Hey everyone, I have a rather confounding problem, I guess I lack the experience to even fathom an answer for it.
Two nights ago, I ran lights for PJCs jazz band, and most of the time the band director wants a bright, static look which is fine for the most part, just boring, but the players kept insisting on some light F/X, which got me all in a tizzy. The director agreed after a band meeting, and I got to work making the best effects I could. The show was great, everyone loved it, standing ovations all around, and the director was really pleased at the performance.
After the show, he comes up to me and asks if I could somehow sync the effects with the beats of the band. (I can't do it manually, with all the time changes, tempo swings, retards, improv solos, really long pieces, etc.)
So I ask the sound guy if he knows anything about that, and he says something about MIDI Show Control. I don't know much about it, or how I could use it, so there's my question. What would I need to do something like that? Devices? Software? Any books on the subject? I'll take all the help I can get.
(the only stuff we have in the booth at present is an ETC Express 48/96, a sound laptop with some editing and recording software, an Echo AudioFire4 which has MIDI, I'm pretty sure, a soundboard, and the whole band is miked.)
Thanks for any help I might get!
Two nights ago, I ran lights for PJCs jazz band, and most of the time the band director wants a bright, static look which is fine for the most part, just boring, but the players kept insisting on some light F/X, which got me all in a tizzy. The director agreed after a band meeting, and I got to work making the best effects I could. The show was great, everyone loved it, standing ovations all around, and the director was really pleased at the performance.
After the show, he comes up to me and asks if I could somehow sync the effects with the beats of the band. (I can't do it manually, with all the time changes, tempo swings, retards, improv solos, really long pieces, etc.)
So I ask the sound guy if he knows anything about that, and he says something about MIDI Show Control. I don't know much about it, or how I could use it, so there's my question. What would I need to do something like that? Devices? Software? Any books on the subject? I'll take all the help I can get.
(the only stuff we have in the booth at present is an ETC Express 48/96, a sound laptop with some editing and recording software, an Echo AudioFire4 which has MIDI, I'm pretty sure, a soundboard, and the whole band is miked.)
Thanks for any help I might get!