Have I told you the one about a lady in the glass roofed function room in June who asked if I could turn the lights down? I was tempted to say I'm a DJ not a deity.
Printable View
Have I told you the one about a lady in the glass roofed function room in June who asked if I could turn the lights down? I was tempted to say I'm a DJ not a deity.
"Look at my sparkly purple tie, I'm not the one to bring you a jug of water pal!" :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Excalibur
40th birthday party at a local club 5 mins from my house which is a luxury, booked on a recommendation so knew the people would be super nice.
Supposed to be a 7.30 start but most people were keen and there at 7 for a midnight finish. Was told there is was no buffet they were just sailing through. (I kind of like the whole break for a buffet thing as it gives a good break point most of the time)
The curse of summer struck as the doors to the outside world were flung open and turnout was a bit poor due to the holiday season.
I took the smallest set up I've ever used so it was a bit of an experiment in that regard. Two cameo moonflowers mounted on poles attached to the booth and the ADJ dotz par bar behind me. All controlled from the ipad using the airstream wireless dmx. I did some programming in advance to try and create as many varied shows/colours as possible and it worked really well.
Sound was the 8 inch dynacord actives on the 12 inch subs and it was plenty for the venue, not a flicker of a peak light all night.
The only downside was a problem I'm having with Traktor at the moment. There is a known issue where the sound may become distorted after a period of time (MAC and Kontrol S8) meaning you have to perform a laptop reboot or change the latency once then back again. It only happened once during the night but is a bit exciting when it does. Picture the scene - everything going well then the spider sense starts tingling (slight distortion as the top end) - time to reboot the laptop which means playing out a song from DJay on the Ipad. No problem there but you have to disconnect the laptop from the controller which means it goes into stand-alone mode where the music will keep playing from any external source until the laptop is back. When I disconnected the laptop and the whole controller went dark with just a few lights on it was a bit of a moment. Now I must say it did work perfectly but I'm always very nervous doing thing like this as there is always the potential for things to go a wrong.
Birthday girl was really happy at the end and I enjoyed the evening as lots of requests and really nice people to have a laugh with - which is why I do it ! (and the money of course)
Well, last night promised to be another night of fun at my residency. I'd decided to take my booth to work from. With the previous manager gone, along with his prejudice against it (it takes up too much space apparently) & the new manager's feelings on the pulpit well known by now I thought it would be a good move.
Oh and how! Not only did it look much better than previous setups it was much easier to DJ from. Being so central I had really good views of all the room. Not that it mattered much. The cake had already been cut when the guests came downstairs & nobody was showing any interest in music at all no matter what I played until the first dance - and then after that they went back to being totally disinterested in music until long after the buffet. Last resort tactics were employed, which produced the bride & three of her friends dancing for no less than 3 tracks in a row. Sigh.
More tumbleweeds followed but eventually people started to bite again to a bit of rock, Abba & traditional 'wedding' fayre. Then the bride asked me if I had anything more up to date. Yes I do of course, and it was this I couldn't get so much as a foot tapping with earlier. Hey ho. Back to the charts we go then. What a result!
This was all fine & good til around 11pm when people started to trickle away in earnest. At 11.15pm I saw the groom depart & at 11.30pm the bride came in to thank me for trying so hard.
By 11.40pm it was all over & I started packing away.
Anyway the booth & screen went down well with the staff. A lot of them are new & hadn't seen the booth & screen. No it's not new I said, but explained how it hadn't been welcome before. I think it will be from now on.
Attachment 17999
Much better than without the screen & booth, I think. Lighting employed was 2x Equinox power flowers, one ADJ Quad Phase HP & Equinox Gigabar. Ah & the screen was backlit by my handy Chauvet WashFX.
The old manager's argument that it 'take up too much dancefloor' always bothered me. 1. Where I set up my sound & light gear isn't dancefloor & I don't want anybody near my stands if I can possibly help it. And 2. When there's a band on (ARGHHHHHHHH!) they often protrude out onto the dancefloor but they're not stopped from overflowing are they?
If there was ever a situation that needed a perfectly timed eclipse that was it....Quote:
Originally Posted by juski
I hate working with either a mirror or a window behind me as you can see front and back of the rig from a position off to the side :DQuote:
Originally Posted by juski
It's better than working with a stone pillar obscuring your view of most of the room though. I got the impression by the way he asked me my feelings about the pulpit when I first met him that the new GM really doesn't like it & I certainly won't be sad to see it go.Quote:
Originally Posted by DJ Jules
And as for what happens 'if there's a band on', well hopefully it's the one in the new venue brochure & they come with their own MP3 player so I won't even be invited. Either that or I just use my Ultimax 2 footer instead where the pulpit is now. Win.
Oh this, and I'm thinking about getting a backdrop & adding it as an optional extra. Along with uplighting I'm considering offering, then with a supplier I know - dancefloors & letters... I think I feel a flyer coming on.
Had a corker this weekend, going to sound bias but it was.
Was my little brothers wedding, set up the night before, took my 15" mackies and 18" subs. Took 4 Inno spot pro's as well, originally the bride didnt want any lights and I had to talk her round
Was in charge of the music as the bride walked down the aisle and also back up, sounded spot on.
Got the meal out of the way and then the speeches.
First dance went ok, then followed it on with the old faithful of Barry White and the dancers just kept coming, full dancefloor all night. Might sound a bit silly but as seeing as it was a freebie there was no pressure there whatsoever and i think it showed, played all the usual and a couple I wouldnt normally.
All in all a really good night, loads of people said it was brilliant which made me feel better
Only the one for me this weekend in a Castle on Saturday. The night itself felt like a Monday wedding unfortunately, however I knew the DJ there on the Sunday who needed uplighting, so was able to leave the Par Cans for him to pack away and make a few extra ££. Quite a bonus as there was 34 cans and 2 bars uplighting the place.
Attachment 18002Attachment 18003
Now THAT, Chris, is what I call a castle!Quote:
Originally Posted by ppentertainments