How does an EDM club sync it's lights to the DJ?

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Apr 8, 2019
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I have two questions - wondering if someone here can help point me in the right direction.

1) When I go to a nightclub in Vegas to see a big-name DJ perform, the lights are synced to the music. But if the lights were all programmed ahead of time, from the first song to the last song, the DJ would have to perform every night the exact same show, mix in the next song at the exact same time, etc. So how do these shows work?

2) I have a permanent setup where I've pre-programmed dozens of lighting scenes with an ADJ Link controller. I stream playlists that I've built ahead of time, and having practiced enough, I know what pre-programmed scenes are going to work well with a certain section of a song. Using an iPad (wirelessly connected to the ADJ Link), I "busk" the night away - hitting certain scenes at certain times so that the light show and the music are in sync. I now have a live DJ performing (using a Pioneer XDJ-XZ), and the challenge is that I don't know what song he is going to play next, when he's going to mix in, etc. It generally works well enough, but on nights he isn't available, I want to be the DJ. The problem is, I only have two hands, and running both the sound and the lights at the same time would be difficult.

Is the way a nightclub syncs up the lights and music a possibility for me? Is there some way to use SMPTE time code and pre-program lights to an individual song? For example, when Runaway by Armin Van Buuren comes on, lighting scene 1 is triggered and stays on until 23.7 seconds, at which point lighting scene 7 is triggered until 48.5 seconds, etc.

Any help would be appreciated!
 
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I don't think anyone on this board does lighting at that scale. But there are a few things that could and likely are happening depending on the venue.

1) Traveling Lighting Designer/Operator - Big-name artists playing a club or festival will often have their own lighting tech travel with them that knows the sets they are playing and can operate it accordingly. You should check out Christian Jackson (https://www.youtube.com/@christianjackson) - He hasn't seemed to post as much lately, but he was touring with Louis the Child on club and festival dates.

An LD for that type of act will know the tracks they are playing and be able to time the drops and impact points appropriately. But they also may be relying on....

2) TimeCode Sync - There is a product that links CDJs or other playback devices with a time track that can be interpreted by the lighting desk, Resolume, or other control needs: https://timecodesync.com/

This could be used by a traveling lighting tech, or just for an in-house lighting tech to keep the club's already programmed sets in time with the music being played as I understand it. Again, this isn't stuff I've used but I'm aware of it. But I believe this is the SMTPE protocol that you're thinking of.

3) If you want a simpler version of that same tech for when you're DJing, look at SoundSwitch. SoundSwitch allows you to build either generic loops that stay synced in time, or specific shows to the track you're playing. I've had it for years, and it's dope. This was a show I did with it:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD62Y5ypiPo
There is a bit of a learning curve, but if you want your lights to be dynamic and programmed into your DJ sets... that's the tool.
 
I have two questions - wondering if someone here can help point me in the right direction.

1) When I go to a nightclub in Vegas to see a big-name DJ perform, the lights are synced to the music. But if the lights were all programmed ahead of time, from the first song to the last song, the DJ would have to perform every night the exact same show, mix in the next song at the exact same time, etc. So how do these shows work?

2) I have a permanent setup where I've pre-programmed dozens of lighting scenes with an ADJ Link controller. I stream playlists that I've built ahead of time, and having practiced enough, I know what pre-programmed scenes are going to work well with a certain section of a song. Using an iPad (wirelessly connected to the ADJ Link), I "busk" the night away - hitting certain scenes at certain times so that the light show and the music are in sync. I now have a live DJ performing (using a Pioneer XDJ-XZ), and the challenge is that I don't know what song he is going to play next, when he's going to mix in, etc. It generally works well enough, but on nights he isn't available, I want to be the DJ. The problem is, I only have two hands, and running both the sound and the lights at the same time would be difficult.

Is the way a nightclub syncs up the lights and music a possibility for me? Is there some way to use SMPTE time code and pre-program lights to an individual song? For example, when Runaway by Armin Van Buuren comes on, lighting scene 1 is triggered and stays on until 23.7 seconds, at which point lighting scene 7 is triggered until 48.5 seconds, etc.

Any help would be appreciated!
What Ross said is pretty spot on. The biggest of names have their own light techs that kind of plug in prebuilt programs to the in house lighting systems. There is some coordination ahead of time to find out what fixtures or software are being used. For the smaller dj's/performers, theres a light tech on site who is controlling the lights to the music. Generally they have an idea of what is being played and the build ups and drops to songs, so they know what to create visually.
 
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Yes, stuff is preprogrammed how much depends on how complex and large the show is. My skills are almost 30 years out of date. But even back then we could sync my Intel lighting fixtures to CDs. Although since we played live we used programing which used a combination of sub programming for movements, gobos, colors, which were layered, which could be advanced by audio or BPM. Now the larger shows very likely has time coding which allows them to sync lighting, audio but also must sync video, motors and pyro/effects. I haven’t been to LDI since the late 90s so I won’t even guess how they do it now. But like someone said most clubs & shows have a dedicated lighting person & videos persons. I was at small venue in NYC for a event where Ice-T and some others were perform. Even that small venue has a dedicated station for audio, video & lighting.
 

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Thanks for all the replies! This gives me some areas to research.

It sounds like the nights I have a DJ I'm basically doing what some LDs do - I've programmed things ahead of time and anticipate the build-ups, the drops, etc. I mostly just want my setup to be as professional as the "big-boys" - so maybe I'm already on the right track. I think trying to be the guy running the sound AND the lights at the same time, and expecting it to be as amazing as what two separate people can do is maybe a little too ambitious.
 
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Wolfmix w1 can be link to Virtual DJ and play to the beat. Soundswitch will let you program each song and store it, or you can run a preprogram set that goes to the beat. I have have a mix stream pro that has a dmx control in it for lights shows that go to the beat.