Back To The Future

[DJ INDIE]

heres a chance to while away the hours.............

first it was the 'mobile aspect' of DJing, then basic lighting, then comparing / personality / comedian DJs, then karaoke, and more laterly complex lighting previously only seen in top venues and the whole digital format aspect.

question is;

what do you see as the next BIG thing for mobile DJs? have we reached everything we can do or have?

doesnt have to have even been invented yet - could be anything - simple / complex, doesnt matter.

audience headphones/earpieces? hologram lighting? surround sound?! DJing from the comfort of your own home to a venue via a PC etc?


chance to think of some new ideas that just might end up happening and be unique to mobile DJing or dowe see the future as incorporating existing jobs too, such as photography and subtle venue lighting etc (i know some already do this).

[One Vision]

The prison DJ, when they don't buy produb :p

[digga]

How about Mobile DJ's with dance instructors, cheer leaders, floor fillers or professional dancers?

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Wireless DMX, wireless sound systems, inflatable gear, gear that packs itself away, unlimited download access for requests...

[Tom]

Wireless DMX would be good. I know it's already out but not to sure if I could trust it. Would be nice to setup some lights at the other end of a venue and control then from my rack box. :D:D:D

I would like to se LED lighting go further. We know there is a 20w led but what about a 30,40 or eben a 50w led???

Also what about xenon lamps??? You all know HID lights in the big old merc's and bmw's? Well you can buy xenon gas filled bulbs that fit in a standard head lamp in a car that is much brighter and burns better. WOuld be cool if this could be used in dj and professional lighting.

Equipment made out of lighter materials. Making out job easier as well sa saving us a bit of cash on fuel aswell. :)

Just a few ideas.

[rob1963]

The prison DJ, when they don't buy produb :p

How about the non-prison DJ, when they don't buy produb, but nobody notices or even cares!

[Vectis]

audience headphones/earpieces?

I've already been tinkering with this; hoping to offer a full 'Silent Disco' option next year if I can make the business case work. Already have four pairs of dual-channel wireless rechargeable headsets - you have two feeds into the transmitter device so you can be playing kids charty music for the youngsters and older stuff for the grannies at the same time :p

I originally thought it would be a great eco-feature - no amps and speakers - that would give naysayers the opportunity to sit and chat quietly but I think there needs to be a third feed to speakers albeit for background music to keep the party atmosphere going, unless of course you're talking about a club environment which is something I don't really do.

Given the prevalence of mobile phones with FM radios built in I also looked into local area FM transmission on a free frequency to give the kids their own feed and avoid the capital costs of the headsets, but I'm waiting for clarification on the law here.



How about Mobile DJ's with ... professional dancers?

Did this back in the 80s. I had a guy dressed in a robot suit did the whole robotic dance thing - would target the party host and get them to do a few moves - really helped get the party started. Also had a couple of scantily-clad girls who'd do the first hour to encourage folks up. These days I have Shadowdancers.



... unlimited download access for requests...

Having tinkered with 3G modems this last six months this is now a standard feature for me except in the odd venue where I get a rubbish signal, like anywhere along the southern tip of the island where the mobile phone service defaults to France :bang:


Personally I don't feel that the mobile disco is going to stray too far from where it is now - it's almost nostalgic and becoming part of the tradition for weddings and milestone birthdays etc. to have one. It's just the method of delivery that will further refine itself. For example, I think WiMax will become prevalent over the next couple of years (it's already arrived on the Island but I've not subscribed as yet as it's a bit pricey) and that'll give mobile broadband at speeds and latency you're only currently dreaming of. THEN you'll be able to stream music live or at the very least pull anything from the iTunes catalogue (assuming they don't shut it down) in a matter of seconds. I've even experimented with accessing tunes on a server at home via the internet (reverse DNS if anyone's interested) on my phone with some success... now all I need is a rock-steady connection. 16GB and 32GB memory sticks are coming down in price and I foresee a day very soon where that's all you'll need to take - couple of USB readers (or SD or whatever format wins out) plus a handful of memory sticks, job done. There are already a couple of "mixers with card readers built in" kicking around and for your typical party mobile jock these are perfectly adequate. Plug into a pair of actives, job done.

[JAMdisco]

Wireless DMX, wireless sound systems, inflatable gear, gear that packs itself away, unlimited download access for requests...


Definately wireless equipment has got to be the way forward.

But then what will people moan about on the gallery pages? :p ;) :D

Not so sure about inflatable gear, although if it was an outdoor gig on a windy day you wouldn't NEED to pack it away, you may have to go and reclaim it from the next field though :D

[Javlingames]

With more and more venues requiring Risk assesments, PAT certificates, public liability and even more documentation I think to make life easier the venues will have equipment installed, sound system that is built in to the room and tailored to the venue and not loud at all, inkeeping with H&S. also lighting installed too.

[rob1963]

New inventions?

What about sound limiters than only cut the power when the music gets too loud?

:p


I've already been tinkering with this; hoping to offer a full 'Silent Disco' option next year if I can make the business case work. Already have four pairs of dual-channel wireless rechargeable headsets - you have two feeds into the transmitter device so you can be playing kids charty music for the youngsters and older stuff for the grannies at the same time :p

Interesting idea, but there are some disadvantages, the main one being that you give out 100 sets of headphones to all the guests...but how many would you get back at the end of the night?

If it's anything like the pens at my pub quiz nights, nearly 50%!


Given the prevalence of mobile phones with FM radios built in I also looked into local area FM transmission on a free frequency to give the kids their own feed and avoid the capital costs of the headsets, but I'm waiting for clarification on the law here.

As someone who knows a bit about broadcasting without a licence (& paid the consequences!), as far as I'm aware, the only way you can legally broadcast decent quality audio is with a radio microphone. The problem here is that the UHF ones are nowhere near the frequency which can be picked up on a standard radio, and although the VHF ones ARE much nearer to the 88-108Mhz range, they are still outside that range, making reception on a normal FM radio impossible.

Any other kind of low power transmitter is, as far as I'm aware, completely illegal.

[Vectis]

Any other kind of low power transmitter is, as far as I'm aware, completely illegal.

There was a concession recently about transmitters for in-car and household use, eg from ipods in the 88-104 range to car radios/home hifi but these have a limited range. I've tried one up the garden and get to around 30 feet before noise becomes intrusive. I'm needing to work out what the exact rules are surrounding these and whether some transmitters are more equal than others. Then I think it's just a case of placement and we might be in business.

[rob1963]

There was a concession recently about transmitters for in-car and household use, eg from ipods in the 88-104 range to car radios/home hifi but these have a limited range. I've tried one up the garden and get to around 30 feet before noise becomes intrusive. I'm needing to work out what the exact rules are surrounding these and whether some transmitters are more equal than others. Then I think it's just a case of placement and we might be in business.

If I still had it, I could lend you my old transmitter...that had a range of up to 30 miles & covered most of London & the home counties very nicely (in stereo, too)...but unfortunately it was confiscated it back in 1983!

However, you can see some nice pictures of my stereo encoder, 10 watt driver transmitter & 60 watt power amplifier in the first three photos here:

http://www.surrey-sounds.co.uk/thegear.htm

Happy days! :D

[pagan_flame]

Mobile phone DJing. Definitely the future. ;)

See --> HERE (http://www.ehow.com/how_2084570_dj-mobile-phone.html) <--

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Mobile phone DJing. Definitely the future. ;)

See --> HERE (http://www.ehow.com/how_2084570_dj-mobile-phone.html) <--

"6To DJ with your mobile like a professional, make sure you bring two phones to the bar or club. Plug the phones in the sockets in the DJ mixer conventionally for decks. Use the cross fader to switch between songs just like you do with normal decks. "

Highly pro! :eek:

[Vectis]

Highly pro! :eek:

Oy! I've played requests from my mobile phone... did one just last weekend at a wedding :)

OK, so 'twas an iPhone, but still.... :beer1:

Can't imagine doing a whole set that way though, but in an emergency I suppose it'll dig you out of a hole.

[rob1963]

Oy! I've played requests from my mobile phone... did one just last weekend at a wedding :)

OK, so 'twas an iPhone, but still.... :beer1:

Can't imagine doing a whole set that way though, but in an emergency I suppose it'll dig you out of a hole.

I can't understand why anyone would want to plug a phone into their mixer & play requests on that when they are the proud owner of a D2!

:p

[Vectis]

I can't understand why anyone would want to plug a phone into their mixer & play requests on that when they are the proud owner of a D2!

:p

Because, good as it is, the d2 can't connect to iTunes, download a request and then play it out whereas the phone can ;)

It won't be long though....

[theoloyla]

I am sure that holographic effects will come in at long last.

[rob1963]

Because, good as it is, the d2 can't connect to iTunes, download a request and then play it out whereas the phone can ;)

It won't be long though....

All the music you carry, and you STILL get requests for stuff you don't have?

:jawdrop:

[Vectis]

All the music you carry, and you STILL get requests for stuff you don't have?

:jawdrop:

Ah... there's a difference between having music and carrying music. My gigging HDDs were recently trimmed to just under 5,000 tracks remember?
;)

[rob1963]

Ah... there's a difference between having music and carrying music. My gigging HDDs were recently trimmed to just under 5,000 tracks remember?
;)

Ahhh yes.

I seem to remember you ending up with 4,999.

Can't remember WHY, though! ;)

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

I can't understand why anyway for the sake of £100 or so...once you've paid for them, you've paid.

[Vectis]

I can't understand why anyway for the sake of £100 or so...once you've paid for them, you've paid.

Because, joking apart, it was the result of a very long-overdue need to have a good clear-out. I was actually finding it difficult locating stuff as I had so many folders and subfolders!

I had a de-dupe session then went through the entire database folder by folder creating a new "disco master" asking myself 'would I EVER play this?' and deliberately not doing a count until the end.

I came out with about 4,300 tracks so plenty of headroom for new downloads for a while yet.

So far over the summer I've been caught out on 3 requests, two of which I've magic'ed up via iTunes and played direct from the phone. At that rate it'll take me a VERY long time to use up what I would've spent on the bigger licences.