HELP : NEW MOBILE ROLLER DISCO - SOUND AND LIGHTING ADVICE

[rolandxj]

Hi,

I am brand new when it comes to this but I am starting up a mobile roller disco and need advice on sound and lighting.

I will be holding in a Sports Hall (probably around 30mx25m) and cater for up to 60 attendees. I would like advice on the sound equipment that will do the job for disco music in this size of venue and what sort of disco lighting would be suitable.

As I am starting out I would like to watch my setup costs but need cost effective but fit for purpose equipment.

Please, any advice would be appreciated.

Regards,

Roland

[DazzyD]

I'm sure I just recently read a very similar topic on a mostly-US DJ page whereby the guy was looking to provide skates and everything. I can't help but feel that roller discos died out for a reason - namely that it's not the 1980s anymore!!

[Excalibur]

I'm sure I just recently read a very similar topic on a mostly-US DJ page whereby the guy was looking to provide skates and everything. I can't help but feel that roller discos died out for a reason - namely that it's not the 1980s anymore!!

I'm sort of in agreement with my colleague. However, Karaoke all but died out round here ten years ago, and now it's thriving again, so possibly roller disco will rise again, phoenix like from the ashes?

Assuming you go ahead, I presume you're looking for low cost and simple. Our German friends do some which fit the bill. First three on this page. The second one isn't as good, and probaly not as powerful, but only half the price.

Whether you'd need additional lighting, I don't know. Just don't go for low power LED fixtures, you'd need at least 25watts, I'd say.

Sound? Trickier nowadays. Personally, I'd like floorstanders with two 15" drivers in. If you could find s/h Peavey Hisys 4s and a big amp, that would work. However, they and others like them are mighty beasts, and quite possibly too heavy. From my personal experience, I can recommend these. Ugly as sin, but tremendously loud and very clear for the price.

A note of caution. It's worth asking here before splashing out large sums of cash on a PA. There are a few makes that are best avoided. On paper they look fantastic, but they are cheap and somewhat shoddy. Good luck.

[Imagine]

^^^ What Peter said.

Roller discos......bring 'em back. I was a BIG fan up until the early 90's....and they're a brilliant way to keep fit too!!!!
I actually used to play roller-football (the rules were....there ARE no rules)...it was worse than roller hockey!

OK - going back into the dim and distant past....echo used to be a big problem in those places (in fact my regular haunt used to have bafflers hanging from the ceiling...it was a disused railway shed). You've got to combat a lot of background noise from the wheels on the floor for starters. They used to have huge Celestion units hanging from one side of the building (I seem to remember is was four of them). Possibly no more than about 200w each in those days. So...speakers at ear level or above I would say are a must. Bass will be a problem in a sports hall as it'll just bounce back (as will the treble)...look out how you aim your speakers.

So for sound....(and there will be those that disagree) - look at Yamaha DXR15's. Not cheap....but you could get away with having a pair of those on poles and no subs (top tip...angle them down...they have two post holes in the bottom ) If you can afford 4 of them and put one in each corner....brilliant, although just a pair should be able to cope.

Lighting - my personal opinion from those dim and distant days is not too much of it. They used to tend to have ambient background lights on so that you could see where you were going and a load of par cans suspended over the floor - certainly nothing like the effects we use these days. It was never as dark as the dance floors we have as mobile DJs. As a mobile operation...suspending the cans isn't going to be an option though so some nice bright LED pars will do the trick there (possibly with a couple of laser effects is smoke is allowed)

From someone that used to go to roller-discos a LOT, the volume and the lighting wasn't the important thing believe it or not. It was actually more of a social thing and showing off what you could do (side-winding, backwards, axles..... )

One really BIG consideration depending on how you're thinking of operating though in all seriousness is PLI. I was one of the official first aiders at the place I used to go to and ambulance teams were a regular feature. If you're only providing the sound and light...not so much of a problem. If you're doing the whole sherbang including the skates.....it's a different matter entirely in today's no-win-no-fee culture.

[Pe7e]

It's a different matter entirely in today's no-win-no-fee culture.

Totally agree with that!

[ckpr2]

Buying disco gear can be a minefield.

There is quite a lot of overrated junk on ebay.
I have bought amplifiers that were supposed to be 500 watts and barely put out 100 watts.
I have found the same with cheap speakers, play the music loud and they fry despite being on correct amplifier.

I would suggest a good disco gear shop where they can not only sell you stuff but advise you on what level of gear you need.

I tend to build my own amps and speaker boxes so I know what goes in them.

[rth_discos]

I would use an ice-rink as an example of how to set it up, as it's a fairly similar setup.

Most ice-rinks tend to fly the speakers from the roof in the middle of the room, in a circle pointing down and out. That should help combat the echo a bit, and provides a nicely distributed and even sound as people skate round. This can be supported with subs in each corner of the room.

[drcarlos]

I may get panned for what I say, but I have been on a steep learning curve and had to convert my home and car audio installation experience into Pro/Disco knowledge in a steep learning curve.
I have been doing RollerDisco DJ'ing for about 2 years now and we get a good turnout at most of our events, it's a really popular family event. We also have a good hardcore of adult skaters like myself who attend regularly.
I started out as the organisers who hire the venue and take care of the promotion have a poor taste in music (mostly 70's punk and the like) for skating to and little sound system know how, they are great friends now and are very thankful to have me around. I offered my services as just DJ/music selection to start with using their small Peavey Escort Pod PA system which has taken a caning and still works really well (for the small event DJ I cannot recommend these highly enough as we kicked the backside out of ours in sports halls that demanded far larger rigs for 2 years, it sound OK and kept going like a trooper).
I have built a small Arsenal of kit now and it needs the full capacity of my Navara pickup to transport it around. I have been through various levels of kit and have added more and more as funds allowed. Made a few duff purchases along the way and some really good ones too.
The first thing I bought were a set of powered 12" SPB speakers from eBay, they were utter and lasted 30 minute before dying. They went back for a refund and I bought a used Prosound 400 amp and a set of TOA SL-215 15" speakers which I ran turned up full in most venues linked to the Peavey Escort, these were my staple for around 12 months and were run flat out (clip lights always flickering) nearly every weekend for 3 hours at a time, they still work well now and I will happily endorse and buy more Prosound and TOA kit after this. Obviously this couldn't continue though as we still experienced a lack of bass, lack of power and echo's from the large halls and high ceilings.
Next upgrade was to add some Bass so I bought a couple of used 15" custom bins from eBay, they are kitted out with half decent drivers but are fairly lower power handling at around 200w RMS, they are also an oddball 6ohm rating too, they were run off my other new purchase of a an Ekho 800 amp, what a pile of junk, I used it once, it clipped at 1/2 gain and sounded weak. I sold it on as it had nowhere near the power of the Prosound 400w let alone it's claimed 800w! With it gone I got another used Prosound, this time an 800w, this was much more like it. Because I have no active crossover (it's on my list for next purchase) I added a set of 400w QTX passives myself in the bassbins, these with the TOA's running as tops were fine for the smaller hall (6 badminton courts) but I was still struggling to fill the larger halls with sound.
I visited another roller disco and they were running a setup that went loud and filled the hall with a decent quality of sound, 18" bins and some tower speakers formed the core (with another set of tops for dispersion). The thing that impressed me most was when the 18" bins were switched off near the end of the event the sound level stayed impressively high with decent bass power. It turned out just the towers were running. A bit of investigation revealed they were Peavey PV215's, I had to get some, but then came to the realisation they were way out of my budget (even used) . I had a bid on some used JBL TR215's but lost out by a few pounds, also in the same week won an auction for a Phonic MAR2 amp with a dead channel. I then found some Intimidation Audio 215's fairly locally and for sensible money and took a punt. They are big and the original plan was to repair the MAR2 amp and use them running off that.
The MAR2 had a dry solder joint and a loose plug which were quickly repaired (plus I upgraded it to also have a set of speakon connectors) and I used it at two large halls (one was 8 courts and one 10) an even running at 4ohms the 200w RMS was nowhere near enough for the big Intimidations (they can take 500w RMS). I was also feeling the little 400w Prosound was in need of an upgrade as the TOA's could take more.
I was impressed with the build of the Phonic amp, the transformer was huge and it never clipped once when run flat out at 4ohms, so I decided to find a MAR4 or 6. As luck would have it a MAR4 came up a couple of weeks ago in a nice 4U flight case (I had been making my own out of MDF until now) and it was bagged for a bargain price. It's rated at 2 x 400w RMS at 4 ohms and I'd believe it too.

So my Rig now consists of:
Phonic MAR4 Amp - Intimidation Audio 215x Speakers
Phonic MAR2 Amp - TOA SL-152 Speakers
Prosound 800 Amp - Custom 15" Bass Bins
Hercules DJ Console MK4

I ran this setup at the weekend in our 6 court venue and it was never turned up beyond 1/3 volume, filling the hall nicely.

We won't be back in the bigger halls until new year but I am pretty confident that I have the tools for the job now. I just want to add an active crossover (to be run as a 2 way between the subs and TOA's) and maybe an EQ next year for tweaking in the large halls.

This system is not the last word in quality but it is respectable (I judge all sound quality vs my Pioneer A300X and Mordaunt Short MS10 home setup) with no obvious flaws (boomy bass or spitty treble).

Reliability wise only time will tell, all my kit is used and some is budget I may get some failure's we'll have to see. I still have the Prosound 400 amp and a set of Gemini 12" tops as backups so I can afford a failure and still keep going. At around £400 invested I am pleased with what I have and as I do this for free (for the love of the skating and to give something back) I am not too fussed.

What advice do I offer?
Buy the best you can afford used.
Go for quality brands where possible.
Audition Kit if you can and don't buy blind (unless you know and trust the brand), eBay nearest first listing is the friend here.
Don't underestimate what you'll need for big venues.
A big van will be needed, especially if you have skates to transport.
Come and skate with us and come and have a chat.

Carl.

[funktions]

man I used to love the roller disco's years ago in Basingstoke sports centre, still got me trazetta roller boots with me spare set of krypto's ... all day sunday skate, oh I know lets go to the bar and have a few beers.. oh why do I keep falling over..
biggest thing I remember back from that time was, with the dj at the side people kept crashing into the gear, so they put it on stageing, then it was always too much echo and bouncing sound waves, when they put it in the middle it solved a lot of the issues was still on staging though.
would loved to have done it though would have been a blast .. even better now radio mic and go off skating lol might need to have the resus team on standby though, not built for that much speed anymore.
so yeah I agree after much rambling, if your getting gear try to get decent branded stuff, second hand bargains are there to be had, could try to get speakers up high and angled downwards to try and counteract the high frequency bounce, lighting is the same. plenty of cheap stuff around, just being in the right place at the right time sometimes. wind up stands and trussing would help a lot at having light angled well, again they appear cheaply enough on the dreaded ebay, have picked up 2 sets of powerdrive ones so far for under £120.