Procrustes, variety, selectivity, and toys.
Thread spawned from the " what will life be like after Covid" one.
There's an old joke about a Salmon angler who dies and goes to another place. He's met by an angel who gives him a fly rod, and instructs him to cast into the most inviting salmon river he's ever seen. He does so, his cast is perfect, and his fly is immediately taken by a beautiful salmon of exactly twelve pounds.
He's overjoyed, but his companion doesn't let him relax, instructing him to cast again. Lo and behold, exactly the same thing happens. When instructed to recast, it happens again, twelve pounds exactly. The poor angler is beginning to think the novelty's wearing off a bit, and says to the angel " It's a lovely river and all, but I'd have expected a bit more variation, interest and uncertainty in heaven".
The angel looks at him and says " who said you were in Heaven"? cheers damian
That's an attempt to illustrate why I shan't be following Gavin's policy of using exactly the same kit, in identikit hotels, for as near as possible identical audiences and gigs, for as we all know, " variety is the spice of life". I try to live by that and similar ideas, half the fun is doing something different from last week. I'm sure we've all had that reaction when a regular walks into a pub residency, and you select the same track that he or she asks for every week. :(:(
The downside of this life of adventure and excitement is when you get to the venue where you expected to be given acres of space, only to find that for whatever reason, the 6ft Equinox booth, 3metre lighting gantry, and 5Kw PA you normally use isn't going to fit. That's when you have to follow my old mate Proctustes in making your rig fit the available space. Fortunately, in the Transit outside are a Micromax booth, Gravity pole for the couple of lights needed,, and a slimline stick rig. Simples.
For instance, compare and contrast two venues I have done weddings at. Effectively the same functions, all indoors, bar, food, evening only.
First one is upstairs at a monastery, with time, access and sound restrictions, as it's in a residential area. That effectively gets the second rig mentioned above, even though there's a stage around twelve feet wide for me.
Second one can also be upstairs ( unless I'm lucky enough to be in the room with the "secret door" into the car park). ;) It gets subs and tops, two metres of lighting overhead, with usually at least six lights on, and a four foot Equinox.
Why the huge difference? Same type of function, same amount of guests, same sized venue. :confused:
Simple answer, because I want to use the right tools for the job, and because I have them available.
Humorous answer, because at venue number two, my mate is in the room below with at least twice the amount of kit I'm using, and I don't want to be shown up too much. :D
And yet, many DJs are like a colleague, who despite taking varied work, has one full size booth, one lighting rig, and two PA systems. ( The Loud One, or The Loud One + Subs).
So folks, we know that despite what Joe Public thinks ( A Disco is a Disco, is a Disco :bang::bang: ) we vary wildly in attitudes, what gigs we will seek, what we will take, what gear we will bring, what music we're prepared to play, and a thousand other things. So, please tell us all why you do or don't have a vast selection of gear, do or don't take gigs of every type, and do or don't take every gig offered.
I'm on record as not being very selective as to what work I take, and having a wide range of kit. Gavin has given us his valid reasons for taking what could be called a polar opposite view, and his arguments are hard to counter. I can't compose a poll for this, so how about you let us know which end of the scale you're nearest to, please? No right or wrong answers, only personal taste, choice and perhaps circumstances ( eg no big van, so space restrictions).
Over to you folks.
