Dance Floor Monograms – Your Name in Lights
A new fun extra that many DJs are offering is the dance floor monogram or “Name in Lights”. Normally the dance floor is the largest space during a wedding reception or corporate party that is not decorated. You can add your touch to the dance floor with your “Name in Lights”.
The is also called a dance floor Gobo. “Gobo” is a term from theatrical lighting for a pattern insert that fits into a particular style of light. The light can be focused so the pattern can been shown on the floor or a wall.
At live events a traditional gobo can still be used, however, gobos are very limited. How this is done most of the time now is with a data projector mounted on a stand or truss.
Some data projectors can accept a USB device with an image file to project, others will have a DVD player or computer playing video of the image. The big advantage to using the data projector method over a gobo is color. For a traditional gobo to have color it must be made of glass. Gobos need to be custom made and shipped.
Using a data projector allows for the image to be made on any computer and then projected. Not only does this allow for any last minute changes, but it also means that it won’t get lost in shipping or arrive late.
Corporate or charity parties can also benefit from having their logo on the dance floor.
Professional lighting compaines are just starting to introduce special light fixtrues that allow for small gobos to be made on clear plastic and then shown. These lights use a bright LED as their light source. When these lights begin to ship and I can get one I’ll post a review.
If you are getting married, and it is your special day, why not have your “Name in Lights”?
Up Lighting – What and Why
I’ve been asked to explaing the “What” and “Why” of “Up Lighting”, so here we go…
Up Lighting on Drape
This may sound elementary, but “up lighting” is when lights are shown “up” an object so that it is illuminated from the bottom up. While that may not sound very interesting it is a very nice effect. if you look at famous building, like the Kennedy Center is Washington, D.C. or many other building they have up lighting to help you see the building at night. Also, many landscapers include up lighting of trees to help them be seen. So, why use up lighting at an event? Good question.
Up lighting is commonly used in a ballroom during dancing to give the room color. At a wedding reception after dinner the room lights are dimmed for the DJ and the dance floor is filled with light. If there is not any uplighing even the most attractive walls tend to look grey and boring. With up lighting you can add color (or even change colors) to the walls, the potted plants and the room features, such as columns.
So up lighting is a way to add the walls as a part of the decor and ambiance even after the room lights are dimmed. With most up lighting you select the color and it is placed around the room so when the lights are dimmed it will stand out. Some up lighting will set the color of the light to change over time, the lights may “scroll” through the colors slowly so that every 10 seconds the color changes to the next.
If you are considering up lighting be sure that the lights are of the newer LED type. These lights stay cool to the touch even after they have been on for hours. Not only will they not add heat to the room (very important in Phoenix where we are located) but also won’t burn anyone if they are touched for any reason (children seem to be attraced to up lights, nobody knows why).
Up Lighting Adds Color
Up lights are usually an affordable way to add color to a room and to “make it your own”. Many DJs offer up lights and an add-on to their services, if that company is not also your DJ many won’t just deliver the lights or they may charge you for delivery, setup and take down.
One thing to keep in mind, is that the light that we see is what bounces off of a surface, such as a wall, so if the ballroom walls are not a neutral color the up light may not be exactly what you want. This is normally not a big problem, but depending on the room, it is something to keep in mind.
Wireless Microphone Primer
At many events it would be inconvient to have a cord streatching from the microphone back to the PA System. This is especially true at weddings where the best man and maid of honor toast the bride and groom. If the head table is at one end of the room and the DJ table (with the PA system) is at the other end of the room you would have a long wire streatching across the dance floor!
Wireless microphones are a great technology for events, they allow the person with the microphone to roam free while still being heard. There are a couple of types of microphones that are commonly used as wireless microphones and there are a couple of different ways that technology makes the microphone wireless. So, let begin…
The two most common descriptions of microphones are “handheld” and “lapel”. There are many different types of microphones but most fall into one of these two catagories.
A “handheld” microphone is just that, it is normally about the size of a flashlight and is held in the hand. Most handheld microphones fall into two additonal catagories: dynamic and condenser. The thing to note is that “dynamic” microphones sound much louder and better the closer they are to the person’s mouth. This is not as true with “condensor” microphones, but a good rule of thumb is that when you are speaking into a handheld microphone keep it close to your mouth. Resting the end of the microphone on your chin, with the microphone pointed up is a good way to do this. But be careful, in some wireless handheld microphones the antenna is at the bottom. With these microphones if you have your hand at the bottom you will block some of the radio signal.
The other main type of wireless microphone is “lapel” these are little microphones that usually have clips and the clip to the lapel of a man’s jacket. This style of microphones can be seen on news programs where people are being intereviewed. A lapel mic is usually very small, about the size of a pencil eraser, with a cord that lead to the battery pack. The battery pack is normally about the size of a deck of cards. Most battery packs have a clip so it can be worn on a belt.
A few things to keep in mind…
Switches – most wireless microphones have at least one switch. This switch can turn the microphone on or off and sometimes “mute”. When the microphone is “muted” it is still on but it is not transmitting the sound. When you are asked to use a wireless microphone ask the person if you need to touch any switches before you start talking. It is best to have the microphone on and not muted so that you don’t have to remember what switch does what.
Power – wireless microphones are powered by AA batteries or 9 volt batteries. A fresh set of batteries should last for a few hours. Always insist that new batteries are used to start your event.
Frequencies – a wireless microphone transmits to a receiver over a particular radio frequency. Because there are a lot of things that use radio frequencies (security radios, computers, radio stations, TV stations, etc.) sometimes there is interference between something else and the wireless microphone.
This brings us to the other two types of wireless microphones, ones that have a “fixed” frequency and ones that are “frequency agile”. If the microphone has a single fixed frequency and there is something else that is interfering, that wireless microphone may not be able to be used. More expensive (professional) wireless microphones let you adjust the frequency that they use, they are “agile” in the their frequency can be changed. Both handheld and lapel microphone can be “frequency agile”.
So, if you are planning an event with wireless microphones decide which is best between a handhel (easy to pass between people or have on a mic stand) or a lapel (great for a single person), or both. Remember that frequency agile wireless microphones are more flexible and can in most cases work around any problems with other radio sources at your location.
If you have any wireless microphone questions, please let me know and I’ll feature it in a future blog.
Basic Sound
Just about every event requires some type of “sound reinforcement” from a “public address” or “PA System”, even a boom box can be considered a very basic PA system. Every PA system has at minimum 3 basic components: 1) something that makes or collects sound, 2) something that amplifies the sound, 3) something that allows you to hear the amplified sound. Let’s take a look at each of these one at a time.
1) Something that makes or collects sound – This is usually a microphone (sound collector) or it could be an MP3/iPod (something that makes sound). Microphone capture sound by converting the movements of the air into electrical signals. CD players, iPods, etc. use a computer to read recorded data and turn that data into electrical signals.
2) Something that amplifies the sound – The electrical signals captured by a microphone or generated by an iPod are too small to drive a speaker loud enough to be of any use, so we need an amplifier to take the small electrical signals and make them bigger. Amplifiers come in all shapes and sizes. An amplifier can be in a box by itself or included into a speaker (powered speaker) or into a mixing board (powered mixer). There are actually a couple different classes of amplifiers, “pre-amps” and “power amps”. A pre-amp takes a very small signal and makes it big enough for the power amp to make it even bigger.
3) Something that allows you to hear the amplified sound – These are usually speakers. Again, speakers come in all shapes and sizes. One thing to note, headphones (and earbuds) typically use a “pre-amp” signal and should not be connected to a power amp. Speakers take the electrical signal from the power amp and using a magnet and a coil turn the electrical signal back into physical motion. As the signal changes it causes the speaker cone to move, as the cone moves it pushes the air in a way that we hear it as sound.
Just a quick word about feedback – feedback is the howl that you sometimes hear when a person has a microphone at an event. Feedback is caused when the sound from the microphone goes through the amp and out of the speakers, but then back into the microphone again. When this happens we hear a howl. So, if you have a microphone stay out of the way or behind the speakers.
Of course PA systems are a lot more complicated than these three basic elements, but those are the basics. I’ll get into more detail about PA system or PA system components in a later blog. Contact me if you have something specific that you want me to write about.
Dave Fraedrich
About
This blog will be about the technology that is used to make events happen, from large to small, from weddings to corporate events. All “Event Tech” is fair game from PA systems to HD video and everything inbetween. From time to time I may review a new piece of gear but mostly I will focus on technology concepts and how we at Great Events Arizona put these technologies to use.
If you have any “Event Tech” questions or have any suggestions for an article please let me know.
