Playing in the dark?

hoffman2k · Post by **hoffman2k** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 8:03 pm

I have not tried this yet but i got a nice idea.
I've seen this little blacklight wich operates on battery's.
And i have alot of knobs i cant see in the dark.

For example the uc33. adjusting the overlays by marking them with invisible fluoresant ink. And mark the tops of the buttons so you can see them to. Would be nice. But the problem would be that you eventually smear all the ink over the knobs while playing them.
Any suggestions?

mkb · Post by **mkb** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 9:39 pm

have you tried a usb reading lamp?

hoffman2k · Post by **hoffman2k** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 2:35 pm

nope. but lamps do not have the effect i need.
I need something that can keep me in the dark. But at the same time light me and my gear up.

mkb · Post by **mkb** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 2:39 pm

i'm not sure i understand. you need to appear to be in the dark to the audience or something?

have you tried something like this ?

hoffman2k · Post by **hoffman2k** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 4:56 pm

mkb wrote:i'm not sure i understand. you need to appear to be in the dark to the audience or something?

have you tried something like this ?

Good one

I will explain what i have in mind:

You know the effect of a blacklight, reflecting fluoresant light.
Most clubs have them. But are also dark. It's not that i want to play blindfolded or anything although i wish i could

I have knobs and faders and all the stuff i need not be huddled behind the laptop. But i also have d-beams on my groove box. Alot of stuff to keep me busy.

What i want to do is make my gear that has no lights in them, be clearer in the dark.
Also a little color coordinated.
Basicly see all my stuff like only i can see it.
I believe sounds can be translated into colors, words, pictures,......
A little colors and lights gives me an enhanced view of what the f*ck i'm actually doing.

i just want the people in front of me watch in amazement, listen with their hearts and dance with their soul. There are alot of great artists out there. but some make it look like they just press play....

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 6:05 pm

i like your blacklight idea.

blacklights work with flourecent paints. try latex or acrylic flourecent paints on your controls. they are cheap enough if they wear a little over time you can re-paint. be careful with solvent based paints, the could melt plastic.

the are also glow in the dark paints avalable (which show up nice under blacklight too). they "charge up" in daylight and usually last a while in the dark.

try your local craft supply or hobby store.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 6:09 pm

...or if you want it "invisible" under normal light check out:

https://www.clearneon.com/products.php

hoffman2k · Post by **hoffman2k** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 6:12 pm

Anonymous wrote:...or if you want it "invisible" under normal light check out:

https://www.clearneon.com/products.php

Hahaha..
Nice, thanks.
I love the 3d glasses that you can get for it.

djshiva · Post by **djshiva** » Sat Aug 14, 2004 5:55 am

a friend of mine uses silver nail polish to mark the knob notches on the uc 33. and if there is a particular knob that he uses for an important function, he paints the whole thing. fairly easy, nd it seems to work really well.

Anubis · Post by **Anubis** » Mon Aug 16, 2004 12:12 am

Anonymous wrote:...or if you want it "invisible" under normal light check out:

https://www.clearneon.com/products.php

That is a great idea man. And different colors too! Wowee

SongCarver · Post by **SongCarver** » Sun Aug 22, 2004 1:50 am

i think one solution is furry knobs, metalic knobs, spikey knobs, sandpaper knobs, smooth knobs.

All these knobs 'feel' the different, you can know in an instant what you are touching.

I'm sticking fur and sandpaper and other surfaces onto mine, so then in the dark, or simply when i am not looking at them, I can feel exactly which knob I have in my hand.

Of course, making knobs of different materials is a manufacturing hassle and makes the controller look 'ugly', and you cant sell tactile benefits in an image... so this is probably the reason why we havent seen this up till now.

whaddyareackon?

pepezabala · Post by **pepezabala** » Sun Aug 22, 2004 5:29 am

if videobeamers weren't so expensive ... i would love to beam live's user interface directly on the keys of my midi controller. Each key would represent one channel ...

is there a midi-keyboard existing with built in LEDs that start to glow when you hit the key and stop to glow when you hit them again? could be useful too.

but the sandpaper-trick is super fantastisch. later I will stick strange stuff on all knobs and keys.

Pitch Black · Post by **Pitch Black** » Sun Aug 22, 2004 5:59 am

Sorry to drop a pipe-dream in here folks, My wish for controller knobs is a built-in LED on top that shows the knobs position BUT switches off when the knob is in its default or null state. We use a 24ch Mackie mixer for live dub mixing on stage and its always a scramble to get the mixer back to a null-ish state between songs. With LEDs showing changed settings and a sea of black when the desk was totally flat it would be amazing.

Thanks for indulging in my dreaming, now back to our scheduled program.

-paddy

painseeker · Post by **painseeker** » Sun Aug 22, 2004 11:05 am

Pitch Black wrote:We use a 24ch Mackie mixer for live dub mixing on stage and its always a scramble to get the mixer back to a null-ish state between songs.

-paddy

Get a digital mixer with memory recall

Playing in the dark?

Playing in the dark?

Furry knobs, sandpaper knobs

videobeamer and midi controller