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Saved for future development

I'm just starting to use a DMX controller to control our band's stage lighting. There's nothing wrong with using the built in programs but they tend to be disco orientated and literally a bit too flashy for band use. Good for the audience if they are up on the dance floor but nobody wants the lights to flash off in the middle of a tricky bass run If anyone has any practical experience or tips to offer I'd be glad to hear them and I'll save the first post to try and pull together the best tips and build up a wiki/how to help people as new ideas are added.

Nah, I don't see the point in limiting oneself to a single brand, no one brand does everything the best or the way I'd want. I use pedalboard size and the fact that I only have one pedalboard to limit pedal purchases. The last time was a straight swap, TC Electronic Brainwaves out (and sold), Boss XS-1 Poly Shifter in. There's no room to keep both, nor is there any point - the Boss does the job I want to do better than the TC, the TC has tonnes of features I never use. Plus the Boss wasn't exactly cheap, so needed to sell the TC to backfill some of the expense. How many pedals is too many? Again, my arbitrary pedalboard size (because I made it myself) dictates this.

Nope, just nope....

They are great - just fill the ceiling with little red and green patterns for a fiver - whats not to like

Yeah, I've had good experiences with U'King branded led's (like the PAR's you linked to)though the ratings are a bit wild with a lot of Chinese stuff. The bulbs are all coming from China though so even the name brands are using the same bulbs. I can't see any colour saturation difference between my ADJ brand name strips and the U'king ones. What you do get with the brands is a more useful set of built in programs and consistency between production runs. I'm going to start a separate thread about DMX, it might be good if you posted the first response. I'm still taking baby steps so I can't offer too much in the way of experience.

I don’t much like U2 but I admire them for staying together and lasting the course. I saw them in 1980 and 2006 and it was the same lineup. How many bands can say that? In my diary for 1980 i described them as ‘Like Siouxsie and the Banshees, but with a bloke’…😂

It's good, isn't it? Puts me in mind of Lush.

My guess, it started as a joke and is still used in fun, but has morphed into a dig, probably shorthand for "You're taking this too seriously!"

To be fair, Adam has always been like this. I've grown up with U2 since around 83 and he has always been this very cool, intelligent, calm, thoughtful character. Not too technical but he knows his stuff and very level headed. The Edge is the technical geek, Larry is always in the shadows and Bono is Bono and exactly when you get.

I like him. He's funny, different, irreverent and behind the humour, a good player. Check out the Charles Berthoud v Danny Sapko video. He appears to be a smart guy and can play. Making a living in the bass world is a tough ask these days, so more power to him.

After trying various compressors, overdrives etc, I decided to limit myself to using Boss compact pedals only in an attempt to stop myself buying too many similar pedals. I made up a bass board: And a guitar board: And also have some pedals that I'd like add to my boards if I had more room. My 'want' list currently includes an OC-5, & RT-2 Rotary. I'm thinking about combining both boards into one big pedal - something like the harley benton spaceship power 80 should give me plenty of room. How many pedals is too many? Anyone else limit themselves to a single brand? I imagine an MXR-only board would be pretty good.

I like him a lot. Nice to see irreverent and often self deprecating stuff in an age of “I’m the best” shite.

Last night's jazz session at The Chequers in Chipping Norton was a bit cramped as they were getting large dinner bookings already. We managed to squeeze in, though. Once again the EUB was very useful; easier to find somewhere to stand for playing and I can lean it up against a wall when one of the bass guitarists who turn up wants to sit in. When they do I get a chance to inflict my jazz guitar skills (I use the term 'skill' loosely) on the audience. Though we get bassists and keyboardists turning up there are no other drummers so our regular chap has to work all night.

I could tell you what is on my desk right now, but then I might get in to a bit of trouble. I can tell you that a couple of months ago I was involved with prototype testing of a super nice 'signature model' device for a really rather well known bassist. I provided consultancy and product evaluation with cups of tea, to tweak the features to make them just right. It's important that products have a feature set that meets the needs of a wide range of players. This week I have shot an in-depth brand product feature video to go with its release... which is imminent... #BestJobInTheWorld

All good advice @Phil Starr. I've been using lights with DMX control for years and I'm happy to chat with anyone to share some lessons I've learned. For example; when thinking about DMX control it's a good idea to consider potential limitations of your controller as that can be expensive in the long run. I've had to buy a different controller several times as the one I had wasn't capable of providing the number of DMX channels required to run or get the best out of new lights I'd bought. I'm not an expert on software based DMX control but the software based system I'm using has eliminated that problem and extra expense.

If I was thinking about a new lighting setup I would go for two t-bars with four led par lights on each. If you buy something like these (see link) which I've just bought they have in built programs that you can use without a DMX controller. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008004713042.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.3.25bbVKU1VKU1Rs&algo_pvid=1bc30bb9-c2b7-480c-be00-c870d3deadb0&algo_exp_id=1bc30bb9-c2b7-480c-be00-c870d3deadb0-2&pdp_ext_f={"order"%3A"46"%2C"eval"%3A"1"%2C"fromPage"%3A"search"}&pdp_npi=6%40dis!GBP!295.38!87.73!!!295.38!87.73!%40211b819117645836065426848eb613!12000043230307734!sea!UK!0!ABX!1!0!n_tag%3A-29910%3Bd%3A32eab0d4%3Bm03_new_user%3A-29895%3BpisId%3A5000000194912328&curPageLogUid=rOphz0wl8iEz&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch|query_from%3A|x_object_id%3A1005008004713042|_p_origin_prod%3A

Great Post I think this is the right way to look at things, I rushed in as an early adopter and will at some stage replace everything once I know exactly what I'm after. I'm enjoying the experimentation and all of this stuff has decent used value but mine is not an approach I'd advise anyone else to follow, I'm just reporting the latest experiments

@ those who didn't like what I said in my last post: I'm a musician and therefore I have at least a passing interest in other musicians, and like to know about the music they play so I can either find more to hear or to know to avoid them in the future. I've just looked back through this thread and there are only one or two bass players mentioned that I hadn't heard the names of before, but when I checked out who they'd played with I found I was aware of at least some of their work. I have to admit that the late 70s and early 80s is my era for musical influences and therefore I'm well-aware of Peter Hook and what he has done. Conversely I have very little interest in post-grunge American rock (the sort of thing that is called "alt-rock" despite that fact that most of it is completely mainstream these days), but at least I know who Melissa Auf der Maur and Nate Mandel are and have heard some songs that they have played on (and have listened to enough to know that it's not to my taste). What I don't like is wilful ignorance on the part of other musicians. I don't expect people to like everything; after all what each of us finds interesting about musical styles is completely subjective, but when we all have the internet at our fingertips to claim that you don't know who a particular musician is and be proud of the fact is just stupid.

Major Tom (Coming Home) - Peter Schilling

I think to an extent you get what you pay for. These are pretty powerful lights and the ability to isolate one light on each side and use it for lighting up the stage whilst the other three in each set light up the rest of the room are worth the extra money, but only if this is the way you use them. The 40deg lamps are also a desireable feature. I don't thnk they are expensive for what you get though not cheap either., DMX is interesting, most bands probably don't use it or just use it as a way of linking lamps in pairs/groups. Having a separate DMX controller is undoubtedly better in terms of the final outcome but There's a steep learning curve and ultimately set up time. It's comparable in time and complexity with setting up a full PA system including monitors and subs and a similar learnig curve to operating the PA with a digital mixer (but slightly less intuitive). To date I've never used my controller at an actual gig. I thought DMX needed at least a separate post.