THE HISTORY
Spring 1971:
My friend Joel Anderson called to say that he was joining a band that was just being formed and they were looking for someone to run sound for them. One of the members owned a Shure Vocal Master PA (remember those?) system that the band would be using which would be a definite upgrade from other bands in the area. It was an unbalanced system which meant that the controls needed to be up on stage with the band. Not great for mixing but what did we know back in those days?
The Shure VA300
But didn’t the band also want a light show? Of course they did and the deal was made to become a part of the band and get paid as well. Just the set-up I was looking for.
The name of the band was going to be Symphonic Reaction (that is not a typo). Joel was raised in a household that was more jazz oriented. He introduced me to Al Kooper, Buddy Rich and Thelonious Monk, among others, not the usual fare for kids growing up in the late 60s. Despite the name, the band would be playing rock cover tunes or what they called “heavy commercial.” Again songs that I knew and adding lights would enhance the show a lot.
The band consisted of Brian Hungerford on lead guitar, Randy Dodge on rhythm guitar (Randy was also a member of Black Magic), Jim Schneider on bass, Joel Anderson on keyboards and Steve Larson on drums.
We didn’t play too many gigs but they were a good tight group of players who all took the “job” seriously. We got booked at Proach’s Popular Ballroom in Ellsworth (a premier venue in the 60s and 70s) as well as the obligatory high school gigs in the area.
As we rehearsed I kept getting ideas on how to enhance the light show to further compliment the music. I built a side box that plugged into my main control panel that added dimmers for 3 of the 4 channels in the light columns and also momentary switches that made it easier to flash the lights. The dimmers were used to set the mood on stage for slow songs as well as doing a wah-wah type effect on songs like Rocky Mountain Way and others.
Fall 1971:
In the fall of 1971 I moved to Minneapolis to attend the University of Minnesota. I stored my equipment at my parent’s house which worked well since the band was based out of Ellsworth, WI. After about a year or so Randy Dodge left the band and was replaced with Dan Tushner who took over much of the lead vocal duties and also played harp and percussion and Dan Volenec replaced Jim Schneider on bass. That would be the line-up for awhile and although we didn’t play that often we were having fun and making a name for ourselves.
Spring 1972:
The lack of gigs didn’t bother me too much as I was in over my head with school. We took whatever jobs became available, even if the money wasn’t too good or sometimes even played for free at parties and such. During this time I made a list of enhancements and effects that could be added to the show. I had a lot of ideas but not much money to implement them. That summer we played a few gigs and living back at home, while working for the summer, made the logistics of being based in western Wisconsin easier.
Fall 1972:
The big time bands all had cases that used this type of latches and handles and we found that it was available to order through Acme Electronics (now out of business).
I decided that the light columns needed to be upgraded to a thicker wood and made with this new style hardware. I installed the Cinch Jones connectors on the back which were recessed, a good design for traveling, and added an 18” black light to the center of each column. It was empty space and the effect was a good one.
I set up the columns, controlled by the light organ,
for parties at my apartment.
My friend Joel Anderson called to say that he was joining a band that was just being formed and they were looking for someone to run sound for them. One of the members owned a Shure Vocal Master PA (remember those?) system that the band would be using which would be a definite upgrade from other bands in the area. It was an unbalanced system which meant that the controls needed to be up on stage with the band. Not great for mixing but what did we know back in those days?
The Shure VA300
But didn’t the band also want a light show? Of course they did and the deal was made to become a part of the band and get paid as well. Just the set-up I was looking for.
The name of the band was going to be Symphonic Reaction (that is not a typo). Joel was raised in a household that was more jazz oriented. He introduced me to Al Kooper, Buddy Rich and Thelonious Monk, among others, not the usual fare for kids growing up in the late 60s. Despite the name, the band would be playing rock cover tunes or what they called “heavy commercial.” Again songs that I knew and adding lights would enhance the show a lot.
The band consisted of Brian Hungerford on lead guitar, Randy Dodge on rhythm guitar (Randy was also a member of Black Magic), Jim Schneider on bass, Joel Anderson on keyboards and Steve Larson on drums.
We didn’t play too many gigs but they were a good tight group of players who all took the “job” seriously. We got booked at Proach’s Popular Ballroom in Ellsworth (a premier venue in the 60s and 70s) as well as the obligatory high school gigs in the area.
As we rehearsed I kept getting ideas on how to enhance the light show to further compliment the music. I built a side box that plugged into my main control panel that added dimmers for 3 of the 4 channels in the light columns and also momentary switches that made it easier to flash the lights. The dimmers were used to set the mood on stage for slow songs as well as doing a wah-wah type effect on songs like Rocky Mountain Way and others.
Fall 1971:
In the fall of 1971 I moved to Minneapolis to attend the University of Minnesota. I stored my equipment at my parent’s house which worked well since the band was based out of Ellsworth, WI. After about a year or so Randy Dodge left the band and was replaced with Dan Tushner who took over much of the lead vocal duties and also played harp and percussion and Dan Volenec replaced Jim Schneider on bass. That would be the line-up for awhile and although we didn’t play that often we were having fun and making a name for ourselves.
Spring 1972:
The lack of gigs didn’t bother me too much as I was in over my head with school. We took whatever jobs became available, even if the money wasn’t too good or sometimes even played for free at parties and such. During this time I made a list of enhancements and effects that could be added to the show. I had a lot of ideas but not much money to implement them. That summer we played a few gigs and living back at home, while working for the summer, made the logistics of being based in western Wisconsin easier.
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One day Joel and I were in a music store, looking around as we often did, and I saw a pair of used Vox strobes for sale. I bit the bullet and picked them up. This was a great effect that other bands were using. I tried a number of different configurations; setting them on top of the amps, pointed at the crowd, putting them on the drum platform, pointed up at the drummer (think In-A-Gadda-Da-Vidda drum solo), and setting them on the floor pointed up at the band. I finally settled on mounting them on top of the light columns, pointed at the band. I was even able to run the control wires through the main column light cables which made for a clean and easy set-up. |
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Fall 1972:
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In the fall of 1972 three things happened to propel the light show to another level. I quit school and decided to wait a bit before looking for a job. This gave me some free time. Then I discovered electronic surplus stores. Minneapolis was a ground floor region for the development of computers during this time and there were about six stores around The Cities that sold surplus electronics. I found multiple conductor cables, boxes to house electronics and something called Cinch Jones connectors, all at bargain prices. This allowed me to simplify my set-up and create cable runs from the control board to the light columns. And a by-product was all the old cables could be reused as extension cords. The third piece of the puzzle was what was called flight case hardware. |
The big time bands all had cases that used this type of latches and handles and we found that it was available to order through Acme Electronics (now out of business).
I decided that the light columns needed to be upgraded to a thicker wood and made with this new style hardware. I installed the Cinch Jones connectors on the back which were recessed, a good design for traveling, and added an 18” black light to the center of each column. It was empty space and the effect was a good one.
I set up the columns, controlled by the light organ,
for parties at my apartment.
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And then I got an idea. To read more click the light. |
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