Good Gig, Bad Gig.

[CRAZY K]

Apart from flooding in the Marquee following torrential downfall---I had a weird problem with my JTS Radio Mike.

I handed it to the host who was well oiled but coherent --he walked about 50 feet to the back of the Marquee---warbled on about the usual rubbish--then returned to tell me the Radio Mike was no longer working--handed him my hand mike so problem solved.

Then investigated the problem--i found the wavelength registering on the the actual microphone was different to that registering on the receiver plugged into my amp. I changed the receivers wavelength to match and voila--it works again.

However--how did the microphone whilst in charge of the host change wavelength????????

It does have a small control area on the front panel with a very small button to activate change of frequency and two others to allow movement up or down with the frequency.

I wonder if the host got nervous and fiddled with the buttons sub consciously changing the frequency.

An alternative to allowing the mike to end up at waist level.

When I used the unit the next night the receiver had reset itself to its default frequency, so I returned the handset to the same frequency and all was well for the gig including me going 50 feet up the room to help dancers with instructions several times.

Weird goings on--glad im not doing Wedding Speeches with it

I had fun using my new Alto 15 Sub in the Marquee and as Peter has noted it sounds louder outside the Marquee than inside

At the end of the night the ground turned into a swamp making Glastonbury look really reasonable--the host hauled various vans out of trouble with his massive 4 by 4 which was good entertainment and then after getting totally bladdered managed to ram it into something in the dark.

A memorable night all right

[Nakatomi]

An absolute nightmare from the start to the bitter end. A band were due to arrive some time so I made a minimal setup to give them space. No pre gig contact from the happy couple and their leaving everything to chance damn near wrecked my nerves. A first dance track only they had and the hotel internet was acting up. Repeated attempts to send the track to me failed and I resorted to getting it myself on my spare laptop outside the venue tethered to my phone. It all went south from there.

Requests eventually came thick & fast with 15 minutes left and as if by magic the crowd who'd mysteriously vanished after the first dance at 10.15 resurfaced.

An utter nightmare

[CRAZY K]

Apart from flooding in the Marquee following torrential downfall---I had a weird problem with my JTS Radio Mike.

I handed it to the host who was well oiled but coherent --he walked about 50 feet to the back of the Marquee---warbled on about the usual rubbish--then returned to tell me the Radio Mike was no longer working--handed him my hand mike so problem solved.

Then investigated the problem--i found the wavelength registering on the the actual microphone was different to that registering on the receiver plugged into my amp. I changed the receivers wavelength to match and voila--it works again.

However--how did the microphone whilst in charge of the host change wavelength????????

It does have a small control area on the front panel with a very small button to activate change of frequency and two others to allow movement up or down with the frequency.

I wonder if the host got nervous and fiddled with the buttons sub consciously changing the frequency.

An alternative to allowing the mike to end up at waist level.

When I used the unit the next night the receiver had reset itself to its default frequency, so I returned the handset to the same frequency and all was well for the gig including me going 50 feet up the room to help dancers with instructions several times.

Weird goings on--glad im not doing Wedding Speeches with it

I had fun using my new Alto 15 Sub in the Marquee and as Peter has noted it sounds louder outside the Marquee than inside

At the end of the night the ground turned into a swamp making Glastonbury look really reasonable--the host hauled various vans out of trouble with his massive 4 by 4 which was good entertainment and then after getting totally bladdered managed to ram it into something in the dark.

A memorable night all right

UPDATE

Checked with DJ shop who think the same as me--customer probably got nervous and twiddled with Radio Microphone managing to change UHF channels.

[djdj]

Wayne, I've noticed this sort of thing before. Are you sure you're a real DJ? You seem unwilling to play the Classics.



Like I said above, are you sure you're a real DJ? Everybody knows we rock up with an array of lights designed to blind most of the guests, while playing some execrable " music " at deafening levels. That's what we do.

Or sadly, what some people still think we do.




Errr, Gary are you sure? Socrates was even older and smarter than me, lived in ancient Greece, and died from drinking a poisonous brew, Hemlock.
Blimey, I've got a lot in common with him.


OK, to mine. What a cracker. Wedding in a marquee the far side of Hull. Deciding access times and my duties had been tricky. We settled for a time, and I arrived early. The weather was interesting, as I'd driven through torrential rain on the way, with traffic on the dual carriageway down to a crawl. Didn't bode well for a gig in a field. Turns out they'd not had a drop of rain all day, ( or as it turns out, all night ) yippee.

Arrived early, and gained access to my space when allowed. Parked the van right outside the panel we unzipped, magic. Not a huge tent, so didn't take a lot of kit, the 12" LDs were more than enough for sound, and two battens and moonflowers sufficed for lights. ( See Wayne, others can do minimal as well. )

Lovely young couple, and fabulous guests. They didn't want a first dance, but yielded under pressure and picked Drop Kick Murphys- Rose Tattoo from their list " to set things off with a lively one ". Blimey, it did! Shut Up And Dance followed nicely, and I had a good floor for a surprisingly long time. Sunny weather and games outside, it was only half eight, no way was I going to get them going that early, so Stevie Wonder- I Just Called went on, and earned me a ing from a lady who pointed out that it wasn't smoochy time, what about some ( faster, obviously ) Tamla and Soul.

Point taken, so I did that, and a healthy floor followed. Then I got asked for some Sixties. Packed floor. This sort of style was working fantastically, along with cherry picking from the list. Tiger feet really did the trick, among others. A hog roast appeared, and I put Soul Banana on while I headed over to the catering tent to partake. My but it was good.

I was down for a midnight finish, but bearing in mind we were in a marquee miles from anywhere, the drink was free, and the guests ( and DJ ) were having a ball, I was sure a spot of overtime was on the cards, and I hit midnight with songs in hand. My playlist was working really well, and we'd moved along to Rock/Metal/Indie by now. The groom asked if I'd do another hour. No problem. Getting a bit heavier now, Enter Sandman went down a storm. Bit of Iron Maiden, G'n'R, Def Leppard gave me the chance to slip one in from the playlist I've never done at a gig before, Barracuda, by Heart.

The last hour flew by, and it was time to pack up, and it was one of those rare gigs where it was exactly the right time to end. Bride and Groom were delighted, packing up took longer because guests were chatting to me saying how good it had been.
If only they were all like that.

Client meeting soon, and a packed ten days ahead. Going to see Don Henley tomorrow.

Glad it was a good one!

[Nakatomi]

Hella good year 11 prom again tonight. Hard work though. Very very hard.

There were presentations to get through, and messages from the school's sponsors (A funeral director included, I kid you not!).. which with the aid of my radio mic went a bit Norman Collier. It's not actually funny anymore - I demonstrated how it works to the staff before I started tonight. I wander around, speaking into it, and there's no feedback, no cutouts.. just lovely crisp, bassy ME. As soon as it gets into the hands of a 'user' though....... WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.. Sigh.

It felt like I had hundreds of requests for tunes, quite a few ancient 'classics' (YMCA & Come On Eileen anybody?), horrible dirges (Drake - who didn't clear the floor but seemed to only rob it of any FUN. Methinks they doth only pretendeth to like it. Eth)... and MEH.

Well, I found ways & means to get the requests in & on, via all kinds of circuitous routes but they took loads more geeing up than the last prom. I had to take a couple of students to task for being way too demanding. You can say NEXT all you like, but it's not gonna make it happen. Very much less likely to happen AT ALL in fact.

There'll doubtless be another gig log for this & this weekend's outings.. my other videos seem to be getting good coverage & helping drive enquiries for the type of gigs I want (just a pity they weren't for dates I can actually DO!).



Apparently the couple getting married there tomorrow were around.. God only knows what they thought of the stuff I was playing. They got a bit of 'bounce' from a minimix I did especially for the occasion. It's horrible in the extreme but totally took the roof off the dancefloor.

[CRAZY K]

Hella good year 11 prom again tonight. Hard work though. Very very hard.

There were presentations to get through, and messages from the school's sponsors (A funeral director included, I kid you not!).. which with the aid of my radio mic went a bit Norman Collier. It's not actually funny anymore - I demonstrated how it works to the staff before I started tonight. I wander around, speaking into it, and there's no feedback, no cutouts.. just lovely crisp, bassy ME. As soon as it gets into the hands of a 'user' though....... WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.. Sigh.

It felt like I had hundreds of requests for tunes, quite a few ancient 'classics' (YMCA & Come On Eileen anybody?), horrible dirges (Drake - who didn't clear the floor but seemed to only rob it of any FUN. Methinks they doth only pretendeth to like it. Eth)... and MEH.

Well, I found ways & means to get the requests in & on, via all kinds of circuitous routes but they took loads more geeing up than the last prom. I had to take a couple of students to task for being way too demanding. You can say NEXT all you like, but it's not gonna make it happen. Very much less likely to happen AT ALL in fact.

There'll doubtless be another gig log for this & this weekend's outings.. my other videos seem to be getting good coverage & helping drive enquiries for the type of gigs I want (just a pity they weren't for dates I can actually DO!).



Apparently the couple getting married there tomorrow were around.. God only knows what they thought of the stuff I was playing. They got a bit of 'bounce' from a minimix I did especially for the occasion. It's horrible in the extreme but totally took the roof off the dancefloor.

The trouble with Radio Mics is they can be used in front of the speakers, I ONLY work that way in my job.

Soooo feedback is more likely when the have a go.

Maybe consider hand mike with short lead from mixer and tell them not to wander around or stand in front of a speaker.

[CRAZY K]

UPDATE

Checked with DJ shop who think the same as me--customer probably got nervous and twiddled with Radio Microphone managing to change UHF channels.

FURTHER UPDATE

Used at an outdoor function today, thank goodness no rain during event--absolutely perfect and no problems.

Well after I put in new batteries doh ! and remembered to fit the aerials :

[Nakatomi]

Allan, I always check my mic as little as 3 feet away & it's always fine. Other people... pfft!

Anyway - last night's gig was a wedding reception.. and although it was a challenge because of a vintage photo studio with picket fences (!) and the nice warm weather outside.. things got a little bit cheesy later on:

[Daryll]

Great vid , just goes to show............cheese works

Daryll

[Imagine]

Great vid , just goes to show............cheese works

Daryll

Cheese Always works!

Right, onto my outing for this weekend. A 40th, not too far away from home with an 11:30 finish ('cos we've all got to be out of the door for midnight)....how hard can it be?
Actually....not too bad.

I'd been rough all day, and armed with several packets of Immodium (God that stuff's brilliant) and a completely empty stomach....headed off for the venue. How easy can it be? Open van, open back door to venue, tip contents of van onto stage......done! (it only took 22 minutes to get out as well! ).

I hadn't had much contact with the client on this one until Thursday, when he suddenly decided to start doing playlists. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with playlists and in this case I'm glad he did because WOW it was obscure!

Everything in there from modern tat to Aceeeeeeeed house (haven't played any of that for a VERY long time) to hard-core rock and metal. Oh....plus 500 miles, the Timewarp and Love Shack....how the *!$£$£$!!" to you even attempt to go from one to another??

It actually turned out OK in the end. Lots of applause at the end, a happy birthday girl and promises of recommendations. I'm now completely shattered and off to close my eyes for several hours. Hopefully the belly will be better tomorrow.....

Next week, a prom and a wedding