Disaster Strikes - What Now!

**DJStone** · 01-01-2011, 01:04 PM

Disaster: Mac book 13" Vs Glass Of Red Wine!
The one thing I’ve always feared was the accident spill to happen. Then it did. My Girlfriend of all people. Damn!

Anyway I tell you more and then start with the questions:
At the wedding setup is good and party gets to the Speech stage. Now all the doors and windows are open and it’s quite humid and hot. Crowd is Stiff and the bride only wants her type of music. Nothing of the traditional music we normally play at these weddings.
So all the bugs get attracted to my setup by the black lights. I have 4 of them. It sets a nice color scheme while it’s quiet, or so I think anyway.
Then she leans forward to switch off the light in front of me. Why, I don’t know. And…..
BOOOOM, Glass of red wine over the Mac book. Need I say more. The spill proof keyboard protector didn’t help much.
Needles to say that after saving for how long, it’s gone. The funeral was short and sweet. I was the only one attending and crying my eyes out.
So here I am now without a mac book and I was just beginning to learn things.
In South Africa things aren’t as affordable as in the US and these places. Whenever you want to buy things here they always want to sell you something else where they can make more profit or they double the price on imported items IE X1 Controller. So I feel darn lost and almost uninspired about playing at parties or functions at the moment.
So here we go:
An Asus A6000 Laptop – 1.73GHz – 1 Gig Ram – 120Gig HDD
My BCD3000 plus traktor scratch Pro.
Still trying to configure my own Midi map as the midi language is new to me with shift button and other commands. Couldn’t quite find the help file for dummies for that.
A Novation Nocturn 25 with Automap which is all together another nightmare to understand.
My Budget is tight but I need to get busy again.

Questions:
1.) Do I buy a Mac book again first? ( I really miss mine)
2.) Do I stick with the BCD3000 and Novation Nocturn 25.
3.) Where can I learn the basics of Midi programming. Understanding the basic of programming a button or slider etc.
4.) Is the VCI300 a more user friendly option than the BCD3000?
5.) Should I sell everything and save for a S4
6.) What other software is available apart from Traktor that is easy to use.
7.) Is the Nocturn any good to use in a DJ setup, I got it more for effects but never got around to it.

Unfortunately here in SA you won’t find help as it’s more about everyone for himself and the devil for all.
I have so many questions but let’s start here.
Thank you.
Ah before I forget: May you're 2011 be wonderful.

**sarasin** · 01-01-2011, 01:22 PM

OUCH Bud....as a Saffer....i feel your pain on having to mission to get gear at good prices.

I killed the NYE Electro floor....literally this morning. Had my MacBook, APC40, VCI100 and they did not waterproof the DJ box and gear. It was fucked anyways....distorting the whole time I was there.
It was hot as fuck.....4am in the morning and after an hour of jamming to a frothing crowd....Thunderstorm happens and starts pissing down. I told the sound guy to sort out some plastic sheeting for the top of the scaffholding but i dunno.....

My gear was getting real wet....so i stopped the music and packed my shit away as the one organiser said to turn all the amps off etc. These sound guys stood there watching the coffin fill with rain water....on CDJ1000Mk3's and DJM600.

Sorry about that mate!

**bcondemi** · 01-01-2011, 01:51 PM

My brother-in-law spilled a glass of water on his 15" macbook pro as well. Took it in at the apple store to see what it would cost to fix. He told them it was his fault not a warranty item and said he needed the computer back asap. Because he bought it a couple months before ,and was honest about the spillage, they gave him a new one. He just about passed out when they swapped the laptop with the new one.

Not sure if you have an apple store near you or a computer repair shop, but is there a place that can give you a quote? It may not be so bad(expensive) to repair as to replace?

BC

**swiftninja** · 01-02-2011, 11:31 PM

Try going to the apple store..you could beg, but hey it might work!

**djproben** · 01-03-2011, 12:06 AM

Invoice the bride for the spill and get a new macbook?

**DJStone** · 01-03-2011, 08:01 AM

Hey Guys,

I wish I could do any of the above.
This is South Africa.
Had a chat at the last wedding with the photographer. She asked me: "So what do you charge for playing at a wedding?"
I said: R 2500 for the evening.
She laughed and said. Are you mad. How much does your equipment cost.
So we did the calculation:

Main Setup at Venue:
I have
Behringer Amps x 2 (EP2500)
Behringer Bass Bins x 2
Behringer Tops x 2
Behringer Crossover
Behringer 3 Channel Mixer
Cordless Mic x 2
Mac Book (Sadly Not With Me Anymore)
BCD3000
Not Counting Wires / Plugs etc

Second Setup for Church:
Small Amp 2 x 15" Speakers

I get there at 11am to setup and be ready in Church by 3:30
I play until The Party ends.
Anything from 1am to 3am in the morning.
Pack up up 2 cars again and get home done off loading and in bed by 5 or 6am on a sunday.

She laughed out Loud.
My equipment fits into one bag. I get here at about 2pm, No setting up Required. I take pictures until 11pm. I go home. Work on the photo profile for 6 hours and produce an album. No Video or any extras.
I charge R7500.00 within a 20km radius.
The last wedding we did together was 680km away.
She got paid R23000,00 and me R 4500.00

So guys, I'm doing this on my budget basically because I love music and people. Even the pain in the ass that orders you on what to play when.

My music collection is 1800 Cd's all legally purchased. I play all genres and that is difficult. These cd's range from R89 to imported ones going a high as R345.00.

Sorry for the long reply, just thought I'll give you some insight into my world on this side of the planet.
You don't get sponsored here by anyone unless your name comes over the radio twice a week.
Shops here will throw any reason at you not to honor a warranty. It's always the user who did something wrong.

Well in my case it was. I have the wrong Girl friend, but I love her to bits. She enjoys seeing me playing again. I stopped for almost 4 years.

I wish you all A happy and prosperous 2011.