Introduction
I was introduced to lights & sounds by Rick, my sister's best friend, he has a company that provides DJ equipment, lights and sound and DJ's for all different types of events. From festivals like awakenings to marriage anniversary parties, local tent parties or high school proms.
Thunderdome Pre-Party (8 Hours)
The first job Rick needed my help with was Thunderdome Antwerp, the organizers had prepared a pre-party for visitors that bought a VIP-ticket, which included merchandise, privileges during the festival, and a stay at a 5-star hotel. Rick was asked to arrange lights & sounds for this pre-party. This job cost us two very long evenings, on Thursday we did build-up and on Friday we were in charge of the pre-party, where I controlled the lighting and Rick controlled the sound.
after the pre-party ended at 20:00, we received free entry to the festival in Sportpaleis. Here we got the watch the lightshow a colleague of Rick had prepared, very inspiring!
30th Anniversary (6 Hours)
The day after Thunderdome, we already had our next party scheduled, a 30 year anniversary of a couple in Waalwijk. This was inside a restaurant that had a separate room for parties, at this party we had a lot more time and freedom to set up, so Rick really took his time showing me how setting up the lights and sounds work, the technology behind it and how they work together. During the party, I was in charge of lights while Rick DJ'ed.
Highschool Prom (2 Hours)
A yearly job for Rick is preparing the prom for senior students at Camphusianum Gymnasium in Gorinchem, I had a very busy evening planned so I quickly helped with build-up, my sister and I were in charge of lighting this time, I learned a lot about cable management and how to make everything work together.
New Years Eve (8 Hours)
My friend Willem and I hosted a new years eve party for our friend group, Willem has a part-time job at a Lights & Sounds company, where he borrowed everything we needed to build a great party set-up. We spent the entire evening DJ'ing together while enjoying drinks and fireworks with our friends. It was amazing to use everything I had learned just to have fun with my friends.
What have I learned?
These evenings all directly correlated to my SMART goal concerning my interest in Lights & Sound Design, I was taught all the basics, and much more. While these evenings were all very interesting and also fun, it also made me realize that building stages and light design is not something I would want to do professionally. Although I would love to help out Rick anytime he needs some extra hands!
I am still interested in further investigating Stage and Sound Design, since I have not tried these skills yet. So I will try to find someone in my network who can help me further with exploring these professions.