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I am about to do my first gig

Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2014 7:47 pm
by 67baja
I am providing sound as a favor for some people I know for a "class of 87 prom/45th birthday party". Subs will be my 2 dual 10" loaded t30s tops are otop 12s. Sound provided by mp3s from a tablet and a cell phone Iif said tablet fails. I have a spare mixer just in case. Lighting consists of 2 quad phase lights, a 50 watt led strobe, and a colorstrip mini fx. Yes I need more pars or other wash lights. I'm nervous I don'thave a great playlist, but it probably will be good. I have been setting up for about 3 hours and excited to start, but nervous.

Anyways, just touching base with like minded people here.

Re: I am about to do my first gig

Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2014 7:50 pm
by Bruce Weldy
It'll sound great......enjoy the evening.

Re: I am about to do my first gig

Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2014 1:09 pm
by doncolga
how did it go?

Re: I am about to do my first gig

Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2014 1:30 am
by 67baja
Thanks for the support. How did it go? Well, the sound was great (as I hoped). It took me at least 3 hours to set up the sound and lights. I did not get a chance to RTA my rig in the room, but it still truly did sound very good. My rig was set up in a corner of a 3100 square foot ballroom on a stage. I attempted to do a sub crawl at the time of setting up and the corner sounded louder than the walls on either side, so the subs were set up firing directly into the corner.

My biggest anxiety before this gig was the playlist. It was a class of '87 party and I actually graduated in '89 so I figured it would be pretty easy to pick '80s dance music, right? Not so much. I graduated in a small town in northern Nevada where I was a "Rocker", and I learned the party attendees graduated in urban California, aka different style/race music was popular there. My ideas were Night Ranger, Tesla, Journey, etc - their idea was New Edition, anything Jackson related, etc. Luckily I loaded my tablet and phones with a big bunch of music and there was a girl there that fancied herself a DJ in training who was completely happy sitting on the corner loaded and v-plated t30s picking music for hours on end while I made trips to the bar buying myself numerous cocktails and dancing with several unlucky ladies (my wife included). LOL.

The rig was probably running around 50-60% all night, so plenty in reserve. My hazer was manually triggered to go off whenever I realized the air was clear but it has a timer setup that will make it better after I learn how to set it up. The light set up could use more wash lights along the walls, but the dance crowd did appreciate what I had there.

What I learned from the whole event? It takes a lot of work to set up subs, tops, stands, run wires, tape up the wires, set up the light truss, lights, etc. Not necessarily the good time I had envisioned, and of course there was no money in it - it was just a favor for some friends. It was pretty fun dressing up in my Miami Vice white suit and dancing/drinking/etc. though!

Re: I am about to do my first gig

Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2014 1:35 am
by Grant Bunter
Well, glad to hear it went well for you and you can now cross that one off the bucket list lol.

Sounds like you learnt some good lessons as well as had a good enough time.
Being able to enjoy yourself if you're not getting paid is a bonus :)

Re: I am about to do my first gig

Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2014 5:42 am
by 88h88
67baja wrote: Luckily I loaded my tablet and phones with a big bunch of music and there was a girl there that fancied herself a DJ in training who was completely happy sitting on the corner loaded and v-plated t30s picking music for hours on end...
She was just looking for tracks with heavy basslines. For reasons. You probably made her night... :wink:

Re: I am about to do my first gig

Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2014 8:27 am
by Rich4349
67baja wrote:... It was pretty fun dressing up in my Miami Vice white suit and dancing/drinking/etc. though!
Pics or it didn't happen!

Re: I am about to do my first gig

Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2014 11:12 am
by CoronaOperator
67baja wrote: What I learned from the whole event? It takes a lot of work to set up subs, tops, stands, run wires, tape up the wires, set up the light truss, lights, etc. Not necessarily the good time I had envisioned, and of course there was no money in it - it was just a favor for some friends. It was pretty fun dressing up in my Miami Vice white suit and dancing/drinking/etc. though!
It gets quicker the more often you do it. Set up some tunes first and the rest of the work seems to go faster. Organization is key for a quick setup, so are Velcro cat tongues and this guy :http://www.gaffgun.com/. I don't have one or have a particular use for one but I really, really want one.