Starting to get depressed about my synchronizing ability...

[Guest guest]

I look at my sequences and I have to say, there is nothing subtle about them. Not one tiny little bit. I guess I've tightly tied the lights to elements in the song? And I've got a lot of holes in my sequences that I have no idea what I'm going to fill them up with. I dunno. It seems that I seem to be so stuck on a 'literal' type interpretation of my songs.

How do you all do it? It seems that everyone seems to understand this special way of making songs that is subtle and loosely connected with the song. And how do you fill in the gaps?

[Guest guest]

Dig up my 2005 sequence, Overature, and fast forward to 1:40.

See that effect? Know what that is? That's me not have a *clue* what I wanted to do, so I started clicking the mouse around in frustration.

That was the result.

Stop. Sit back. Relax a while. Come back to it later. Just takes time.

[Guest guest]

The experts say "when in doubt shimmer". I like Don's idea, walk away for a few days, watch other videos, try fades between points of the music instead of hitting every beat.

[Guest guest]

GS wrote:

The experts say "when in doubt shimmer".

Some people call me an expert. Why? Beats me.

But I would never say that!

This expert says, "Never Shimmer!"

hat away.>

Nothing against shimmer, just not my favorite

[Guest guest]

I feel your pain, just don't ask me to sing it. It will be out of sync and tune!

Take a break and work on another song or your lights. It will come to you when you aren't trying so hard.

Michael B

[Guest guest]

jmccorm wrote:

I look at my sequences and I have to say, there is nothing subtle about them. Not one tiny little bit. I guess I've tightly tied the lights to elements in the song? And I've got a lot of holes in my sequences that I have no idea what I'm going to fill them up with. I dunno. It seems that I seem to be so stuck on a 'literal' type interpretation of my songs.

I have looked at the zip files you sent me.

How in the world can you say that about yourself and your ability to sequence. In a previous post you asked for someone to take a peek and see what could be done with a couple os sequences. Well, I wanted to check it out. I was going to respond to that original post but I felt this post needed it most.

What you have done to the 2 sequences I saw were

GREAT!!! :waycool:

Apparently your own mind is expecting more (we all do that, never satisfied with our own work), but step back and look at what you have actually done. Don't underestimate yourself. Remember, if there are any flaws (and I didn't see any, ONLY YOU WILL KNOW. Because you are the only that knows what it's supposed to be like.

I'm no pro to sequencing but when I saw your sequences and animation, I SAW A LIGHT SHOW AND A DARN GOOD ONE!!!

Now quit bashing your own head and get back to work :].

Tom

[Guest guest]

GS wrote:

try fades between points of the music instead of hitting every beat.

I think that has really helped me get into the right frame of mind.

I don't have to hit every beat. (Which I've been doing.) I should try fading from point to point. (Which I absolutely haven't been doing.)

Any more where that came from?

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the encouragement. Okay. A special prize for Santa's Helper.... go back to that FTP site that I gave you. You'll find, in that same directory, a new .wav and .lms file. This is the signature piece for my display. [i think you'll love the music, too.]

Where I'm running into a bit of a problem is that I seem to coordinate with a literal approach. It certainly works, until you start running out of things to encode. Most of what I see everyone else doing is more... I dunno... organic? Patterns that flow with the music, but patterns which aren't necessarily tied TO the music.

I'm hoping I can learn a few things from everone else, who seems to do things differently. I think I'm too stuck in a mode of exactly representing the song with the lights.

EDIT: Sequence is still a work in progress. Lots of empty spots, and some seriously underused channels.

[Guest guest]

JM - It could be worse - we could ask you to sing to us while the sequences are playing. I know I don't have a singing voice.

Be patient - it will come to you!

Bill Jr.

[Guest guest]

Mywife thought I was crazy last year when I started sync'ing .. I kept playing the song and staring at my mock up mega-tree and I would use my hands like the director of an orchestra .. directing the lights on the tree in my minds eye ..

I would pop my fingers at the tree like shaking off water when it would flash, I'd make big motions with my hands for fades( up and down) I even made a whirly bird thing with my fingers (like telling a pilot to start it up) when the tree would rotate .. I wont EVEN tell you what I did when it shimmered or twinkled .. ROFL ..

I think everyone has given you great advice ..take a day off .. then when you come back, step back from the keyboard, fire up the music, close your eyes and visualize. Make the funny hand guestures .. Imagine standing in front of your house. You are the conductor and the house (lights) are your musicans .. now .. make them play .. point at them, tell them what you want to see(hear)

Corny?? perhaps .. but I'll bet you a box of lights it helps .. :-) ..

-- Bob

[Guest guest]

Bob_Moody wrote:

but I'll bet you a box of lights it helps .. :-) ..

-- Bob

Are we talking LED lights, or the standard lights :]?

Good advice Bob, and good explanation of your method. I still wonder on the shimmer/twinkle thing though... :laughing:

Tom

[Guest guest]

LOL, Bob you explained exactly how I do it too. And while I am driving down the road listening to Christmas music you can see my hand moving, while I am thinking of where that portion is going to be synced. Pretty funny considering I never had any formal music training (band, choir ect.) and yet you might think I am a director. LOL

[Guest guest]

Remember too, even though a recent thread asked how far behind everyone is, remember, you do have about 2 1/2 months till showtime. An average of an hour a night will give you 75 hours to create what you want to do, which will be plenty.

And remember (and I have to remember this myself)...put blinking lights out there, and the kids will love it. They won't notice that they're a tenth of a second, or even a 1/2 second off from the beat. Heck, don't even cordinate it, and the kids will still be overjoyed!

By October, you'll have this thing down pat. The upside, or in my case downside...you'll have a month to constantly tinker with everything!!!!

[Guest guest]

Hey JM,

You've got mail.

(when reading the above, did you apply the AOL voice like it came from AOL when you have new mail? :laughing:)

JM,

I added a little suger to your sequence so if you could PM me your email address, I'll send it your way. I hope you like it. It might not be your cup of tea but at least you can see the different effects thru out. I have to add, you have an great ear for sound. Your timing was perfect which made it alot easy to fill in some of the void.

Talk to you later,

Tom


Edited: for spelling

[Guest guest]

Bob_Moody wrote:

I would pop my fingers at the tree like shaking off water when it would flash, I'd make big motions with my hands for fades( up and down) I even made a whirly bird thing with my fingers (like telling a pilot to start it up) when the tree would rotate .. I wont EVEN tell you what I did when it shimmered or twinkled .. ROFL ..

That's too funny! :laughing: I ran through my Christmas show last weekend (just plugged up all the LOR boxes and lights on the floor), and I caught myself "conducting" on more than a couple of occasions!

~K

[Guest guest]

I was going to ask where to find that overature, but then I remembered the search bar up top... For those who are interested...

http://www.wonderlandchristmas.com/av/videos/2005-overature.wmv

[Guest guest]

Uhhhh, hey JM? Are you there?

Did pass out or something? Was it that bad? :]

Tom

[Guest guest]

My, Santa's Helper has shown me what a bucketful of experience will do for you.

He filled in the dead spots. He added/coordinated effects I didn't even think about. He took advantage of a few coordinated lighting opportunities I didn't spot. Such skill!

Wow.

:waycool::waycool::waycool::waycool::waycool::waycool::waycool::waycool::waycool::waycool::waycool::waycool::waycool::waycool::waycool:

[Guest guest]

JM,

Thanks for the kind words/expressions. But I have to re-mention, you had the timing down pat. Just spend a little time getting that imagination spooled up and you'll be running like crazy.

My experience came from this chatroom "Planet Christmas". Marty Slack, Don and many others (I'm sorry if I leave anyone out, memory is a bad thing to loose) helped me out many moons ago (ok, last winter) but I saw their vision and went with it on my own stuff. You, like many others are or have done the same thing. Learn off each other. That's the great thing about these folks on P.C..

We are all teachers/students at the same time.

There can't be no end to a fun time when your on this site :}.

Thanks again for the words/expressions,

Tom

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the assist, all. Especially Santa's Helper who got me thinking more outside of the box. I've now made significant progress in tackling my four minute song that had plenty of dead space.

I think I'm much better equipped to fill in the dead space where I wasn't before.

EDIT: Working on a disco version of Jingle Bells. Got to keep that visual excitement pumping... for four minute worth.