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u/Glow-in-Bass

▲ 57 r/lightingdesign

LDs working DnB/EDM shows: does mental fatigue become a thing during long sets?

Question for people doing EDM / DnB shows.
I’ve been watching a lot of live sets lately and started wondering about something. DnB especially can mean 60-min sets: similar BPM ranges, lots of build-ups, fake drops, unfamiliar tracks and constant busking.
After 2–4 hours, does fatigue actually become a thing? Physically or mentally.
Do you ever get moments where after hours of reacting and predicting music it becomes harder to stay locked in? Or do you eventually enter some kind of flow and stop thinking about it?
How do people working lights actually experience this?
If anyone wants to share more - happy to have a quick chat. DM me.

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u/Glow-in-Bass — 5 days ago
▲ 29 r/lightingdesign

Years ago I worked as a lighting operator and later as a DJ. One thing always bothered me: hitting the drop perfectly is really hard if you don’t know the track.
And I still see it everywhere, even in good clubs with expensive setups. Lighting reacts… but slightly late.
You can’t really blame the LD:
- sometimes it’s the first time they hear the track
- and sound-reactive modes don’t really solve timing

So I started experimenting with a different approach:
Instead of reacting to sound, lighting follows the actual track structure (drops, builds, transitions).

Right now it’s not real-time. I prepare tracks manually (semi-automatically), and sync lighting to them.

I made a short demo: real show vs synced version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqiBtrwEHq8

I’m honestly trying to understand:
Is this actually a real problem?
Or is it just something I notice because of my background?

Also curious:
- do you rely more on live operation or pre-programmed cues?
- would something like this be useful in real shows?

If this makes sense - I’ll keep building it.
If not - better to know now.

Any honest feedback is appreciated.

u/Glow-in-Bass — 18 days ago