Richard Cranium Posted October 16, 2021 Report Share Posted October 16, 2021 Is anyone on the board a DJ or has significant knowledge about DJ equipment, and doesn't mind me picking their brain a little bit? The Tolles Car and Craft show has been a hit for a few years now, and we've made some money with the show. One of my significant costs is the DJ for the show. The cost is only going up each year, and I'm questioning whether I should push the school to buy a simple setup that we can use each year rather than paying someone. We've been getting decent deals from the DJs, but with 3 to 5 events per year at the school, I'm thinking in the long term the school can save some money. This year we were $400 out of pocket to the DJ for the car show (he charged us $650, but donated $250 back to the program as a sponsorship). That means over the years we've spent north of $1500 on the DJ, I'd rather see that money go back into the program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otis Nice Posted October 17, 2021 Report Share Posted October 17, 2021 I've got a buddy who has been a DJ for years and does consulting work/helps folks get started. He's got a podcast too. I could get you in touch with him if you'd like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Cranium Posted October 17, 2021 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2021 I've got a buddy who has been a DJ for years and does consulting work/helps folks get started. He's got a podcast too. I could get you in touch with him if you'd like. That would be cool. I just trying to gauge feasibility, budget, etc... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tractor Posted October 17, 2021 Report Share Posted October 17, 2021 Multi channel mixer, an amp to some speakers and a laptop to play music would get you going pretty well if your just needing an area set up for some sound and maybe a mic or two. Probably $1000-1500 to get that if you shop for price and at least some quality. I look at the Habitat for Humanity stores all the time and find nice stage equipment if you don't mind used to increase quality but some of that is luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Cranium Posted October 17, 2021 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2021 Multi channel mixer, an amp to some speakers and a laptop to play music would get you going pretty well if your just needing an area set up for some sound and maybe a mic or two. Probably $1000-1500 to get that if you shop for price and at least some quality. I look at the Habitat for Humanity stores all the time and find nice stage equipment if you don't mind used to increase quality but some of that is luck Yep, nothing special. My questions are more about sizing, wattage, etc... Unfortunately I can't buy used gear when purchasing from the school. I'm sure there are some killer deals when guys upgrade. If I was buying for my personal use I would absolutely buy used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otis Nice Posted October 18, 2021 Report Share Posted October 18, 2021 Multi channel mixer, an amp to some speakers and a laptop to play music would get you going pretty well if your just needing an area set up for some sound and maybe a mic or two. Probably $1000-1500 to get that if you shop for price and at least some quality. I look at the Habitat for Humanity stores all the time and find nice stage equipment if you don't mind used to increase quality but some of that is luck Man, I didn't even think of this. That's all you'd need for shows and what not. Don't need two turntables and a microphone. My dad and brother own a live audio company. Dad has 35+ years experience and has worked with Live! Technology. They're always buying/selling gear and always look to hook up schools, churches, etc. Being that my brother went to a trade school and my cousins daughter now goes to Tolles maybe they'd be willing to assist. I'll try to talk to them tomorrow. Really all you need is 2 power speakers, a couple of stands, and a 4 channel mixer or something. You could run everything from a laptop or even a cell phone. When I thought DJ I thought professional DJ. Didn't even think just something to play music through and plug in a mic to make announcements and such. Let me shift my direction and see what they recommend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Cranium Posted October 18, 2021 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2021 Man, I didn't even think of this. That's all you'd need for shows and what not. Don't need two turntables and a microphone. My dad and brother own a live audio company. Dad has 35+ years experience and has worked with Live! Technology. They're always buying/selling gear and always look to hook up schools, churches, etc. Being that my brother went to a trade school and my cousins daughter now goes to Tolles maybe they'd be willing to assist. I'll try to talk to them tomorrow. Really all you need is 2 power speakers, a couple of stands, and a 4 channel mixer or something. You could run everything from a laptop or even a cell phone. When I thought DJ I thought professional DJ. Didn't even think just something to play music through and plug in a mic to make announcements and such. Let me shift my direction and see what they recommend. That's really more of what I'm interested in. I'm not doing weddings. Play music, make announcements, etc... I'd appreciate any and all input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otis Nice Posted October 18, 2021 Report Share Posted October 18, 2021 That's really more of what I'm interested in. I'm not doing weddings. Play music, make announcements, etc... I'd appreciate any and all input. Gotcha. My mind just went to, I dunno, I guess house party's or something. I'll talk with them and let you know. Since dad retired about 6 years ago he's done even more consulting since he has more time so he's use to answering any and all questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tractor Posted October 18, 2021 Report Share Posted October 18, 2021 Gotcha. My mind just went to, I dunno, I guess house party's or something. I'll talk with them and let you know. Since dad retired about 6 years ago he's done even more consulting since he has more time so he's use to answering any and all questions. My mind always goes to "cheap and get it done." That's awesome hope you can get the answers. I don't know much about the wattage or size requirements and would probably have to Google a bit and then wing it. I'd guess a pretty common 2 channel amp at like 150watts/channel at 8ohms would drive some effecient speakers decent. I do audio work some but I'm not usually specing out equipment, I just install it or hook it up or whatever the situation demands. I'm interested in the thread anyway as an audiophile and I do the technical work for my daughters voice studio at times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Cranium Posted October 18, 2021 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2021 Part of the reason I'm looking to pick the brain of an expert is that I assume there are equations for acoustics, and based on the size of the venue + outdoors vs. indoors + speaker number x distance / sound level = wattage. The parking lot will hold about 250 cars and is roughly square. According to Google maps the lot is 360ft by 250ft. Based on 2 speakers spaced out along the long edge of the lot I'm looking to push sound about 270 ft. We also have other outdoor events like field day coming up the Friday. We won't have a DJ for that event, but it would be great to have some music and announcements, etc... We also have indoor events. For the indoor events we have some permanent sound equipment in our auditorium and our PA system through the building, but the PA system speakers are from the 70s and suck pretty bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tractor Posted October 18, 2021 Report Share Posted October 18, 2021 It can be very complicated or very simple, depending on what your wanting just like about anything else. If your going need the sound equally distributed across the entire area you'd need a lot of speakers spread out and driven by an AMP that can handle a 70volt set up vs the usual 8ohms configuration. This isn't likely outdoors unless your talking about a really big outdoor venue thats permanently fixed. If your looking for what most places get such as what the radio stations bring to events in their van then that is more what I'm talking about above, you'll be able to hear it across the whole area, but won't be loud until your near the "stage" so to speak and then it will be too loud right in front of the speakers like I know you've ran into at events which is fine and just how its done for mobile applications. But yeah, there are calculations etc if you want to go full on "sound engineer". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tractor Posted October 18, 2021 Report Share Posted October 18, 2021 We also have indoor events. For the indoor events we have some permanent sound equipment in our auditorium and our PA system through the building, but the PA system speakers are from the 70s and suck pretty bad. The indoor stuff could be connected to a 70volt configured AMP, you could tell by settings on the back of the unit and you'd need to get the OHMs reading from the lines connected to the AMPs outputs to tell what AMP size you'd need, this is of course hoping all your 1970's speakers are still in good condition and even connected. I replace these systems all the time at the hotels around my area so I sorta know what you got indoors anyway. Sounds like you do need the pro's to at least consult on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Cranium Posted October 18, 2021 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2021 It can be very complicated or very simple, depending on what your wanting just like about anything else. If your going need the sound equally distributed across the entire area you'd need a lot of speakers spread out and driven by an AMP that can handle a 70volt set up vs the usual 8ohms configuration. This isn't likely outdoors unless your talking about a really big outdoor venue thats permanently fixed. If your looking for what most places get such as what the radio stations bring to events in their van then that is more what I'm talking about above, you'll be able to hear it across the whole area, but won't be loud until your near the "stage" so to speak and then it will be too loud right in front of the speakers like I know you've ran into at events which is fine and just how its done for mobile applications. But yeah, there are calculations etc if you want to go full on "sound engineer". The radio station van is basically the idea. We are looking for background music, without blowing out anyone's ear drums. In the past the DJs have set up a couple satellite speakers to the right and left of the DJ booth. Probably 150 ft separation between them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmrmnhrm Posted October 18, 2021 Report Share Posted October 18, 2021 One thing I haven't seen anybody mention yet is music licensing... with a DJ (or just playing the radio), that's included. Doing it yourself runs into all sorts of public performance copyright infringement issues. Will the RIAA come beating down your door? Probably not, but it'll only take one grumpy piss-ant to land you in a world of hurt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Cranium Posted October 18, 2021 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2021 One thing I haven't seen anybody mention yet is music licensing... with a DJ (or just playing the radio), that's included. Doing it yourself runs into all sorts of public performance copyright infringement issues. Will the RIAA come beating down your door? Probably not, but it'll only take one grumpy piss-ant to land you in a world of hurt. That is a very good point. I haven't confirmed this with my administration yet, but I think I may be covered. My understanding is the school pays a blanket use fee for movies and I need to confirm, but I assume that covers music as well. I'm also told the school has some sort of Spotify Premium account. I'm not sure that license would cover something like the car show. Something I need to look into as well. Lots of good info folks. I really appreciate the thoughts here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otis Nice Posted October 19, 2021 Report Share Posted October 19, 2021 Talked to dad tonight. He's gonna have some nice gear he's gonna be selling in a couple months or so. A couple powered Mackie speakers, I think he said an 8 channel board, and maybe a few other things. He also said he'd def answer any questions. If you PM me your number I could give it to him. He said on the gear he's getting rid of it's not very old and all in perfect condition. He's acquiring it as part of a deal doing some consulting work and has no need for it. Said he'd let it go for about half what it's all worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Cranium Posted October 19, 2021 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2021 Talked to dad tonight. He's gonna have some nice gear he's gonna be selling in a couple months or so. A couple powered Mackie speakers, I think he said an 8 channel board, and maybe a few other things. He also said he'd def answer any questions. If you PM me your number I could give it to him. He said on the gear he's getting rid of it's not very old and all in perfect condition. He's acquiring it as part of a deal doing some consulting work and has no need for it. Said he'd let it go for about half what it's all worth. Sending you a PM with my number now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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