soundman said:
I was watching some concert videos and was woundering what every ones preferd method for programing was. Is it each song gets a
cue and if they break into a solo or something they are left in the dark? Or do you make each part of a song a
cue? Or do you like the rush of just making a bunch of looks and running them off subs.
Hiya,
Nice question! Ideally it would be nice if I could
cue every song and every show...but many concerts and shows are run on the fly, pressing the bump buttons like a piano keyboard for the various changes. If I get a chance to
cue each song, I
build a
base cue--usually a blue so I never go dark on
stage, and program each
submaster with various builds and changes piled on for each song (on a Hog for example). However most shows--even some large shows run by locals for visiting acts, can be run on the fly. I've done a few
arena gigs where I program a
base look of various submasters, and then run the movers on the fly. when I don't have movers--I program about 24 subs with everthing from full washes to mixes, to audience blinders to chases, and just run it on the fly as the song happens using bump buttons or the faders. Its a lot like letting your fingers do the walking. If I know the group and music--even better and I can anticipate the changes a lot closer. If I have a CD or
set-list, I can do some pre-programming of stuff, and then just
adapt it for fixtures or positions on site. Otherwise when its all on the fly--I keep time and listen to the song and watch the band members for signs they give each other for endings and stuff--which since each band is different in the signs they give each other, can be a challenge in itself. Big key in doing things like this is knowing that not every music change or
beat of the music HAS to have a lighting change. Some songs I do 2 or 4 changes--others I can do a dozen..depends on the song...and slow songs can just be deep saturated and "pretty" and stay that way til fade-out. Fun thing is when you work for a national and you are providing the local rig, and the LD is NOT running the board but instead says "do whatever" and then hands you a list of songs they want something "special" for, 30 minutes before the show starts. Then you have to crunch stuff out VERY fast before doors open...or do it all in
blind and hope you hit the
mark.
Most of the concert tours you see for large name acts however--everything is scripted and cued for the most part, with some improve done for variations and changes. Typically for shows where I am doing movers, I have my own disks for various consoles with a bunch of
base looks to
build, or a complete pallete of things, and I then just adapt positions and fixtures, so it can cut down on the programming time.
-w