Can you fit in there?/One size fits all.

[Excalibur]

I'm not sure how to word some of this, because if taken wrongly, it could come across as criticism of others, boasting, gloating or general mischief.

It's not designed to be any of the above, so here goes nothing. Young Dicky's description of a somewhat large and imposing rig made me decide to set this off, as it seemed a suitable springboard.

How adaptable are you? Do you make the function fit your kit, or make your kit fit the function? In the last year, functions have ranged from a 70th Birthday in a tiny conservatory, to two hundred plus Young Farmers in a huge barn. Chalk and cheese, two par cans, tiny home made stand, and two ten inch cabs, versus a full six box rig, DSB, and three metres of truss with seven powerful lights on.

I assume many of us have varied functions, and varying space in which to set up. Is it possible to have one rig which copes with them all? I believe not. For those of you not afflicted with a raging desire to hoard kit " just in case ", how do you manage? Do you make do with what you have, refuse unsuitable jobs, or hire/borrow more suitable kit?

Over to you folks, floor's all yours.

[Benny Smyth]

Using the plinths offer me a lot of flexibility.

For smaller rooms, or for hotel residential gigs I use two 1.5m plinths with a moving head on each, uplighters for the plinths, washes and recently I bought a pair of RCF 712's:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B0lJbZfIgAEg92a.jpg

Next size up, it's two 1.5m plinths, two 2m plinths, a moving head on each, uplighters, washes, a pair of RCF 905 subs and either the 712's or the 408's for tops:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BylZN0yCcAEG53X.jpg

The largest I have, I don't have a pic for as of yet, but it's a 4.5m goalpost gantry which can be winched up to 3.8m in height. That'll hold four moving head profiles, two moving head washes, par cans that light up the gantry itself, two ADJ Jellydomes, and three LED bars that light up the technical area. As for sound, it's the same as the previous, depending on venue.

[dicky]

Well obviously I posed some videos of mine on the other thread

As things stand if I just use the DJ booth and combined gantry with some of the lighting I need around 10ft of ground space, but the gantry extendes to 12ft total with

I'm having a chat with the local disco shop to see if it is possible to get another spare top section for the booth gantry (or at least some adaption/fittings for using half of what I already have) so I can have the gantry at just the width of the booth, which is 6 ft. I would need then a minimum of about 9ft width total to get the booth and speakers either side. Anything less than that and I would struggle - unless I could put the speakers in a line up front and just about get away with 6ft width

I could use just the twin 15" full range cabs and not the 18" subs but from what I have tried the sound is noticable poorer without the subs. I don't mean the ability to crank it up I just mean the richness of hte sound at whatever volume

I do like the look of those plinths though Benny. And your whole setup actually! Very flexible. Where were they from?

Rich

[soundmaster mobile disco]

I have various sizes of set up equipment, so I adjust my set up to suit whatever venue I am in.

I don't like been pushed into a small corner tho.

[Excalibur]

I don't like been pushed into a small corner tho.

" Nobody puts Gary in the corner " , eh? :coat:

[musicology]

My set up is pretty much the same for all gigs. Most are for 30 - 100 people which I'm guessing is he same for many mobile jocks. Keeps it simple, but I've designed it to be effective, and easy on my back!

[Daryll]

My set up is pretty much the same for all gigs. Most are for 30 - 100 people which I'm guessing is he same for many mobile jocks. Keeps it simple, but I've designed it to be effective, and easy on my back!

:like:

Same here , one rig for everything , mind you I have a different center light for weddings , swap the cluster laser for an Abstract XP5


Daryll

[Excalibur]

My set up is pretty much the same for all gigs. Most are for 30 - 100 people which I'm guessing is he same for many mobile jocks. Keeps it simple, but I've designed it to be effective, and easy on my back!


:like:

Same here , one rig for everything , mind you I have a different center light for weddings , swap the cluster laser for an Abstract XP5


Daryll

Now we're getting somewhere, have a rig small enough to fit almost anywhere, which will cope with 100-150 average punters in a sensibly sized room. But what happens when you get asked to play to the Young Farmers County Rally, five hundred folk in effectively an aircraft hangar? Turn it down, borrow kit, hire kit, share the gig with someone who has kit, or what?

We're beginning to ask " Do you specialise ( in certain tyupes of gig ), or will you take ( almost ) anything?

[DJColsie]

I use the same booth for all events.

If space is tight I put one of the power bar/t bar behind me. Is space is generous I put powerbar one side of the booth with t bar the other and speakers either side of that.

PA options range from tops on stands, one sub under desk with tops on stands to 2 subs with tops at each end of rig.

[Daryll]

Now we're getting somewhere, have a rig small enough to fit almost anywhere, which will cope with 100-150 average punters in a sensibly sized room. But what happens when you get asked to play to the Young Farmers County Rally, five hundred folk in effectively an aircraft hangar? Turn it down, borrow kit, hire kit, share the gig with someone who has kit, or what?



I know what my rig is capable of , and the amount of people I can comfortably accommodate, if the venue is too big , or there are hundreds of guests , I will pass the information to someone that can handle bigger events , but then again, I have never been asked , or have I quoted for a gig outside the limits of mt rig , the only red lights I like to see are power on/off lights, every thing else stays in the green or now and again the orange/yellow.
I am guessing that my rig will be fine for up to 120 people, after that................no

Cheers

Daryll

[Excalibur]

I know what my rig is capable of , and the amount of people I can comfortably accommodate,I am guessing that my rig will be fine for up to 120 people, after that................no

Cheers

Daryll

Excellent answer, thanks. Hard to fault such logic. Now all we need is for someone who always goes out with 4ft Ultimax/ DSB, three metres of truss, tops and subs to explain how they cope with being asked to fit it all into a five foot bay window up a flight of stairs, after a twenty yard carry just to get to the foot of the stairs. :)

[Benny Smyth]

I do like the look of those plinths though Benny. And your whole setup actually! Very flexible. Where were they from?

Rich

Thanks, Rich. I bought the plinths from Dave Reed at RSD Music. There are alternatives out there, but these ones feel a lot sturdier than other I have come across.

[ianforest]

99.9% of the work I do is family parties/weddings...50 people to 150...if currently faced with a young farmers ball or anything above 200 people then I hire in the big boys to bring the bigger stuff, Funktion One, trussing, movers, washes, etc

[dicky]

I know what my rig is capable of , and the amount of people I can comfortably accommodate, if the venue is too big , or there are hundreds of guests , I will pass the information to someone that can handle bigger events , but then again, I have never been asked , or have I quoted for a gig outside the limits of mt rig , the only red lights I like to see are power on/off lights, every thing else stays in the green or now and again the orange/yellow.
I am guessing that my rig will be fine for up to 120 people, after that................no

Cheers

Daryll

Me thinks the opposite (but then I am an allegedly young whippersnapper who has a penchant for flashing lights and speaker stacks to the ceiing)

So personally I would like to be able to cater for small and very large venues - and reap the possible benifits of doing so




Can I ask a related question?

Back in the day when i was all vinyl we did a gig at the high school that I was supposedly educated in... but this was some years later then me being educated there

We used a mosfet amp that I built myself (2 x 300W RMS with 625VA transformers and capacitors the size of coke cans)

2 x 15" full range plus horns and a couple of Marshal Base Biins with (if I remember properly) 20, or was it 24" inch drivers. A handlfull of PAR54 floods running sound-to-light and some PAR36 pinspots and a large mirror ball. Oh and two synchonised xenon tube strobes that I built from kits off the back pages of Practical Electronics - they were 18 Joules output each - I have no idea how that translates to Watts but with them both on and the rest of the lights killed it was like slow motion freeze frame city and the kids loved it!!

Anyway - with that meager amount (by modern standards) of RMS wattage and lighting we did this gig for like 300-400 high school kids in a very large assembly hall room with ceiling to floor curtains down the length of both sides - and a teacher said to me when they had a break for the buffet that it was the first time he could feel the bass in his stomach at the back of the room!

Now I wonder - how did we do that so succesfully with so little kit and such a meager RMS per channel? OK the huge Marshall bass bins were taller tha me (I'm 5ft 6) and they were reverse mounted 'reflex' cabs but are Watts RMS less than the used to be or have expectations changed or something?

dicky

[Excalibur]

Anyway - with that meager amount (by modern standards) of RMS wattage and lighting we did this gig for like 300-400 high school kids in a very large assembly hall room with ceiling to floor curtains down the length of both sides - and a teacher said to me when they had a break for the buffet that it was the first time he could feel the bass in his stomach at the back of the room!

Now I wonder - how did we do that so succesfully with so little kit and such a meager RMS per channel? OK the huge Marshall bass bins were taller than me (I'm 5ft 6) and they were reverse mounted 'reflex' cabs but are Watts RMS less than the used to be or have expectations changed or something?

dicky

Oh no!! :(:(
Dicky lad, you've gone and done it now!! :eek: You didn't know that Britain devalued the Watt in 2003? :confused:




Dicky, you're starting to unswervingly knock all the Old Chestnuts out of the tree again. :D:D:D
Back in the day, I ran a pair of column speakers ( filled with lots of six or eight inch drivers, if I remember aright. ) driven by an amp of one hundred watts a side ( and that wasn't RMS either. That figure was nearer sixty or seventy.:eek: ) Only one venue used to ask me to turn it up, and that was a huge hall in York, with over two hundred people.

Nowadays, I take nearly 2K into my local village hall. Seems baffling, doesn't it? :confused: I think there are various factors at play, one of which being that certain types of punter nowadays wants very high sound pressure levels. Another is that ( apparently ) the speakers were more efficient in the old days. I don't have a complete answer to the conundrum, Dicky, but rest assured, you're not alone. :(

[funktions]

Excellent answer, thanks. Hard to fault such logic. Now all we need is for someone who always goes out with 4ft Ultimax/ DSB, three metres of truss, tops and subs to explain how they cope with being asked to fit it all into a five foot bay window up a flight of stairs, after a twenty yard carry just to get to the foot of the stairs.


ermmmmmmmmm :o
with ease, take it all, and see what fits. I want to be adaptive not stuck and have had a few where you get to the room to find a hall and vice versa. seen a few dj's who don't know their limit and try to fill 400 people with something that's only good for 100, even been asked if we can put some speakers in another room but on a lower volume, think its the be prepared motto.

[funkymook]

ermmmmmmmmm :o
with ease, take it all, and see what fits. I want to be adaptive not stuck and have had a few where you get to the room to find a hall and vice versa. seen a few dj's who don't know their limit and try to fill 400 people with something that's only good for 100, even been asked if we can put some speakers in another room but on a lower volume, think its the be prepared motto.

Or be prepared beforehand so you know what kit is appropriate before you arrive. I honestly can't imagine turning up anywhere not knowing the size of room, how many guest or if a separate system was required in another room, that's going to cost more for starters and I'm not discussing extra charges on the night.

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

I have all my lights O clamped onto my Nano 600s so the foot print is the same regardless of whether I'm using the "big" lighting rig or the strip backed one.

[Excalibur]

ermmmmmmmmm :o
with ease, take it all, and see what fits. I want to be adaptive not stuck and have had a few where you get to the room to find a hall and vice versa. seen a few dj's who don't know their limit and try to fill 400 people with something that's only good for 100, even been asked if we can put some speakers in another room but on a lower volume, think its the be prepared motto.
Large van, choice of kit. I like this man. :thumbs_up:


Or be prepared beforehand so you know what kit is appropriate before you arrive. I honestly can't imagine turning up anywhere not knowing the size of room, how many guest or if a separate system was required in another room, that's going to cost more for starters and I'm not discussing extra charges on the night.
Come and live in my world then. ;)
Martin, your approach is wise and laudable. People would do well to follow your lead.


I have all my lights O clamped onto my Nano 600s so the foot print is the same regardless of whether I'm using the "big" lighting rig or the strip backed one.
Always a smartbottom, isn't there? :p

Good move Jim, nice one. Although I sometimes use the Micromax for some jobs, if I needed, I could still have over three metres of truss above it, should I wish.

[funktions]

Or be prepared beforehand so you know what kit is appropriate before you arrive. I honestly can't imagine turning up anywhere not knowing the size of room, how many guest or if a separate system was required in another room, that's going to cost more for starters and I'm not discussing extra charges on the night.

and where did I say I never consulted with the client ? or visited the venue before hand ? im willing to discuss extra money at any stage of the night. if the client wants then if I can do the client gets...

[funkymook]

and where did I say I never consulted with the client ? or visited the venue before hand ? im willing to discuss extra money at any stage of the night. if the client wants then if I can do the client gets...

Fair enough - but this does make it sound like you've turned up and found a different sized venue than you expected on a few occasions.



and have had a few where you get to the room to find a hall and vice versa. .

[funktions]

Fair enough - but this does make it sound like you've turned up and found a different sized venue than you expected on a few occasions.

doesn't help when the client changes things and neglects to tell you they have invited more people and gone up to the larger room in the complex, or standing in for someone last minute as they have had a crisis and get told its only a small get together, yeah .. course.. it does happen. the price you pay for being flexible.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

I can arrange my set up to suit different venues. I generally know the venues and space that I have in advance and if it's a venue that I haven't been to before then I check it out online if I can't visit it. I always have my big floor standing passive speakers with me anyway and I always take an amp for them which works as back up for the Mackies and Subs (If I need them). If it is tight on space then I can use the floor speakers without taking up extra space with speaker stands. Because I have 8 effects on my Ultimax bar it means that I have to have the speaker stands spread out. I always use the same lighting effects wherever I go but one venue in particular has a very low ceiling so I have to take the bar down a few notches on the uprights of the Ultimax.

I'd say I could possibly cater for up to 300 with the system I have currently. It's the dance floor where it needs to be banging I guess.

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

Good move Jim, nice one. Although I sometimes use the Micromax for some jobs, if I needed, I could still have over three metres of truss above it, should I wish.

I currently have no stands or trussing of any sort other than the poles going from the Nano subs to the satellites :p

It was partly a conscious decision to make it that way based on aesthetics but in keeping with the thread, it's had the added benefit of making my rig pretty much the same same for every situation - if it ain't gong to fit somewhere the way it is just now, it ain't going to fit.

[Shaun]

How adaptable are you? Do you make the function fit your kit, or make your kit fit the function? In the last year, functions have ranged from a 70th Birthday in a tiny conservatory, to two hundred plus Young Farmers in a huge barn. Chalk and cheese, two par cans, tiny home made stand, and two ten inch cabs, versus a full six box rig, DSB, and three metres of truss with seven powerful lights on.

Over to you folks, floor's all yours.

My rig can cope with most private events I think. The DSB Micro booth can squeeze into the smallest of places. My standard pa is 2 RCF tops and 2 RCF subs, I reckon they are more than enough for up to 300 people, easily. I also carry a second backup rig (not additional subs, but additional full range speakers) and extra lighting. So I reckon I reckon I'm relatively prepared for a multitude of scenarios - hopefully!

[DJ Jules]

I've got two booths now (adapted set of Equinox screens and a full DSB), 2 wind up stands that can be used with either a single T-bar or 3m of truss, 2 x 1.5m podiums and a variety of different lighting fixtures. For most venues up to 200 people I go with my RCF tops only and they cope fine, for anything bigger I'd rent PA (and possibly lighting) from one of the many events companies around here.

So, in short, I can adapt what I have for anything from someone's kitchen (done that) to 200 people without too much trouble. I do have to be prepared and know what I need in advance though as I can only carry so much in my disco wagon at present. Subs and a van are probably the next things on my shopping list.

Julian