The usual dance-y goodness :D

[Pixelito]

Greetings, friends!

I’d like to start this post by apologizing for not really being around much last year. I was pretty damn sick… The few of you that saw me would probably agree with that. XD
This year shall be different! (I’m going to load up on meds, just to be sure. )

ANYWAY

I’d like to provide some DJ-based entertainment, same as every year. I’ve been working pretty hard on my DJing over the past year and would like to take a few hours, on Friday or Saturday, to throw a bit of a dance party. (of course, there will be music on the other nights as well!)

This year, I should have a /real/ PA system, not the small Hi-Fi setup that I brought along last year. Of course, this is providing that I have the money to order them…which I should, but you know how life works out sometimes. Worst case scenario: Nobody can provide a PA system and I bring the Hi-Fi setup, so we just deal with it. XD

So here is a list of what I am planning on bringing along this year:
-1 or 2 tables
-A few tarps to keep the immediate area less dusty
-Speakers
-A dedicated PA mixer, if finances allow. Otherwise, people can route their gear through my personal mixer. That’ll work just fine.
-Various cables and adapters to allow for almost any device to be plugged in.
-Plenty of water bottles to share with dancers and DJs. Staying hydrated is mega important!
-My own DJ setup (duh)
-Probably some stuff that I forgot and will add later~

I do NOT have:
-Lighting
-A generator
-Extra tarps to lay out a less-dusty dance area
-Spare mixers, controllers, computers, etc…

The most important thing needed would be a generator. If anybody can provide one for use in the afternoon/night, it would be VERY appreciated!

As for DJs, I would love to see a few people mixing some music, other than myself. Actually, I’d love to go back-to-back or even “Duel” with somebody! That would be pretty damn fun!
On the off-chance that there are NO DJs, somehow, I can go all night, every night!

Is there any member of staff that is in charge of this kinda’ stuff? If somebody is needed to coordinate DJs, answer questions, deal with the inevitable noise complaints, etc… then I am more than willing to do so! I don’t really plan on leaving the dance area if my gear is there anyway. XD

If a member of staff is already in charge of this, then can we set aside a few hours one night for me to do a huge set and throw a pretty bitch’n party?

If people have questions, comments, ideas, etc… then lemme know! I certainly prefer positive feedback though.

[Moparskunk]

I don’t believe there’s anyone in charge of nightly auditory entertainment, aside from Rileys ADP. This should totally happen, I was thinking about bringing some audio gear of my own if noone else was, but just like house speakers I no longer care about and such. There’s a small chance I may practice enough to play some stuff for an hour or so, but definitely not during any prime spots. I have some shoplight fixtures and can get blacklight bulbs for them from hanging in trees or other places. I liked where Smash had his setup a few years ago, including the direction of the speakers, it seemed to foster the least complaints from whoever around us will get their panties in a twist. I’ll also have my truck and probably randomly be bumping stuff throughout the day and see if I can get random dance flash mobs to start

[Crowley]

Smash’s location a few years back was nice, but we need something to catch low frequency noises. One idea was to park a row of cars on the opposite side of the dance “floor”.

[Beauchamp]

OH HEY GUYS I’M HERE FINALLY.
Yes, Pix, everything you have said sounds absolutely fabulous and yes, we should be able to work out a power supply situation for all the dj’s to utilize!

Talking points
-I would like anyone interested in dj’ing to chat with each other via a thread/email to coordinate what gear you guys need and can share!
-I was throwing around some ideas about the location of the dance floor. Possibly in a different area of camp. Or possibly change the direction of the speakers towards the woods to the north? Suggestions are always welcome.
-I would like to have gogo’s this year during the Saturday night dance? Because I like to #party
-I will think of other stuff as it comes up/I drink more coffee.

[Pixelito]

I liked Smash’s location as well, but I agree that we need something to catch all the lows. Parking cars on one end sounds like a perfectly reasonable idea. I imagine a number of people will be camping out at the “party” area anyway (myself included), so we could probably have enough people willing to park there.

If we went with changing the camp setup, then reversing it would probably work well. We could have the dance/party area where it was back in 2010 (where quiet camp has been recently). We’d just point the speakers toward the creek, possibly…and maybe have some cars parked in that direction for some extra noise reduction.

Either way, I fully intend to do an actual sound test this year to help ensure less noise complaints. I have no problems dealing with the rangers that have asked us to turn the volume down, but I’d rather not /have/ to. My plan is to have somebody go to various locations around camp (including middle-camp, quiet camp, by the creek and out by the road) and report in to me via radio when they can’t hear much at that location. I’ll mark those levels down on the PA mixer so that at certain times we can adjust volume to satisfy everybody the best we can…While still being able to party our furry little asses off. :3

Beau- 'Bout time you show up. :V ♥
-Shall I start a separate thread to begin some semi-(un)official-ish coordination of DJs? I’ll put my email there as well so that people can contact me directly. :3 (Actually, I’ll get it started and delete it if you don’t want me to do it. XD ) EDIT: I’ll put it in general discussion for now, but yeah.
-I agree with gogo’s. Hell, we should have a little improv-dance competition too!

[Beauchamp]

I love it! Post it in the happenings! Thanks again for spearheading this Pix! Let me know if you need anything else!

[Pixelito]

I love it! Post it in the happenings! Thanks again for spearheading this Pix! Let me know if you need anything else!

Of course~ ^,…,^

[wolflumin]

As usual, I intend to provide effects lighting so don’t worry about that. I have it covered. I feel like a tarp could be a good idea, provided it doesn’t bunch up and create a tripping hazard. Ideally, there’d be a tarp, a pad, and on top of all that, a rented actual dance floor ;p

[Pixelito]

As usual, I intend to provide effects lighting so don’t worry about that. I have it covered. I feel like a tarp could be a good idea, provided it doesn’t bunch up and create a tripping hazard. Ideally, there’d be a tarp, a pad, and on top of all that, a rented actual dance floor ;p

Lasers this year?

As far as the tarps go, I will be setting out an area like Smash did at CFT 2012, that just covers the ground near/under the speakers, table and DJ area. I kinda’ think that setting out a tarp’d dance area could create a tripping hazard…but I figured I’d throw the idea out there anyway…just to create ideas. XD

[oCe]

If we went with changing the camp setup, then reversing it would probably work well. We could have the dance/party area where it was back in 2010 (where quiet camp has been recently). We’d just point the speakers toward the creek, possibly…and maybe have some cars parked in that direction for some extra noise reduction.

I’ve been pushing this switch for a couple years! ;D My understanding was, it wasn’t done only because the site closest to the creek does not have adjacent bathrooms, whereas loudcamp for the last two years is right between two bathrooms… though really, I’ve never encountered much of a problem with bathroom waits, since we’re not a HUGE group by any means.

I do think that furthest up the valley there (2012/13 quiet camp, 2011 ‘happenings area’), speakers pointed away from camp would be best from an acoustics perspective. The line of cars parked over there as a shield would probably help a lot, too.

I don’t have ground tarps to loan (I use mine for my camp!), but I do have a bunch of 12" nail stakes with washers that can secure ground tarps nicely. Hammered down flush with the ground, they’re nearly impossible to trip over… that would make for a cleaner dancefloor experience than kicking up a ton of dust.

[Evenstar]

Chirp chirp chirp, etc.

So hi! I just wanted to put myself in the loop as a resident gryphon that would enjoy being involved in some way or another with all this lighting/dj stuff. Though my DJ equipment is probably not as fancy as Pix’s (I use Numark iDJ Pro), I would be happy to deliver an episode of “Campfire Tails: A State of Trance”, as it were. I wouldn’t mind doing a back-to-back or head-to-head, as Pix requested. I don’t have audio equipment besides some Pioneer speakers which may or may not be useful. I also have a metric crapload of christmas lights, and some neat spinning LED bulb things for the light show.

Pix: dunno if you have IRC, I’m Evenstar on there if you wanna message me, or PM me if you want to text/email/whatever if you’d like my help with coordination on this! (Or anyone else for that matter.)

[Coma]

As for the dance floor dust issue, I have secured two very large sheets of heavy rubber that we use at work in our giant laminators for the solar panels and have specifically saved them with the thought that they’d make perfect dance floors for CFT. They are around a quarter inch thick and would not pose a tripping hazard since they can’t ‘bunch up’ like a tarp would. The entire area that they could cover when placed side by side would be 20’ by 14’. That’s 280 sq. ft! Wowzers!

The problem is I’m not sure what dates I’ll be at CFT this year (or if I’m even going at all) so if there is someone on staff that is going and has room to spare in their vehicle (and garage or wherever you want to store it in the meantime) then please contact me to arrange a pickup sometime if it’s something you want to use. I live in NW Portland. They roll up nicely and fold in half so it’s not that hard to transport.

Edit: It looks like this but I think the one pictured is thicker. Picture

[Pixelito]

[quote=“Evenstar, post:11, topic:630”]Chirp chirp chirp, etc.
…
(I omitted the rest so that my post isn’t really long. XD -pix)[/quote]

I’m not on IRC or anything, but you can PM me here if you need to contact me in private for some reason.
Also, take a look on this thread (and post there :3): http://forum.campfiretails.org/2014-happenings/planning-on-djing-read-here!-647/
I’m trying to keep DJs organized-ish on there. There is also some more information on that post.

Also, some gear is certainly better than nothing. As long as it has some form of audio output, we can hook it up!

[Pixelito]

Edit: It looks like this but I think the one pictured is thicker. Picture

That looks like it would be awesome! I am curious about the traction on it. Would it get slippery after coated with a layer of dust? D:

I think it would be really cool to have them around anyway!

[Beauchamp]

I love you, Coma. I will try to figure something out to take them off your paws if you can’t make it (I’m hoping you can)!
PS: I love you
PPS: I might use this for lube olympics as a wrestling mat!

[Coma]

[quote=“Pixelito, post:14, topic:630”][quote author=Comatoes link=topic=642.msg4865#msg4865 date=1401342812]
Edit: It looks like this but I think the one pictured is thicker. Picture
[/quote]

That looks like it would be awesome! I am curious about the traction on it. Would it get slippery after coated with a layer of dust? D:

I think it would be really cool to have them around anyway![/quote]

The picture shows a shiny material but the ones we use at work (the ones I have) aren’t shiny and are coated in a talcum powder (like baby powder) type of substance when they’re brand new. One side (the side that should be placed face down) will be dirty already from being used in the laminators for months but the other side still has some of the talcum powder coating. I’ve walked on brand new ones before installing them in the machines and they’re not slippery at all. My hope is that the mats would cut down on the dust being kicked up in the dance area completely. I think there’d be a lot more dancers if it wasn’t dusty. =)

I love you, Coma. I will try to figure something out to take them off your paws if you can't make it (I'm hoping you can)! PS: I love you PPS: I might use this for lube olympics as a wrestling mat! ;)

Of course, if you coat them in lube, I’m sure they’d be pretty slippery indeed. Not very cushion-y though. =p

My hope is that the mats would cut down on the dust being kicked up in the dance area completely. I think there’d be a lot more dancers if it wasn’t dusty. =)

P.S. I love you, too.

[tyco]

PPS: I might use this for lube olympics as a wrestling mat!

This would be yet another reason to move the “dance floor” over by the creek
Plus, I was thinking, if the DJ gear is not horrible to move, could it be temporarily moved to be right at the creek (just out of splashing range) and have a mid-day dance party and/or DJ set where everyone can do their dancing IN the creek?

[tyco]

My hope is that the mats would cut down on the dust being kicked up in the dance area completely. I think there’d be a lot more dancers if it wasn’t dusty. =)

Can the mats be attached together with duck tape? Or does their silicone nature make them too non-stick for that to work?

[Pixelito]

Plus, I was thinking, if the DJ gear is not horrible to move, could it be temporarily moved to be right at the creek (just out of splashing range) and have a mid-day dance party and/or DJ set where everyone can do their dancing IN the creek?

Everything is fairly easy to move, it’ll just take me a few trips back and forth or a couple of strapping young lads to help. The most heavy thing would be the case containing my turntables and mixer at about 100 lbs. I can lift it myself and it has wheels, but since it’s all dirt out there, might need somebody to help with that. The speakers are about 50 lbs. each, so they aren’t any trouble at all…The only thing that might be difficult to move is whatever generator is being provided. (I’ve been told that I can count on one being available for music stuff!)

I only really see 2 issues.

1. There aren’t really any large, flat areas near the creek for all the gear.
2. I’d be worried about shade. The sun beating down on the speakers (especially since they’re black) can cause them to overheat pretty quick… I sorta ran into that issue with Crowley’s speakers a few years ago.

If we move the party/dance area/loud camp up to where quite camp has been, you should be able to clearly hear the music by the creek. This would mean that nothing needs to be moved and the speakers can be placed in safe locations where they won’t be damaged.

[tyco]

If we move the party/dance area/loud camp up to where quite camp has been, you should be able to clearly hear the music by the creek. This would mean that nothing needs to be moved and the speakers can be placed in safe locations where they won’t be damaged.

That was kinda what I was thinking, but I wasn’t sure it’d get loud enough for it to feel like a real dance right at the creek (remember you have to drown out the sound of the creek itself too).
The brush that’s just a tiny bit downstream of the creek from the swimming area is pretty level, and since the speakers are on tripods, it wouldn’t really matter to position them over some brush. Other than that, I do agree, I can’t recall much of a level area that isn’t too dangerously close to the water.
As for shade, I think there may be a couple of places we can either get the speakers under trees, or can potentially string a tarp over them?