I don't know
MagicQ very well, and I only occasionally do any sort of
busking, so take my advice as generic, but...
The most important thing for
busking is to really know your set up—
console, software functions, and fixtures.
Having a good
layout so that you have quick access to all of your tools from your main view.
Screen layout can matter a lot, and reducing
mouse movement between different frames (selection of channels, and what you want the channels to do) can make you a better LD by simply reducing the time it takes for you to change your looks.
I am typically on an
Ion XE20 these days (and when I busk it's a small private concert, about 20 fixtures), and I am going to assume that
MagicQ had a lot of the same features (though maybe different vocabulary). I also busk on QuickQ boards occasionally (though more often I set up for coworkers to busk on QuickQ).
The way I
build a simple busk is by making several
cue lists specific to fixtures and effects, and I put the global
effect rate and size on a couple of handles. That way having, for instance, I can layer my moving light color
chase and my moving light motion effects by having different
cue lists change different parameters.
The second most important thing is to have a home state that looks good, and you can
build off of. I have played around with different methods of this. My favorite these days is to have that look saved to a sub that is kept up during the show, that way ot never goes dark on
stage when I
clear everything else. Another way I have done this is by parking the front
wash so it literally can't be changed.
It also really helps to understand how people write music a little. Now, I am not saying I understand or have any formal training, but I have listened to a lot of music across a lot of genres, and that helps me predict when a song is about to start building or reducing, which then translates into adjusting the lights for a softer or more aggressive part even if I don't know the song.
Getting back to programming, it also is a very good idea to
build looks using
palette or presets that can be referenced by other cues or subs. That way when you find something amiss, you can adjust it once instead of hunting down every instance.
