Device Information needed for Stage Show that can remotely change sound FX / Songs

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jonathan Chase on September 6, 2010 at 8:16am

Think like a pro, and you stand a better chance of actually becoming one. And it's Not just about whether you make a living, that's easy and lets face it the majority of hypnotists do that and nothing else, ever.

Lets however presume you have Ambition to become a Star.

If the venue, booker can't afford to pay me and for my staff then I'll happily pass the thing over to one of the making a living guys. In which case it doesn't matter if you are using an iPod, mobile phone or whistling.

If I have to travel my expenses are charged separately from the performance fee.

If I suspect that the venue may not have the staff/equipment I supply my own. I use my own anyway mostly.

Guess the difference is do you want to look and charge like a hypno-karaoke or go to the next level and look and get paid as a star?

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Justin James on September 6, 2010 at 8:25am

Hmmmm... Ok The 2 company's that made equipment were Virtual Soundman and Showtech
Virtual Soundman made what is called an Ique 2 and it was and is an amazing product... I have had one for years... Kelly went out of business when Apple would not allow them to use the product with the new devices ... I.E. The Touch I phone and what not and I am sure they had some other issues as well...
Many Magicians and Professional Stage Hypnotists working the strip here in Vegas full time use them even now...

Sound Tech makes equipment as well and truth be told there product is good and loaded with features... LOTS of features... which is actually the problem... The equipment can be over complicated for a stage show... however if you want to fire off fog and lazers then very cool........


Now the equipment you get from best buy well you get what you pay for..... Here is the problem... Most of the remotes are IR so if you are in a bright light situation they do not work well if you are not close up and directly pointed at them.... Also they shut off when not used for more then 60 sec (Normally) and so your first button press may fail in a show situation... Also if using with professional equipment may have some sort of beep or click..... Trust me when I say you really don't want some stupid beep to preempt all of your skits......

RF remotes are the only way to go.. Again in most cases. There are things that make them nice for home use that really show up as faults when you are using them for a show.... Logitech makes a very nice one that works it even has a display screen that shows name and track number.... However it shuts off and makes a nasty beep... (and with 25,000 watts of sound at a venue no one wants to hear that...... Never mind the fact that it has a lot of buttons that are not useful unless of course you accidentally hit one ands screw up your show...

Using the computer.... Setting the laptop up on stage is ok... you are running the sound through the laptops sound card so... Ehhhh ok sound for small shows.... still the same problem with most remotes although apples remote for their laptops is not bad.... just dont let the computer go to sleep while you are on stage....... Also Make sure it is in a secure area...

I have seen equipment smashed to the floor several times by idiots, outdoors you have heat and dust to contend with and you always have the possibility of theft......





If you do use a laptop.... Go pro... Get a apple powerbook... and add some equipment such as...
Prosounus Firebox.... (External pro level sound card)
2 Direct D I boxes...
Appropriate 1/4 inch or XLR cables...

That way you can plug in and when you turn up the volume you sound good and people can see you know what you are doing....... Also if you are planning on being more then a hobbyist and go to a real venue you will be able to connect to their equipment...

Walk in anywhere and tell them you want to hook your ipod up... LOL....

As for Johnathan Chase.... Johnathan obviously has a very special setup and a level of luxury that most can not afford...

Our shows come in three flavors...

ME..

ME and crew... (Stage assistant and Camera Man)


ME, Crew and Production.... (Dancers and opening acts)


Those are three very different prices....

Many cases I hire staff on site... Camera and Stage assistant can be had for 25, to 50 each... Easy...


Teaching some shmuck my cues 5 minutes before a show because they were late or you can go down a list of stupidity as to the screwups that can happen and that is when you look amateur...

Cost management is everything... plane fare to a venue 300. car rental 100 food 100. (I like to eat)

There is 500.00 now add on Camera Assistant and Sound...... You are now up to 2000.00 in up front costs never mind the always unforeseen ones.....

Venues here will pick up hotel.... Sometimes dinner the night of the show...

I have a few that will cover Air, Hotel, Transportation, and food...... (Those are the amazing ones)


The rest have budgets......


Now a few people on this site work the fair circuit...

Not too many do Corporate, College, or PAC...

And there are only a couple on here occasionally that work the Casino market.....

Personally with the current market the way it is if you can afford a large staff... My hats is off to you....

For anyone else I would recommend that you find and invest in good tech it will last for years and knowing that you have control of yours skits, timing and volume is simply amazing


Justin James

www.thehypnosiscompany.com
www.justinjames.us
www.safeonstage.com

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jonathan Chase on September 6, 2010 at 9:53am

I believe this there is another thread from this.. I'll call it Why you don't get paid enough.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ian Collins on September 6, 2010 at 10:48am

Jonathan I absolutely understand your point of view but this point of view is applicable to somehow professional market.
If we consider facts of historical changes in my country etc- then we may come to the conclusion that the market is simply underdeveloped.
I absolutely agree when I am thinkng about UK market etc.
But again- different country and different problems.

Of course it's not an excuse from "professional thinking". But in some cases you may become an unemployed professional. Very true to my country.
So we may come to the conclusion that in some situations rules proposed by you have to be slightly changed.
OF COURSE- having a soundman and working the way you propose LOOKS really professional and I would follow your advice.
But I would be stubborn here. In Poland (and I guess some other new Euopean Union pretending countries) it may simply not work.
As a performer I used to be literally pissed off 1000 of times because of things I mentioned in my previous post.
But at the end of the day- I had to take care about what I do and adapt my skills and show to the market.
If I can not "force the market" to be professional- I need to find a way.

Again Jonathan- I absolutely agree with your point of view. It looks far far better when you are not "one man orchestra" and simply focus on your show only.
But as a pro- we must be ready for "surprises".

I have spend a lot of time in Canada, UK, now Germany, Sweden, Austria. I was always amazed by differences and I am happy to see that many venue owners learn here.
But there is always something and it's usually related to money.

Can you believe that my "price" which was not so high has taken 50 percent of the whole city event?
Small city and those guys were creating a festival out of nothing! With 1000GPB in a pocket!
Isn't that crazy???
That is Poland:)

I guess the soundman was working for 5GPB a day. I do not know. Or for free.
I simply can not imagine such thing but I have seen it done.

Different market- different rules. Sometimes we need to find a different way without destroying our reputation.
And the choice is- if we do that by ourselves it may be better show than without our self-sufficiency.

As a final thought:
If you can avoid operating lights and sound and focus on your show only- DO THAT.
It looks more pro.

But be always prepared. Well prepared and ready.
Be PRO>

Take Care


Jonathan Chase said:

Think like a pro, and you stand a better chance of actually becoming one. And it's Not just about whether you make a living, that's easy and lets face it the majority of hypnotists do that and nothing else, ever.

Lets however presume you have Ambition to become a Star.

If the venue, booker can't afford to pay me and for my staff then I'll happily pass the thing over to one of the making a living guys. In which case it doesn't matter if you are using an iPod, mobile phone or whistling.

If I have to travel my expenses are charged separately from the performance fee.

If I suspect that the venue may not have the staff/equipment I supply my own. I use my own anyway mostly.

Guess the difference is do you want to look and charge like a hypno-karaoke or go to the next level and look and get paid as a star?

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jonathan Chase on September 6, 2010 at 1:03pm

I disagree Ian,

Are you telling me no-one in Poland makes money?

Look it's like this. If you do one job you get to be very good at it. If you do two then you will be so-so. You do three ....


Ian Collins said:

Jonathan I absolutely understand your point of view but this point of view is applicable to somehow professional market.
If we consider facts of historical changes in my country etc- then we may come to the conclusion that the market is simply underdeveloped.
I absolutely agree when I am thinkng about UK market etc.
But again- different country and different problems.

Of course it's not an excuse from "professional thinking". But in some cases you may become an unemployed professional. Very true to my country.
So we may come to the conclusion that in some situations rules proposed by you have to be slightly changed.
OF COURSE- having a soundman and working the way you propose LOOKS really professional and I would follow your advice.
But I would be stubborn here. In Poland (and I guess some other new Euopean Union pretending countries) it may simply not work.
As a performer I used to be literally pissed off 1000 of times because of things I mentioned in my previous post.
But at the end of the day- I had to take care about what I do and adapt my skills and show to the market.
If I can not "force the market" to be professional- I need to find a way.

Again Jonathan- I absolutely agree with your point of view. It looks far far better when you are not "one man orchestra" and simply focus on your show only.
But as a pro- we must be ready for "surprises".

I have spend a lot of time in Canada, UK, now Germany, Sweden, Austria. I was always amazed by differences and I am happy to see that many venue owners learn here.
But there is always something and it's usually related to money.

Can you believe that my "price" which was not so high has taken 50 percent of the whole city event?
Small city and those guys were creating a festival out of nothing! With 1000GPB in a pocket!
Isn't that crazy???
That is Poland:)

I guess the soundman was working for 5GPB a day. I do not know. Or for free.
I simply can not imagine such thing but I have seen it done.

Different market- different rules. Sometimes we need to find a different way without destroying our reputation.
And the choice is- if we do that by ourselves it may be better show than without our self-sufficiency.

As a final thought:
If you can avoid operating lights and sound and focus on your show only- DO THAT.
It looks more pro.

But be always prepared. Well prepared and ready.
Be PRO>

Take Care


Jonathan Chase said:

Think like a pro, and you stand a better chance of actually becoming one. And it's Not just about whether you make a living, that's easy and lets face it the majority of hypnotists do that and nothing else, ever.

Lets however presume you have Ambition to become a Star.

If the venue, booker can't afford to pay me and for my staff then I'll happily pass the thing over to one of the making a living guys. In which case it doesn't matter if you are using an iPod, mobile phone or whistling.

If I have to travel my expenses are charged separately from the performance fee.

If I suspect that the venue may not have the staff/equipment I supply my own. I use my own anyway mostly.

Guess the difference is do you want to look and charge like a hypno-karaoke or go to the next level and look and get paid as a star?

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jonathan Chase on September 6, 2010 at 2:30pm

Hey James,

I really do see your point, but then I don't.

Okay try a different tack.

Instead of a roadie hire a decent looking assistant, plenty of wannabe unemployed actor types around. Not only do you get someone to do your sound but a foil to bounce some routines off.

James Szeles said:

Jonathan, when I'm going from New York to L.A. to do a gig I can fly my equipment with me and have to hope that they have what I've asked for in my contract. There use to be a few hypnotist working the states that had a tour bus but found that the time it takes to get from state to state, up to four days is not worth the gas and time and sold their bus. Vegas use to be a good gig until all the indian casinos that opened in most states has made Vegas near impossible to make a living. England is a much smaller area to cover my car and I could see brining a road manage with me. That is why a good remote controlled sound system is a must for a hypnotist working the road here. I still say a good ShowTec is worth it's weight in gold. You can set it up in the next room and not only control your sound but lights as well. A good sound system should be RF controlled and not line of site IR systems like an Ipod.
James

Jonathan Chase said:

I'm going to get slammed here but, here goes.....

In my opinion only a rank amateur needs to bother doing anything with their sound. Your road manager or the venue sound engineer does that.

If you can't afford that then you either are not charging enough or you are 'playing' at being professional.

Goes to find a nice safe corner to hide in.....

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Justin James on September 6, 2010 at 2:54pm

Johnathan your commentary is without merit.... Why does anyone need a sound man to drag with them to do what??? Press start and stop???? WOW so very complicated....

When I am at Foxwoods... (The worlds Largest Casino) They have sound and light techs I walk in and plug my equipment into power and 3 XLR's (2sound and one Mike) Test levels and set up my props then go play with lights and washes till I am happy.

Outside of the fact that we are in a nasty recession here in the US and many other parts of the world are as well... Tech today has really rendered a sound or lighting technician useless...

The really funny thing about your commentary is the people who I know for a fact are clearing a very significant income in our business all have the least Staff.....

I traveled for years with a sound and lighting tech, Camera Man and Stage assist.. None of whom I was related to. Frankly hiring a local camera guy is easy and cheap... Much cheaper then putting them on a payroll Stage assistants don't cost much either......

And if you know your sound cues and can trigger them so that no one sees you pointing a remote... and those cues fade in and out professionally then who cares?????????????????

I personally perform in 600 to 3000 seat venues.. I am not doing nor do I market to (Pubs, Bars small party's)


Jason, if you are comfortable with tech then find good equipment and use it... You can not tell that I don't have someone cuing my music.....

and once you get used to controlling your own sound levels and cue times you will never go back because when you get smooth so does your show.....

And coming from a US Pro.. No one cares but you....

Plus you walk into any professional level venue and they are going to have differing equipment and their own tech.... It looks so much better when you can just plug in set your levels and run.... No worries

Justin James





James Szeles said:

Jonathan, when I'm going from New York to L.A. to do a gig I can fly my equipment with me and have to hope that they have what I've asked for in my contract. There use to be a few hypnotist working the states that had a tour bus but found that the time it takes to get from state to state, up to four days is not worth the gas and time and sold their bus. Vegas use to be a good gig until all the indian casinos that opened in most states has made Vegas near impossible to make a living. England is a much smaller area to cover my car and I could see brining a road manage with me. That is why a good remote controlled sound system is a must for a hypnotist working the road here. I still say a good ShowTec is worth it's weight in gold. You can set it up in the next room and not only control your sound but lights as well. A good sound system should be RF controlled and not line of site IR systems like an Ipod.
James

Jonathan Chase said:

I'm going to get slammed here but, here goes.....

In my opinion only a rank amateur needs to bother doing anything with their sound. Your road manager or the venue sound engineer does that.

If you can't afford that then you either are not charging enough or you are 'playing' at being professional.

Goes to find a nice safe corner to hide in.....

• ▶ Reply

▶ Reply to Discussion

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• Next ›
• Page