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View Full Version : Could anything else of gone Pete Tong??



Spirits High
04-07-2010, 10:19 AM
Did a gig for a TA summer Ball last night in Nottingham. did it for them last year aswell so know the main people well enough.

Anyway.....Who had I upset?

Got there bright and early at 5pm for a 7pm start. Into the place I was setting up and I'd been given a corner of the room with very low head height (some that have done these kind of do's before will know that military places like to put marquee linings up inside their drill halls). Not a big problem in itself but I had no power points :eek: :eek: and was told "don't worry someone's bringing you a large extension lead"....."in an hour" :eek: I did have my own 50m one's with me but they insisted on using theirs.

I got set up and took a power tap off the band to check that all was well sound check etc. During the sound check about a minute or so into the track there was a very loud "POP" (not music before there's any sarcastic comments:p ) and it all went very quiet :confused: Everything was still on, the hd2500 still playing the track and the mixer still on but no sound :confused:

So I turned the mixer off and then on and all was fine again for about another minute or so then again "POP" and it all go's quiet. :confused: :confused:

At this point the band are getting slightly concerned, as if it was an electrical problem it was going to affect them too. I was thinking mixer problem so gave it one final try but again the same thing "POP" and quiet as a quiet thing on national quiet day :D

Back up mixer time then it was. Now Daz will tell you about my luck with couriers/ deliveries and the 900 mixer I got off ebay is still lost somewhere between London and Aylesbury. Having sold the 050 mixer to Daz I had my karaoke mixer out with me "just in case" a Behringer XENYX 1222FX http://bit.ly/9RTTZh so not ideal but it did the job kind of.

It only has one input source for cd/tape so had to dump the 2500 completely and get out the laptop and run through PCDJ blue for the night using the normal hard drive. Now as this is a vocal mixer there's no cue facility :eek: which made the night a whole lot more interesting to say the least.

But this wasn't the end of the bad luck a couple of songs in PCDJ freezes on me and I was stuck in the search screen with only things with "get ready" in the title (was playing the Temptations) the only thing I could load was.......2UL "get ready for this" :eek: :D :eek: so that followed the Temptations!!!

PCDJ then "unfroze" during this so I had my search facility back. However the light on my hard drive was flashing like a maniac and without warning would freeze for about 4 seconds cue silence then pick up where it was cue the music. Strange or what :confused: :confused: This happened 2 or 3 random times during the evening.

I'd never had any of these problems before so am a bit stumped as to why. It does however seem the do was jinxed as the photographers kit went belly up after working fine at 3 weddings the previous 3 days and the lead singer of the band crashed his car on the way there!

The main / only good point was that I got through and the punters were none the wiser about the "melt down" in Dj land :D


Bit of a long post for me but "Eye's open and you're back in the room" :D :D

I'm going to do a separate thread re the mixer so any help would be appreciated.

Excalibur
04-07-2010, 08:41 PM
So I turned the mixer off and then on and all was fine again for about another minute or so then again "POP" and it all go's quiet. :confused: :confused:

Back up mixer time then it was. Now a Behringer XENYX 1222FX http://bit.ly/9RTTZh so not ideal but it did the job kind of.

It only has one input source for cd/tape so had to dump the 2500 completely and get out the laptop and run through PCDJ blue for the night using the normal hard drive. Now as this is a vocal mixer there's no cue facility :eek: which made the night a whole lot more interesting to say the least.
.

It only has one input source for cd/tape
Panto time: " Oh no it hasn't. " 7/8 and 9/10 are stereo line. You could have run the 2500 into these with a pair of rca to Mono jack leads.

Now as this is a vocal mixer there's no cue facility :Don't quote me, but there will be a button marked PFL

Pre Fade Listening. That's your cue facility. Don't ask me to explain it, cos I don't understand all the bells and whistles on my Berry, but I'm convinced it will do that.

Spirits High
05-07-2010, 12:17 AM
It only has one input source for cd/tape
Panto time: " Oh no it hasn't. " 7/8 and 9/10 are stereo line. You could have run the 2500 into these with a pair of rca to Mono jack leads.

Now as this is a vocal mixer there's no cue facility :Don't quote me, but there will be a button marked PFL

Pre Fade Listening. That's your cue facility. Don't ask me to explain it, cos I don't understand all the bells and whistles on my Berry, but I'm convinced it will do that.

Peter,

I will check this out in this out in the morning and if it's true will go and stand in the "Dime bar corner" :D :D

Thanks for having some input to this thread as I was begining to think it was invisible :D :D ;)

Tony Scott
05-07-2010, 08:09 AM
Paul I once did a TA gig in Dorchester, they too insisted on supplying the power cable and i asked for 2 supplies, one for sound, one for lighting. Half way through the night the PC started to mess about, freezing, dropping out, popping etc.

It turned out they had connected the power for my sound from a 110v supply, the drill hall was used by the Yanks during the war so needed to have that voltage for their kit... it had never been taken out! Once i realised I just plugged into the other lead that was running my lights, this one was 240v.

sleah
05-07-2010, 09:36 AM
It turned out they had connected the power for my sound from a 110v supply,

Which is scary:eek: Because 110v connectors are different and not compatible with 240v - someone needs shooting for that!:(

DJMaxG
05-07-2010, 03:43 PM
When using a power supply, you should always check where it is coming from :

- Follow the cable right back to the supply
- Check the fuse board / consumer unit
- Check the amperage on the breaker for the circuit which you intend to connect to
- Check the connectors (obviously red is 3 phase / blue 240v / yellow 110v)
- Check that the thickness of the cable being used is adequate
- Ensure the power is clean to use and it not shared

I have read on a DJ's contract that adequate power must be provided within so many metres of the setup area, and not in the form of an extension lead

Tony Scott
05-07-2010, 04:20 PM
Which is scary:eek: Because 110v connectors are different and not compatible with 240v - someone needs shooting for that!:(

Yeah on inspection it was a 110v plug wired into a 4 gang socket, then various 'normal' extensions out of that... :(

CRAZY K
05-07-2010, 05:50 PM
Did a gig for a TA summer Ball last night in Nottingham. did it for them last year aswell so know the main people well enough.

Anyway.....Who had I upset?

Got there bright and early at 5pm for a 7pm start. Into the place I was setting up and I'd been given a corner of the room with very low head height (some that have done these kind of do's before will know that military places like to put marquee linings up inside their drill halls). Not a big problem in itself but I had no power points :eek: :eek: and was told "don't worry someone's bringing you a large extension lead"....."in an hour" :eek: I did have my own 50m one's with me but they insisted on using theirs.

I got set up and took a power tap off the band to check that all was well sound check etc. During the sound check about a minute or so into the track there was a very loud "POP" (not music before there's any sarcastic comments:p ) and it all went very quiet :confused: Everything was still on, the hd2500 still playing the track and the mixer still on but no sound :confused:

So I turned the mixer off and then on and all was fine again for about another minute or so then again "POP" and it all go's quiet. :confused: :confused:

At this point the band are getting slightly concerned, as if it was an electrical problem it was going to affect them too. I was thinking mixer problem so gave it one final try but again the same thing "POP" and quiet as a quiet thing on national quiet day :D

Back up mixer time then it was. Now Daz will tell you about my luck with couriers/ deliveries and the 900 mixer I got off ebay is still lost somewhere between London and Aylesbury. Having sold the 050 mixer to Daz I had my karaoke mixer out with me "just in case" a Behringer XENYX 1222FX http://bit.ly/9RTTZh so not ideal but it did the job kind of.

It only has one input source for cd/tape so had to dump the 2500 completely and get out the laptop and run through PCDJ blue for the night using the normal hard drive. Now as this is a vocal mixer there's no cue facility :eek: which made the night a whole lot more interesting to say the least.

But this wasn't the end of the bad luck a couple of songs in PCDJ freezes on me and I was stuck in the search screen with only things with "get ready" in the title (was playing the Temptations) the only thing I could load was.......2UL "get ready for this" :eek: :D :eek: so that followed the Temptations!!!

PCDJ then "unfroze" during this so I had my search facility back. However the light on my hard drive was flashing like a maniac and without warning would freeze for about 4 seconds cue silence then pick up where it was cue the music. Strange or what :confused: :confused: This happened 2 or 3 random times during the evening.

I'd never had any of these problems before so am a bit stumped as to why. It does however seem the do was jinxed as the photographers kit went belly up after working fine at 3 weddings the previous 3 days and the lead singer of the band crashed his car on the way there!

The main / only good point was that I got through and the punters were none the wiser about the "melt down" in Dj land :D


Bit of a long post for me but "Eye's open and you're back in the room" :D :D

I'm going to do a separate thread re the mixer so any help would be appreciated.

Well done Paul that sounds really scary.

Maybe time to rethink the backup?

On principle I NEVER use a Laptop --yeah I know the arguments just a phobia I inherited from using :Censored: Laptops in the 90s:eek:

Corabar Steve and I work together sometimes and I know he has two Denons
two Hard drives and I assume 2 amps--so no worries there--I personally have 2 Cortex, 2 Hard drives, 2 mixers and if all else fails 2 Peavey Powered Mixer desks which can by pass the need for a mixer anyway oh and the 2 mini disc players of course.

Dont you just hate faulty equipment---aaargh good luck with it.

Jiggles
05-07-2010, 05:58 PM
When using a power supply, you should always check where it is coming from :

- Follow the cable right back to the supply
- Check the fuse board / consumer unit
- Check the amperage on the breaker for the circuit which you intend to connect to
- Check the connectors (obviously red is 3 phase / blue 240v / yellow 110v)
- Check that the thickness of the cable being used is adequate
- Ensure the power is clean to use and it not shared

I have read on a DJ's contract that adequate power must be provided within so many metres of the setup area, and not in the form of an extension lead

Max, care to take a read at this: http://www.blue-room.org.uk/wiki/Ceeform :bang:

DJMaxG
05-07-2010, 06:13 PM
Max, care to take a read at this: http://www.blue-room.org.uk/wiki/Ceeform :bang:

I have, and it matches what I have said