Wednesday, February 13th, 2008
Bar Video Monitors
In the Metro Detroit area where we play there are a lot of the new flat panel LCD or Plasma type monitors replacing the old TVs. In many places these are hung on the wall behind the band becuase when the band isn't there it's a big open wall that most of the tables face anyway. These Monitors typically can accept a video signal from a computer for display.
If you have a Laptop set up either a Power Point presentation or a slide show of images if you don't have the money for Power Point which advertises your band. At the very least have a few images that show your name, the next scheduled performance at that venue and a reminder to TIP THE WAITSTAFF and the band.
This shows the staff that you are on thier team and we have had a few extra bucks tossed up to us from the statement "Suggestions are yelled out from the crowd, Requests are written on a $10.00 bill"
I don't suggest putting up other establishments that you are playing at unless you have express permission from the manager. You are essentially advertising for another club if you do that.
If you have the time, make it very extensive so that the repeat factor isn't as noticeable. Set the timing according to the slide that is displayed. I typically use about 7-20 seconds per slide. The longer time is used simply for the name of the band and the website.
I also post some of the well known songs that we know but aren't part of the nights set list. This leads the audience to "suggest" songs that you know which in turn gets the audience excited because you played "thier song" and nailed it.
Be careful that you don't leave one image or part of an image that is very bright in the same place on the screen. This can cause "Burn In" and may annoy the owner of the place to see your name still on the screen when you are long gone.
Just make sure that your text is in a slightly different position on each slide. and I recommend staying away from high contrasts such as black background with white text. I did this on our first attempt and saw our name brightly still on the screen at the end of the nightwhen the monitor was turned off. It went away after about an hour.
A couple last tips,
1- Make arrangements to go set it up and work out the details at an off time so you can get the settings correct without the pressure of setting up for your gig.
2- When using pictures these screens are typically wide aspect ratio which can leave things looking short and fat on the big screen. Check your display especially if you have photos.
3- Try to download the manual of the monitor you are hooking up to. This can save you time in the set up to match your computer resolution to the monitor resolution. Typically the computer runs at a much higher resolution that the flat panel TV/Monitor.
4- GET YOUR WEBSITE POSTED THERE!!!!
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Posted By journeymen_acoustic_duo @ 3:02 PM
Author's site: http://duojourneymen.com
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luminous_gb's comment posted March 17th @ 11:00 AM:
Even better and cooler is to use an AVJ program like Mabuse which does awesome visuals and can run loops as well. Text is no problem, and you can have it randomly flash up your info, or just jigger around the screen. We use the free version for our live sets. check it out at www.mabuse.co.uk
Commentors site: http://www.mabuse.co.uk |
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element_115's comment posted March 17th @ 11:35 AM:
We have been doing better than tapping into a video screen for 4 years. We have a video wall which displays our EXTRATERRESTRIAL DRUMMER during our concerts. We started with TVs built for stacking, and have since designed and built a free-standing video wall using nine 42" plasma screens to display AL, a drummer from another world. Check it out at Element115theband(dot)com.
Commentors site: http://www.Element115theBand.com |
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implied_logic's comment posted March 18th @ 1:52 PM:
Very well done! This is a wonderful concept, and I already have wheels spinning in my mind for venues to use this in. No one in my area has even thought of utilizing this ingeneous idea. What better way to be on the cutting edge, and add a greater dynamic to the show?
As I am a networking professional and a Web develoment student, I already have all the "toys" I need to set up an inovative display.
Thanks for the tips!
Crystal
Bassist/Founder - Implied Logic
Commentors site: http://www.impliedlogicband.com |
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