Live@Work 20_CW46 - Music and media workshop 2023

It's been three years since I reported on the music and media workshop. A lot has happened in the meantime - both in terms of our equipment and our concept. So, I thought maybe there are a few things that might interest you. If you like, you can take a look at the report from last time:

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Live@Work 20_KW47 - Music ann medua workshop starting online

In Sachen-Anhalt, the corona case numbers were still quite relaxed in mid-October. For this reason we did not cancel our annual "Musik- und Medienworkshop". Of course in a much smaller form and without spectators. Read in this report more about the project and what tally lights have to do with DMXControl.

nutzer99

November 20, 2020 at 3:00 PM

What is the MMWS?

First of all, what is the music and media workshop anyway? It's about giving young people the opportunity to find their talents in different areas. There are various musical workshops to gain band experience (piano, guitar, bass, drums, singing), or media technology (photo, video, sound, and lighting technology). All participants improve their skills. Some are taking part for the first time, and some have been there for so long that they are now speakers. I, for example, was once a participant and now mainly take care of the technology.

The whole project takes place in the Protestant secondary school in Haldensleben. The school building is being completely transformed. Bedrooms and rehearsal rooms are being set up in the classrooms, the PC rooms are being converted into a media room, the library is being turned into a relaxation area for the participants and a stage is being built in the bare school auditorium to accommodate up to ten musicians and their instruments.

The technical overview

As this is a forum for lighting technology, I will limit myself to the relevant topics. If you are interested in other topics such as sound, video, or livestream, please write to me.

First of all, what kind of equipment have we installed this year?

Front light

• 6x Varytec LED Theater Spot 100 3000K
• 8x Involight Slimpar 1212

Effect light

• 6x Involight FX1912 wash light
• 10x Varytec Herospot 230
• 6x Eurolite ABL Strobe
• 2x DJPower DSK-1500V
• 1x Stairville HZ1500
• 6x Movingbar 12x40W (China stuff)

Anyone who has read through the old article on the MMWS will notice that there are fewer devices this year. But that doesn't make the whole thing any worse. On the contrary, I personally am very satisfied with the result.

Control system

The beta version of DMXControl 3.3 was used. Six DMX universes (2,400 channels) were output - primarily because we operated the ABL strobes in 148-channel mode.

In order to be able to control the whole thing live, we used two touchscreens as screens and a Behringer X-Touch (midi controller) and the XKE40 from xkeys.

The DMXC project comprised 140 cuelists and 240 connection sets. But why so many cuelists for so few lamps? We came up with a modular system where we could combine everything, we wanted live. We didn't build any ready-made lighting scenes, chorus, verse, or anything else, but built a separate cuelist for each feature that we wanted to control. So, you can decide live how it should look. If you want to find out more, you can watch Stefan's video series "Club show with DMXControl 3". He has set up his example project in a similar way in this video series.

New light operators

During the four days of the workshop, the participants were given an overview of the devices, how they work and what great moods can be created with them. There was not enough time here for an in-depth look at DMXControl 3. We therefore usually prepare the DMXC project and only change things like the positions or movements. Or there are still requests from the participants, in which case we program them on site.

The software is too complex to quickly build a new project and develop it with the participants. That used to be my wish, but I quickly realized that you quickly lose the participants. The learning curve is very steep, especially at the beginning.

The beta version thing

Yes, working with a beta version that is still being actively worked on is always something of a challenge. Especially when everything works under laboratory conditions but somehow no longer works on site.

We upgraded the project to the latest beta version and then made some changes to the project. However, there were a few bugs in this version that regularly caused the entire software to crash. The only solution was to go back to the last stable version. To do this, however, we had to reinstall all the adjustments that we had made in the new beta version. The project could not be loaded in the old version.

Why am I telling you this? Sometimes people ask why we take so long to release and why we don't offer a public beta, etc. Some bugs only come to light when larger projects and longer runtimes are used and it's really, really, really frustrating when problems occur in live situations that you can only reverse with difficulty. Our beta tests are designed to protect you from slipping into the same situations. I do this because I know I have enough time on the project to come up with a plan B.

Funfact

The technology workshop, and therefore the stage, was in the school atrium. This is a large room with a large, windowed roof area. During testing at night, all the spotlights were pointed upwards - in the color green. The next day we were asked that the clouds in the sky were strikingly green. You could see this clearly from the bedrooms. Unfortunately, nobody took a photo of it. The Herospots have a decent output. You can't complain about that.

Conclusion

You never stop learning. I sometimes have the feeling that I'm a participant in the workshop myself. I've been attending for ten years now. Every year there are new insights for me too. The event has turned out really well. It's always good to have a plan B. Especially when you take a risk with a new beta version.

Let's see when the next report on this project will be published. Take a look at the livestream that we produced as the final product. All the trades show what they have worked on over the days.

Bandgottesdienst 2023

Die Ergebnisse des Musik- und Medienworkshops 2023 werden im Bandgottesdienst live aus der Evangelischen Sekundarschule Haldensleben präsentiert.0:20 Countdo...

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Best regards,

Nutzer99