paulears Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 ..... and after all that, you still want to use a computer with minimal rehearsal. I know if it was me, I'd get a dep in pronto. Do you have a PA that sounds like your drummer - let alone software or hardware that sounds like real drums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwents Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 Trust Me as a Dj that uses a laptop at least four times a week for various functions they do crash I have a main laptop a back up a ipod and cds just in case.it takes several months of tweaking to get it right strimming laptop down to bear functions before it becomes stable enough to use proffesionally. I would look at a few of the dj forums about using laptops there is a lot of good ideas on the subject without sounding negative to the blue room dj's tend to use laptops a lot more than the users on here so ask the experts.bet youd never thought you see that comment on the blue room !A dj an expert on sound " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 To give an opposing view: I work mainly in theatre with some corporate stuff added on. I converted my playback system from a mix of CD and MD to computer in 2002--I designed a theatre show then that used a mix of computer and MD cues, saw the advantage of the computer and, from the next show onwards used only a computer. In the intervening 7 years, I have not lost a single cue to computer problems--and I certainly cannot say that about CDs and Minidisks. (At this point I'm touching wood a lot--pride goeth before a fall and all that!) As for setting up the computer for sound work, I don't do anything special--but I am very careful about not using my sound computer for other things--no Internet, firewalls, games, etc. etc. when working sound. My old system was a stand along desktop tower that just did sound. Nowadays, it's a laptop on which I've set up a dual boot: Vista for day to day stuff and XP for live playback. The XP is set up to load only the processes I need and nothing more. It goes without saying that I use a professional grade sound interface rather than the built in rubbish. Now, for a temporary gig like the OP mentions, it's unlikely he'll want to set up a laptop specifically for sound playback and, in that circumstance, maybe CD would be better--or a dep better still for reasons already given. However, for reference, computer playback of audio is a well developed and reliable science if you do it right. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 I suspect much is just the breath holding hoping hitting the space bar actually does something. We did a Chuckle Brothers show this week with a 4 minute video sequence on a laptop - and it worked absolutely fine, but for some reason, despite having the computer kit in the rack, even with a rackmount, pullout screen - the last complex show with tracks, I bottled out and used MD. I'm sure it would have been fine, and I'm just biased. Like Bob says, they can easily be reliable enough - I guess it's just the operator worrying too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 Taking this a bit OT, but.... If it's the space bar worrying you, we've started to drop that out of the equation. For the last show I worked, video and sound playback was triggered by MIDI from the Pro6 mixer and the only time I had to touch the computer was at the start and end to boot it/shut it down. Worked a treat and not a single hiccup over a 2 week run. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 I work mainly in theatre ... I have not lost a single cue to computer problems+1 I've had one hiccough through my not following my own rules about running what you tested with but it was a glitch with the houselights up. But..... you cant just turn up with any old computer that has everything and its mother loaded onto it and expoect it to not be difficult; my show computer is configured for the job, and runs very little stuff, no virus checker, no auto updates, and is only connecteds to the internet through a harware firewall and then for very restricted stuff. I never liked the space bar for a go button, and now use a Frontier AlphaTrack, even though most of its buttons and stuff do nothing, it's ergonomically a nice fit in my operation space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lamplighter Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 Continuing in the same OT vein, when I moved over to computer I went for my long esablished Minidisc practice, a diecast box with decent buttons and a keyboard chip to use USB. It was easy to make and showed how far along the way computer keyboards have moved since I built my PS2 box for Minidisc.Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johndenim Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Also, if your gig is on Friday, around 8 o'clock, make sure the virus checker is disabled. Been there, done that........... Ditto, and don't forget to turn off the wifi if it's enabled.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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