Frog subs… How do you organise yours?

[SceneMaster]

Hi,

 

I am doing a music event tomorrow and with the fat frog you can only have a individual submaster playing one state back from one page (as in you can’t run a sub from page one and then use the same sub again in page two and keep the original state live.)

 

So my question is how do you like to organise you subs… as in do you have page of pastel states then a page vibrant states ect…

 

Suggestions much appreciated. (the event is a mixture of music, rock to classic, we have scrollers scans, and the usual cool and warm wash from foh).

 

Could we keep the sub suggestions as frog orientated (well fat frog) as possible as this is the desk I am using.

 

Thanks,

[si_cole]

I tend to organise the subs as generically as possible especially if you dont know what you are letting yourself in for. For example:

 

Sub 1/1: Full up state (just in case! Comes in handy!)

Sub 1/2 - 1/8: Various different chases some manual, some audio

Sub 1/9 - 1/12: I tend to use 1 sub for a chase on full speed auto (for the end of a song for example), other subs would be stuff like audience blinders that you need rapid access to sometimes)

 

As far as "states" go, I tend to play these live on the faders for the generic stuff (always ask for a setlist so you know whats coming!). If you are lucky and you have time, program some into the stack and call them up as and when. Only trouble with that is that if you need to fade down a circuit you cant coz there's no topset facility.

 

HTH

[eldar]

Hi

I do alot of music events where I have no prior idea of what the band will play next (sometimes I wonder if they do before they strike the first chord!)

I employ some 'back up' technics when I program my subs, this means I can be flexible and cope with very hectic moments, I'm often mixing the sound at the same time.

 

 

I always keep sub 1 on every page the same. That way whatever page I am in sub 1 always does the same thing.

 

i.e. - a full general state, preshow or background state. Your most often used state or something that you will always go back to between songs or scenes. If sub 1 is the same you always know what it's going to do no matter which page you are on, very useful if it gets hectic. Its a back up practice I'm used to using for those 'just in case I hit the wrong fader because I was on the wrong page' moments.

 

 

As for the rest, I tend to group things. 1-4 are generic states. 5-8 pretty colour background states, 9 -12 chases.

 

and I keep my colours grouped together, i.e.

Sub 1.9 -Red chase

Sub 2.9 - Red and yellow chase

Sub 3.9 -Red and purple chase

 

Sub 1.10 -Blue chase

Sub 2.10 -blue and green

Sub 3.10 -Blue and purple chase

 

The pattern you get from this means that all your red chases are on 9's so you are unlikely to bring up two consecutive chases that look the same. I just work my way across -1.9, 1.10, 1.11, 1.12, (jump page up) 2.9, 2.10 and so on. Manually adjusting the speed for each song.

 

Sorry, this got a bit long winded -hope it helps

 

eldar ;)

[Modge]

I seem to recall there been a thread on the frog forms about this. Since we haven't got our bullfrog yet then I haven't checked them much of late but I recall that from when I when we hired a fatFrog and I used the forum they's a decent sized thread on just this subject. There's a link to it off the Z88 website, which I can't be bothered to find.

 

For my 2 penny worth my plan is that if and only if I know the set list for the band gig I propose to use the bullfrog for in the fairly near future I was going to go with a page of subs for each song, with the idea much like the above of a between tracks \ mess up state on the first fader of each page. I haven't actaully tried this though so I can't claim to speak fully from experience. When I used the fat frog I just stuck the states \ chases on the subs in the order I thought of them which is I assure far from ideal.

 

edit: forgot the filter!

[si_cole]

Frog support forum is http://www.frogsupport.com

 

From memory!

[s-p]

If you're going to have the same thing on every page's sub 1, the best way to do this is create the state in a Memory, and then use the Transfer function to put it onto a sub. In this manner, if you want to change the state later, you can just change the memory, and all the transferred subs will update accordingly.

 

Don't forget the pallettes on the desk, enabling you to quickly call up positions and colours as appropriate. Basically once set up, you can hold, say, 'Colour' + a channel flash button, and your scans will go to red. This can save on subs.

 

Another method I have used with success is if you have a few states that you want access to, say general 'looks' - try putting them on the first few memories of the playback X stack. Then you can just type in the number you want on the external keyboard, hit Return twice, and control it with the playback x fader. This then releases some of the subs, onto which you can have chases.

Admittedly though, if you're busking frantically, typing in state numbers can be a bit fiddly.

 

Incidentally, if you have one of those old PC gaming shortcut pads (such a the Saitek PC Dash), they are brilliant for using with the Frogs.

 

If you always wanted a full cover handy, stick it on a memory, make this active, and then you can use the Playback X master to control it, regardless of what sub page you're on. In this manner, you can save on Submaster 1 and use it for something else.

 

Also for blinders, try patching them on a spare fixture. Then, by just selecting this fixture, you can knock the first finger wheel up to control your blinders.

 

Most of all, once you start programming everything up, pretend to light a few songs of different styles. If you find you have trouble, then you'll need to change something. It's down to your own taste, and what suits you. You'll quickly see what works and what doesn't.

 

Hope this helps,

sp

[Brian]

I've just bought a Mambo Frog and I plan to make a standard setup which has the same memory numbers assigned to every page on the upper row of subs (the Mambo has two rows of 12). I'll use something like memories 901-912 to keep them out of the way. Like that I can have the same thing on subs 1-12 on every page and still program individual looks on subs 13-24 on each page. On the desks with only 12 physical subs you could do the same thing with either the left or right hand section.