I have to agree with Tim. After 4 years in the concert business, there wasn't a single job where I could have made any more money if I'd brought my own
Express along... and there were very few times when I would have made a penny off a better
console. If you just own the
console... the rest of the lighting rig has to come from somewhere, and it will usually be cheaper for the promoter to rent the
console with the rest of the rig (AND give them a
console that the touring LD or PM won't snicker at... which is a concern in concert lighting.) than it will be for the promoter to pay YOU a fair price for just the
console and still have to pay the rental shop for the rest of the rig. I've run a couple of shows off my laptop using
magicQ, but it didn't make me a dollar - I just preferred it to whatever the rental company had brought along for the particular task I had to get done that day.
The
express is NOT designed for the demands of live concert production - it gives you lots of sliders, which makes it adequate for running a small
conventional rig, but it's a bare basics board. The moving light controls, while there, are limiting when you need to program fast. I don't even recommend the
Express for small
theatre installs any more, but a lot of people do like them for that.
Any job that's going to hire you as a
programmer is going to have a
console to offer. If you want to use your own
console, it needs to be a big step UP from what the tour or festival rental company has to offer, and the
express is the bottom of the
line. It's a solid bottom of the
line console that has some uses, but it's still not a serious concert lighting
console. If you're serious about getting your own control gear, I'd look into either
MagicQ, or one of the Hog or GrandMA on PC solutions. You could
purchase an
Enttec Pro
dongle for less than $200 and have
MagicQ working on your laptop. (I don't recommend the
Enttec Open
dongle, which is much cheaper, for use with
MagicQ. There are visible stutters, particularly when working with moving lights. But the pro
dongle works fine and the mini-wing runs around $1500.. so still cheaper than you can
purchase that
Express... and then you'll be using a full featured top of the
line moving light
console instead of a two-generations-ago theatrical
console that's really designed for theatres just stepping up from a two-scene
preset to a memory board. The full
Wing for the
MagicQ PC software runs around 3500 actually... so this would also be in your price range and give you a LOT more
console... if you've already got a PC you can use... The
MagicQ wings may give you
dmx outs(it's been a while since I looked into them), negating the need for the pro
dongle, but it's a handy gizmo to have around in my experience anyway... I haven't priced control surfaces for the GrandMA or Hog PC versions, but they exist, and you should look into them as well before deciding what you want to own.
What equipment are you learning on at Full Sail? And have you talked to your instructors about the deal on the
express, and asked them what THEY'D recommend you invest that money into to help your career? I'd personally get a pro
dongle, a mini
wing, and two of my own headsets - one featherlight for
theatre and one double-muff for concerts.
But opinions may vary...
Art Whaley
Art Whaley Design