Them Elipsoidal Reflector Spotlight Blues
Last night I worked the Congressional Blues Festival and it had some pretty good music. And I don't generally care for the blues so take it as a good endorsement.
Not much by way of spectacular happened, a far too long work day with plenty of heavy lifting and practically no chance to sit down. There are a couple little stories, notable for the irony if nothing else. Some background info: we got a new board last week that uses a Hog 1000 operating system. This is good since the Hog OS is one of the main industry standards for lighting, now I just have to learn to operate the damn thing. So I was working with another lighting tech named Phil who I've worked with a few times in the past. A ways through the night last night a woman in her mid-40s came up behind us with the tell tale signs of being a bit sloshed and happily talkative. She asked us if we had had the chance to get any food (this was well after the buffets had closed down). We said that we had gotten some, not saying that we could sure go for some more since it was pretty obvious that she couldn't help us there. She says that that's good, sound technicians are always under-appreciated. Phil and I looked at each other for a second, then he says that he knows someone who's even less thought of, lighting techs. At this she shook her head and said, "No, you need the sound techs to make this work, it wouldn't be possible without them." At this point the sun had gone down and there was a beautiful light look on the stage. Phil sighed a bit and told her that she had just proven his point for him. She walked away looking a little confused. Isn't it good to be loved. The other thing was the event producer coming over to us and saying that he needs the lights to be doing more and getting the crowd worked up and rowdy. Then the band on stage launches into a very slow tempo blues song. Phil and I started to ask each other "how rowdy can they get to this music" then stopped and took a moment to contemplate the meaning of stupidity.
I think I do need to get some shirts made up that say "Not the Sound Guy" and "Not the DJ." You wouldn't believe how many song requests I get. And last night some one came up to me and told me that the mix needed more snare drum. Now if you know enough about sound to be able to pick that out, wouldn't you have some basic idea of what a sound board looks like? Perhaps like the seven foot long console that was less than five feet away from me?
There's my rant for the day. Now I have that feeling where you've been up working all the previous day and then get woken up by construction across the street at far too early a time. So I'll try to wake up fully and then head to the DMV later and try to get the new car thing sorted out.
Peace.
Not much by way of spectacular happened, a far too long work day with plenty of heavy lifting and practically no chance to sit down. There are a couple little stories, notable for the irony if nothing else. Some background info: we got a new board last week that uses a Hog 1000 operating system. This is good since the Hog OS is one of the main industry standards for lighting, now I just have to learn to operate the damn thing. So I was working with another lighting tech named Phil who I've worked with a few times in the past. A ways through the night last night a woman in her mid-40s came up behind us with the tell tale signs of being a bit sloshed and happily talkative. She asked us if we had had the chance to get any food (this was well after the buffets had closed down). We said that we had gotten some, not saying that we could sure go for some more since it was pretty obvious that she couldn't help us there. She says that that's good, sound technicians are always under-appreciated. Phil and I looked at each other for a second, then he says that he knows someone who's even less thought of, lighting techs. At this she shook her head and said, "No, you need the sound techs to make this work, it wouldn't be possible without them." At this point the sun had gone down and there was a beautiful light look on the stage. Phil sighed a bit and told her that she had just proven his point for him. She walked away looking a little confused. Isn't it good to be loved. The other thing was the event producer coming over to us and saying that he needs the lights to be doing more and getting the crowd worked up and rowdy. Then the band on stage launches into a very slow tempo blues song. Phil and I started to ask each other "how rowdy can they get to this music" then stopped and took a moment to contemplate the meaning of stupidity.
I think I do need to get some shirts made up that say "Not the Sound Guy" and "Not the DJ." You wouldn't believe how many song requests I get. And last night some one came up to me and told me that the mix needed more snare drum. Now if you know enough about sound to be able to pick that out, wouldn't you have some basic idea of what a sound board looks like? Perhaps like the seven foot long console that was less than five feet away from me?
There's my rant for the day. Now I have that feeling where you've been up working all the previous day and then get woken up by construction across the street at far too early a time. So I'll try to wake up fully and then head to the DMV later and try to get the new car thing sorted out.
Peace.