of those strange ball shaped things from the buffet, I wandered if all mobile Disco's are the same basic setup..E.G. Two speakers each side lights over the top, and a light box on the floor. With technology these days (and budget not too limiting) surley it would be possible to spread the gear out a bit (maybe wireslessly), some lights at each side of the hall, more speakers at the other end etc. etc...

Maybe this has been done before, or maybe i'm talking out of my :Censored: .

Cheers

Dave

Two speakers!:confused: :eek: :eek: :eek: That's taking minimalism to the extreme! ;) :D


No straight set up here.
Depends on the customer.

Last nght....lashed it up....didn't care, last minute booking....but good enough for them......cowboy??

Hell yes.....for the idiot that double booked himself (not me)....:sofa:

Would you care to post that again in a more understandable dialect please young man? :confused:

[One Vision]

Hi All

Firstly, I did my first proper 'payed' gig last night..all went well a bit wierd because it was celebrating 3 40th anniversaries, so was often asked to turn it down 'a bit' because "hearing aids are whistling". Never the less everyone expressed there enjoyment and had some good feed back (possible bookings..:eek: ).

Back to the subject...

As I was sitting eating one of those strange ball shaped things from the buffet, I wandered if all mobile Disco's are the same basic setup..E.G. Two speakers each side lights over the top, and a light box on the floor. With technology these days (and budget not too limiting) surley it would be possible to spread the gear out a bit (maybe wireslessly), some lights at each side of the hall, more speakers at the other end etc. etc...

Maybe this has been done before, or maybe i'm talking out of my :Censored: .

Cheers

Dave

Hya mate congratulations on your first paid gig, feels good hey :)
Its probably best to post some picks of your setup in action then members can advise, if any improvements etc. could be made.

[nigelwright7557]

Hi All

As I was sitting eating one of those strange ball shaped things from the buffet, I wandered if all mobile Disco's are the same basic setup..E.G. Two speakers each side lights over the top, and a light box on the floor. With technology these days (and budget not too limiting) surley it would be possible to spread the gear out a bit (maybe wireslessly), some lights at each side of the hall, more speakers at the other end etc. etc...

Dave

The trouble with moving lights/speakers around the venue is wires lying around to be tripped over. I am sure someone will recommend gaffa tape but I dont think its worth the hassle.

[sleah]

There isn't really a traditional way to set up, but there are good technical reasons for certain arrangements, such as speaker placement.
Bass bins aren't too critical, but if more than one is used really need to be level with each other to prevent cancellation where the sound meets and cancels itself out.
mids/tops are placed either side because that's how the recordings are made to be replayed i.e. stereo, and also it helps evenly spread the sound accross the intended area.
Larger systems are often run in mono so everyone gets the same sound.

lights wise the only 'rules' are H&S, like not pointing lasers in peoples eyes, or putting things in daft places causing a hazard.
Nothing to say you can't have all your lights at the opposite end of the room to your sound, might seem a bit odd though.

[Vectis]

No hard and fast rules here either.

Majority of regular lighting goes on the gantry but I have a couple of T-bars and have been known to put them at the backs of large rooms to add more depth to the dancefloor.

Take last night. Large hall holds about 300 folks. Stage at one end. No room for disco on stage due to band. Disco sets up to one side of stage at a 45 degree angle so as to still face the dancefloor which is directly in front of stage.

Stage is deep and band not taking up too much space, so set up 12-foot rear-projection video screen behind the band and led lightbars in front of band with a moving head on it's box on either side of the stage.

Band gets to play with moving graphics behind them (VERY effective I might add), lit by LED lightbars with movers sweeping around the room.

Then when it's my turn I get to use all that PLUS my main lighting rig.

Very cool and very effective. Video camera's buried in the van but if the roadie took some rig shots I'll try to post later in the week.

[Creature]

I like to keep speakers n lights close by especially if set up on the floor - you can keep an eye on everything and the punters a sthey attempt to force a way to you were all the wires on the floor are - even tho youve requested them to come to your left or right side !!!!

If Im on a stage (often with bands) then I work with them and stick my speaker stacks next to theres (always use big rig if working with bands as small rig just not powerful enough when the band stops)

as for 2 speakers - it depends on the gig and teh room size 98% of my bookings the small rig is requested rather than the big rig ( 4 tops and 4 bins) which I think is a great shame as teh quality on teh big rig sounds far better with more depth to it.

As for what you use speaker and light wise is down to you, but Ive found its worth getting some different lights in so that you can either change your display if you are in a regular venue or you can offer the customer the choice of lighting.

Glad ya first booking went well, and hope you get some bookings from it - keep it up

[Tony Scott]

Two speakers!:confused: :eek: :eek: :eek: That's taking minimalism to the extreme! ;) :D


Imagine just using two..........what ever next? :eek: :D

[Tony Scott]

If Im on a stage (often with bands) then I work with them and stick my speaker stacks next to theres (always use big rig if working with bands as small rig just not powerful enough when the band stops)



I make it a priority to have a better sound system than any band I play with. I find most bands want to be the main event so anything that levels things out a bit can only help. :D

[rob1963]

Imagine just using two..........what ever next? :eek: :D

In your case, Tony...imagine using just ten!

:D

[Sarum DJ]

Thanks for the great replies,

I'll see what comes into my brain when I sit and eat one of those buffet sausage rolls they do worry me sometimes! I'm sure they have hallucinogenic properties!!

:beer1:

[djsteve10]

Thanks for the great replies,

I'll see what comes into my brain when I sit and eat one of those buffet sausage rolls they do worry me sometimes! I'm sure they have hallucinogenic properties!!

:beer1:

I thought we were talking equipment here or have I come onto the forum for Caterers? ;)