Another question about Back Up!

[Shakermaker Promotions]

I noticed a comment on Sarah's Flightcase thread and also, I had an enquiry yesterday from a 'Happy Shopper' looking for the cheapest price possible and I mentioned about Back Up and it got me thinking...

When you take Back Up to a gig with you, do you leave it in the van or do you have it set up aswell just incase....?

I used to take it in to the venue with me and have it there ready if the worst came to the worst. Sometimes I would have 2 amps set up so I could simply swap speaker leads over. Obviously, if you are taking back up equipment into a venue too and adding it to the set up, it makes the set up time longer.

If I am using an Active set up, I have my passive stuff in the van anyway so it's just a case of putting and amp in the van as back up if needed. If I am using a passive set up, I make sure that I put the actives in the van. I have pre-wired speaker stands with XLR and Power Leads on them already too and they are erected already aswell. I have plenty of room in the van and the roof is high enough for them to be like this.

Some people may say, what's the point of having back up equipment if you are going to leave it in the van? Shouldn't it be with you so that you can take the least time to get the situation sorted should the worst scenario happen?
I'd agree with that but then on the other side, if your van is literally just outside, it won't take too long to get the gear out will it?
But what if you can't park near enough?
Is this on your mind when you get to the venue? Do you think in advance as to what could happen if things went pear shaped?

I work alone all the time and my thoughts are, should I be in the position where I need to get back up equipment up and running, I need to do it as quickly as possible. It might be different for people that have roadies or helpers?

The only thing that I can think of that would take a bit of extra time for me personally would be the mixer. I have a flightcase with my Denon HD2500 and 19" Mixer in it. I use a Laptop with VDJ as backup but that goes through the mixer so if the mixer went all Pete Tong on me, I would need to get the back up mixer out and connect it all up. Yes, I know there's a solution to that too and that's easily sorted.

Sorry, I know it's another thread regarding back up but I thought I'd ask some other questions?

[Corabar Steve]

With the exception of my spare mixer, all my back up is in the same case as it's counterpart (as seen below)

I use sufficient lighting to not worry if one fixture goes down (if the controller breaks they can go S2L) & at a push you could get away with one speaker.

I too usualy work alone, but why make things hard for yourself?

[thex-faders]

We have the American Audio SDJ2 as a back up unit plugged into main mixer incase laptop goes dowm, then it can be used as a standalone playout if mixer also goes down. Plug it straight into the actives.

Spare speakers are in the car, and we stated in our terms that in the event of both speakers going down we require time to set up back up equipment.

Never had a failure, touch wood, apart from the laptop going down before.

Tom

[WWDJ]

I run all active, so I could survive on one speaker, but for gigs more than about 10 miles I do take a spare active. The plan being that if it's not too far I could get things sorted with a quick phone call to a mate.

Spare mixer(s) are in the car.

I don't carry spare lighting, but I do have bulbs.

In terms of playout, I have a spare laptop in the bag and for 'hot swap' I have my ipad and iphone ready to go.

I have had to switch to the ipad once to swap out a soundcard that was playing up on the laptop. Going forward I will have 2 soundcards wired straight into the mixer so swapping will be even quicker if needs be.

I keep spare power leads in a bag under my deckstand and spare extension cables in the car.

[Retrodisco]

I use VDJ and laptop, but keep a fully loaded ipad ready and have a CDMix unit with me, just in case.

[yourdj]

Spare sub with satellite outs. Used to set it up too, but now leave it in the car and the battery speaker (which is quite loud) can make do before I get it and set it up as it will only take 2 mins. :) If the car is a distance away i will set it up in situ.

Basically they wont be left in silence which is the main thing.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Interesting comments.
Toby, your last line..."...they won't be left in silence.." is the thing that's most important to me. Any other problems could (hopefully) be sorted out with the music playing. Time to chuck on Blue Monday, American Pie, Bat out of Hell and Master of Puppets while you get on with sorting the problem (that was a joke by the way).

I mentioned that I had a 'Happy Shopper' call me up. I knew it straight away when I heard the tone of voice and the first question from the 'lady' (ahem...). I know that sounds bad but you know when you know don't you.
"How much do you charge for your Disco?"
Well, I asked all the usual questions and then found out that there isn't really a budget and it's for a Wedding in 5 weeks time. I'm double booked anyway but thought I'd try and help out. Gave some advice and when I mentioned that she'd have to pay at least £*** to get someone decent for her big day, she actually swore! She swore again when I advised her on price when she said she wanted the Disco from 4.00pm.
Anyway, I mentioned back up - It's your big day and it's not always about the price. One of the things you should check is that the DJ has back up equipment should anything go wrong.
"What do you mean?"
Well, imagine it's 9.30pm and everyone is dancing and having a great time and something goes wrong and the music stops due to a problem. A DJ carrying back up equipment will get the party up and running again in as short a time as possible.
"What if he hasn't got it?"
Well, to be blunt...It's more than likely that the party is over or at best delayed until he can get back up equipment to get started again. You don't really want that on your special day do you?

I think I got through to her in the end.
If she finds someone then great but I hope I have put that thought in her head that it isn't as simple as she thinks. If it's educated that one person then it was worth mentioning in my opinion.

[Excalibur]

I think I'm roughly in your camp with this Gary. I don't regard having back up kit in the van as being too far away. At the moment I'm using my spare playout case as my main at most gigs, and the main one is left in the van.

Each playout case has a mixer and a Cortex in it, as well as a few other bits. Capable of finishing a night if the laptop were to die.

Even if I'm using only two speakers, two amps are sat on the deckstand.

The lights are interesting, since I think I may have to rethink my policy. Now that I'm so reliant on the Powerbar, if that were to fail, I could be well and truly stuffed!

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

I think I'm roughly in your camp with this Gary. I don't regard having back up kit in the van as being too far away. At the moment I'm using my spare playout case as my main at most gigs, and the main one is left in the van.

Each playout case has a mixer and a Cortex in it, as well as a few other bits. Capable of finishing a night if the laptop were to die.

Even if I'm using only two speakers, two amps are sat on the deckstand.

The lights are interesting, since I think I may have to rethink my policy. Now that I'm so reliant on the Powerbar, if that were to fail, I could be well and truly stuffed!

I don't think you would. People can an will dance without lighting. They can't dance without sound.

Try an experiment. Turn your Powerbar off for 10 minutes and see if anyone notices.

[marting]

Unless both my active speakers blow at the same time im pretty sure i would be able to continue pretty much as normal.

vdj to numark omni to main mixer to speakers if vdj or lap top go down i have cd player and cds
if mixer fails omni can be hooked up direct to speakers as can the laptop via the audio out or the last resort have an 8gig mp3 player on standby with my most played tracks on it which again can be plugged straight in to the mixer or speakers.
if one speaker was to blow in most circumstances could get away with the one in fact at one gig i had one speaker very much quieter due to a dodgy cable.

[Shaun]

My backup is in the van, but my ipad is loaded with tunes and that's in the venue with me.

[funkymook]

I've got my macbook and 00DJ both independently connected to my PA - both have their own controllers. I'll often play from either throughout the night.

Then I also have my iPad with djay which is loaded with tunes relevant to the gig, fully charged and ready to connect at a moments notice (and my iPhone as well)

Speakers - no extra back-ups, relying on not having both active cabs blow at once. But I will be getting a QTX QR12PA after borrowing one and being impressed with it's performance. It wouldn't primarily be as a back-up but for other duties, but in an emergency it could play music! (in fact even during a total power cut I could still carry on).

It's quite good to go through your set-up and look for single points of failure, even the smallest of items could finish your show, for laptop and controller users having spare USB leads for example.

[JAMdisco]

It's quite good to go through your set-up and look for single points of failure, even the smallest of items could finish your show, for laptop and controller users having spare USB leads for example.

And not forgetting the all important power lead - I now have a spare one after I thought I'd left mine at home - it was actually loose in the car so panic over. I now have a spare in one of my 'gig boxes' :)

[funkymook]

And not forgetting the all important power lead - I now have a spare one after I thought I'd left mine at home - it was actually loose in the car so panic over. I now have a spare in one of my 'gig boxes' :)

Exactly - once you're set up go through all your kit piece by piece, wire by wire and imagine it missing, if you can't carry on and haven't got a spare then you have a failure point.

Sometimes it's the smallest thing - what if one of the fuses goes in a powered cab?

[Sarah]

I am in a right pickle as regards back up (given I'm trying to go virtual)

I sent for the laptop slant 11u x 2u to house all I need to give peace of mind.

It's arrived today, is great, but I know realistically I'm gonna really, really struggle to cart it about.

Getting the right balance between back up and practicality to go virtual is doing my head in!

[Excalibur]

It's arrived today, is great, but I know realistically I'm gonna really, really struggle to cart it about.


Been there, done that,still wearing the t-shirt. :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o

I once built an all-in-one case, and two people couldn't move the :Censored: thing! I had to cut it in half. :eek:

My main playout case is huge, and I normally use the backup one at the moment.

[CRAZY K]

Been there, done that,still wearing the t-shirt. :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o

I once built an all-in-one case, and two people couldn't move the :Censored: thing! I had to cut it in half. :eek:

My main playout case is huge, and I normally use the backup one at the moment.

Similar here --my amp back up is a heavy powered mixer so that stays in the vehicle--I am not worried about the amp/mixer as it is highly unlikely to fail IMHO--

Lights wise I take an extra light in to the venue in case of lamp failure---cant be changing lamps halfway through.:daft:

Coloured Lights wise I have two separate ones as well as the main PARS so thats ok. Darren makes a good point about people dancing without lights;)

Spare hand mike always and a Mini Disc player always on hand in case the Cortex or HD fail--always have a small back up 500g HD---thank goodness--- Friday the exisiting one stopped playing and the Cortex gave error messages suggesting bad connection--I had a slight impact with this HD prior to starting gig so think that affected it--quickly switched through Mini Disc and swapped Hard Drives--no problem.

Spare Mixer in vehicle as well.

I carry 2 Ipods in my brief case with all my tunes which can either be plugged into the mixer or also be used as a hard drive--also have spare Cortex in vehicle and another old Seagate Hard drive.

What is spooky about my Hard Drive failure is it appears to have recovered from its impact incident and has been 100 per cent on back testing for several days now:confused:

Dont bother with speaker back up as generally one would be more than enough to give sufficient cover---cant see 2 going down at same time.

[ultrasound disco]

I use VDJ and 1 laptop and 1 back up laptop (sits under my table) which are identical in software build.
Music is mirrored on both and when I set up (add) new folders/playlists on the main laptop in VDJ I copy the VDJ database file to the back-up laptop, thus giving a true mirror.
I use a berry 802 mixer for extra mics (wired & wireless), output to an attenuator in to "mic in" on my DN X100.
The 802 acts also as a back-up mixer too if the Denon goes down.(with some tinkering)
I bi-amp my system and either amp will run all speakers in full range if needed ...or at least till I go get my spare from my trailer.
Lots of spare cables and and connectors/adapters to configure what will work in a pinch.(spare EQ also)
Peace of mind priceless!!!

[BossmanKaraokeDisco]

It's quite good to go through your set-up and look for single points of failure, even the smallest of items could finish your show, for laptop and controller users having spare USB leads for example.

Had this problem with my mains lead for my main playout hard drive a few weeks back. Plugged all in, fired laptop up and no hard drive found in VDJ.

Turned out the wire where it comes out of the block that plugs in the socket was playing up and if you moved it about the hard drive powered up.

Finally managed to use some gaffa tape to hold it in a position that kept the hard drive working and no dancing around on the stage meant it lasted the night.

Next day, ordered 2 new power supplys for hard drive, not going through that again. Got me thinking about all the other power supplies though like DMX Controller, power supply failure would cause problems but not end show, just unplug and reset dims so light flashed with built in S2L.

laptop power supply, cant imagine both failing but its possible. Sometimes it is the simple things that can cause us the big headaches :rolleyes:

[mattred]

I am in a right pickle as regards back up (given I'm trying to go virtual)

I sent for the laptop slant 11u x 2u to house all I need to give peace of mind.

It's arrived today, is great, but I know realistically I'm gonna really, really struggle to cart it about.

Getting the right balance between back up and practicality to go virtual is doing my head in!

I know it's prob to late but my digital payout is very light and simple and I have kept everything as separates. Allen & Heath xone dx controller (can pick them up for about £500 now) and itch software comes free with all future updates free too. Laptop carried on my shoulder, controller in a case on my arm.

I carry a spare amp and cd players but are left in the van. I have my iPad with me which is used as back up play out (I also always if doing a wedding put the first dance ons my iPad and phone)

Most failures will occur when powering up so will have time to get back up gear out the van before starting. Obviously not always the case but just what I have found.

Matt