Sequencing Tips
Sequencing Strategies for Music and Lights
The following tips are provided and authored by Sally Simpson, a.k.a. sasmuse and posted with her express permission. She compiled this list for a sequencing lesson at the Philly Area Mini in NJ. I attended and was taken back by the way she explained these principles. I found that I had been using a few of then without actually knowing it. Now that I know about them I want to use them more and pay more attention to how I synch the lights. The following will help everyone from a their first year display to an experienced synch'er. Read below and I assure you your show will be better than ever.
Now that we got’em what do we do with’em?
General Principles ( 4 L’s)
1. Layout
-design your layout in conjunction with, or prior to, selecting music
2. Listen, Listen, Listen
-I listen to a song well over 100 times before ever entering a sequence
-Have your layout in mind as you listen
-identify sections/themes/recurring passages
-keep listening
3. Less is more
-Don’t use everything all at once all the time
-Reel them in slowly
4. Leave’em wanting more…
-Don’t use everything in every song
-Average adult attention span is 20 minutes
-Child’s attention span is roughly equivalent to 1 minute per year of age
Now that we got’em what do we do with’em?
In-Song Strategies (ISS)
1. Divide and Conquer
-Divide your display into sections and assign to instrument/theme
2. Reverse Psychology
-Start with lights on and then turn them off
3. Light Choirs
-For choral numbers or songs with vocals
-Assign particular voice to a group of lights
-Everytime that voice sounds the same lights are used
4. Call and Response
-Have sections mimic each other
5. Catch me if you can
-Start a sequence and “chase” it around the display
6. High and Low
-Variation of #1 except that it uses height for the contrast
-icicle lights on peaks vs. net lights on bushes
7. Ring around the rosey
-Variation of #5 except confined to a small section of display
-think “mini-trees” or mega-tree
8. Step in Time or (levels)
-Use the levels to create diversity
-Usually takes about a 20% change in intensity to be observable
-Can be used as a step-up or a step-down
9. Point Me in the Right Direction
-Guide the observers eye through the display in a logical manner
10. Scatter
-Opposite of #9
-use lights in various parts of display with no apparent pattern