Hypernova provides the sound/light/media services at Zen West in Baltimore. Here is some information to make your gig go smoothly.
DO:
Arrive on time – if you are going to be late, contact the promotor with advanced notice.
Try to work out gear share – drum shares save between band down time significantly.
Set up your effects pedal wiring, your cymbals on stands, and anything you can do ahead of time before loading on stage. This is especially important if there’s multiple bands.
Have a plan for fast setup/teardown before and after your set. Knowing the plan will make it fast and smooth.
Keep stage volume to a reasonable level. Cranking your amp to 11 leads to having to increase monitor levels to hear vocals – this causes the stage monitor system to be heard off stage blending with the PA system, which sounds terrible. It also leads to possible feedback due to extremely high stage/monitor levels. Do not worry about being loud out front, our system will make it loud.
Send logos ahead of time. Logos for the video screen should be in 16:9 aspect ratio (1920×1080 or scaled to that ratio). We can take jpg, png, animated gifs, or mp4 videos (which look cool!). Send to mike (at) hypernovaproductions.com with your band info.
IF you run in ear monitors, SHOW UP EARLY to get them tested, changeover is no time to do this and we cannot gaurentee good results.
The Zen West Stage standard setup:
This is the standard stage setup, if you require inputs not listed, please send a stage plot to mike (at) hypernovaproductions.com
Load-in/Arrival Time
Please arrive at least an hour and a half before the start of your set time, this will allow us enough time to get the backline set up, logos loaded into the video screens, and a proper sound check.
The address for Zen West is: 5916 York Rd, Baltimore, MD 21212
In-Ear Monitoring Considerations
In ear monitors are fantastic, they reduce stage noise and let the musician dial in their own monitor mix. The issue arises when there are multiple bands in a showcase where a band brings in their own IEM (in-ear monitoring system) that requires the entire snake to be unplugged from the house system and routed through their own mixer. This is the source of massive delays since there’s only a finite amount of time during band changeovers, and if not dialed in properly, a source of noise/hum/cabling issues that are beyond the sound engineers control.
It is VERY IMPORTANT that if you have an in ear system that you show up early enough to allow it to be integrated into our system and give it a proper sound check, there is no time during a changeover to do this with the possible exception of a single IEM.
The process of songwriting is not always easy, inspiration may be difficult to come by, or translating the music in your head to reality can be challenging. Luckily you are not the only one that has gone through this pain. Below is a list of resources to help you through conceptualizing your work.
Hypernova understands these challenges and we are willing to help you through – even by lending an ear to give some feedback, or hooking you up with other local songwriters or groups. Feel free to contact us!
Inspiration
The songfoundry.com provides a list of 107 prompts to help get you started.
Some of the ideas include:
Start with a melody
Write a perky melody, figure out a song story that fits it, then write that song.
Write a simple melody, figure out a song story that fits it, then write that song.
Write an expressive melody, figure out a song story that fits it, then write that song
Start with a groove
Write an upbeat groove, figure out a song story that fits it, then write that song.
Write a melancholy groove, figure out a song story that fits it, then write that song.
Write a funky groove, figure out a song story that fits it, then write that song.
Miscellaneous
Write a song about life on other planets.
Write a song about your pet rock Ignacio.
Write a song about the Northern Line Extension to Battersea.
Developing Ideas
Rick Beato is a well of knowledge and has some great videos on songwriting and music in general.
