Strobe lights

annieobrien8

How much do people really like strobe lights?

I have photosensitive epilepsy and because of strobe lights in clubs I can't really go clubbing:mad: I find it very unfair, especially because I don't think people really care about strobe lights that much.

Does anyone know any clubs in limerick that don't use strobe lights?

JcDubz4life

I love strobe lights, nothing else gets a crowd goin like strobes comin on just as a tune gets in to it.

I was in a club im always at on friday and the usual dj was off. The lad that was doing it didnt have strobes and the diffrence was huge. Nothing seemed to get people goin not even songs like Traffic or Firewire that usually start a mini riot.:D

Sorry bout the epilepsy thing must be incredibly hard to live with that evreyday never mind in clubs

afatbollix

its all about putting on a show and lights are a part of that... sorry to hear you cant join in:(

JavaBear

They're awesome

annieobrien8

The epilepsy isn't that hard to live with on a day to day basis, there are a lot of people a lot worse off than me. The only times outside of clubs that I'm in danger are at the cinema and driving past trees when there's sunlight (lucky I live in Ireland!). Sunglasses in the cinema and in nightclubs are so embarrassing!:o

Even without the epilepsy though, I don't get the attraction of strobes. Fireworks and really cool displays I get but flashing a light on and off, it really puzzles me!

It looks like I'll have a hard time getting clubs to feel sorry for me and not use strobe lights!!:(

shane86

JcDubz4life wrote: »

Nothing seemed to get people goin not even songs like Traffic or Firewire that usually start a mini riot.:D

Sounds like a good spot! Where was this?

L1011

If they're just flashing a strobe on and off, they're using it incorrectly, however I don't find that surprising in Ireland. When you've a properly experienced lighting tech, it isn't going to be used at a constant pace, or even much at all...

Doesn't mean its not going to be used, however, so that still leads to the original problem. Arguably one of the reasons they're used, particularly at trance events, is that temporal aliasing adds to an altered state of consciousness, so this is why people 'like' them.

just pete

Was in the vaults last year and the flippin strobe light was on most of the night, I nearly got sick .
It is so effective when used properly but a mess otherwise

annieobrien8

oh dear, I hope your not photosensitive too!

Honestly I think most of the time the limerick clubs don't use them properly... so they're making me suffer for nothing:mad:!!

just pete

No no I dont suffer from it but it just was too much. . .

You could maybe say it to a manager or dj

The G Child

Forgive my ignorance as I'm not too familiar with what level of flashing lights triggers this, but would shades not be an option? I often see people in Tripod with shades on. I know you said you'd feel a bit stupid with them on, but if they made a difference would it not be worth a go. Depending on where your clubbin and what your poison is, its probably no harm having the old peepers covered.

annieobrien8

shades only help a little. i always take them out with me but their main use is to try to protect me while i do my dramatic run from the dance floor!

I thought about saying it to the DJ in icon on saturday night but imagine trying to explain photosensitive epilepsy to someone over the really really loud music in clubs! I also figured that if they were actually warned about my problem and didnt turn off the strobes that they'd prob have to ask me to leave for insurance reasons!!

and it depends from person to person as to what speed the lights have to flash at to affect them, the refresh rate of a tv, computer screen etc doesnt affect me in the slightest. and there ends todays lesson..!:D

L1011

Its highly unlikely the DJ in a club has any control over the lighting, look for a bloke (or woman, obviously) in a box with a load of equipment to the rear of the dancefloor - that'd be the sound tech who often looks after the lights too.

Wonder if there'd be a market for lighting-less discos, Brainwave (or whatever its called now) or similar could run one as a fundraiser maybe... been a long time since I've heard anything from them, but thats mostly because my brother had his operable form of epilepsy successfully operated on.

DJ_Spider

MYOB wrote: »

Wonder if there'd be a market for lighting-less discos, Brainwave (or whatever its called now) or similar could run one as a fundraiser maybe...

I would offer my services free for this event! I only have a small collection of lights anyway, in fact the amount of times the bulbs blow I'm thinking of just using the house lights!

jonny68

Aren't strobe lights supposedly banned?

Who remembers when they used to put the full strobe light on in Sides, you would be in complete slow motion but would be dancing like mad, it was incredible.

annieobrien8

glad to hear that your brother had a successful operation MYOB:)

I like yer thinking, a lightless fundraiser... intriguing... think I might contact Brainwave about this! worst thing is that i no if they organise such an event it will be in Dublin:( No offence to any Dublin people!

i dont think strobe lights are banned but i'd love if they were!

i know this is going off topic a bit but while im complaining at all:D does anyone else think that the music is too loud in clubs?? fair enough we have to drown out the drunken singing! but i think it's gone way beyond that!

DJ_Spider

+1 for the sound levels. I am a DJ and even I think it's too loud. In fact I went to one of the boards beers and made myself croaky due to shouting all night. Thing was I had a gig the next night so had to turn down the bass so I could be understood!

Yes I agree that Brainwave would organise the lightless disco in dubin, but you have to conside that the bigger the area, the more money they could raise due to more people attending. I unfortunately wouldn't be able to travel anywhere outside of dublin and not charge. I live on da nort soid as it is! :cool:

jtsuited

i remember a few years ago working in a venue and we were told not to leave the strobes on for more than 10 seconds. something to do with legal stuff or something. not sure though.

i know that there was some sort of legal grey area there anywho.

I really sympathise with the OP.
I haven't seen many strobe lights lately.

The volume of music in some clubs is ridiculous. Especially on cheap crap systems where the distorted sound will seriously damage your hearing. I was at a fairly loud gig on sunday but it was a fairly decent system so had no ringing in my ears afterwards.
I love really loud clubs that have good soundsystems but crap clubs that turn up too much are damaging everyone's ears to an extraordinary extent.

kmart6

Get sick of them after a while,depends on the song too!

annieobrien8

I agree about the bigger catchment area! maybe i could organise something down here too! oh this crusade of mine is getting out of hand

I am so happy to have found people other than my parents who agree about the music being way too loud! I know exactly what you mean about shouting over the music and ending up hoarse! And as regards ringing in the ears, my worst was when the ringing lasted for 3 days!:mad: Maybe if I wear sunglasses, blinkers and ear plugs I'd get on ok in clubs:p

Do the vibrations bug ye too? I don't know if it's the epilepsy or what but I find that vibrations really mess with my head!:(

just pete

Bit of a grudge against clubs annie ?
I never heard of anybody complaining about vibrations

DJ_Spider

I don't use strobe lights when I do gigs, I usually find most ones I do don't really need it. They are usually cheesy birthdays and by the time they have had the food they are pretty locked anyway, they just want to dance to the silly songs like grease and macarena! They don't really worry about the lights!

In fact I even do a gig in The Strand House, North Strand, they leave the flourescent lights on above me! Good for me to see what I'm doing, (not that I need it really, see my shiny thing linky!) so I only take a small gobo light. I don't even use smoke now as most places I'm doing are a little too small. I have a fazer machine, which doesn't pump out loads of smoke so you can't see, but makes a fine mist so the lights show up better, but people aren't losing eachother!

Anyway hope everyone had a good bank holiday and enjoy the rest of the week. :cool:

annieobrien8

i may have a bit of a grudge against clubs...! but they're trying to kill whatever bit of a social life i have!! i will soon be the cat lady from the simpsons!

Why do people need their ears blown off and their eyes attacked by flashing lights to enjoy themselves??:mad: Come play in limerick DJ Spider!! If we give you control of the music and lights we'll have proper sounding music and no strobes!!

L1011

re: sound levels. Anyone who's DJing professionally should have fitted attenuating earplugs and anyone who's clubbing frequently should look at them seriously - they're not *that* expensive. Otherwise, "one size fits all" variants, which take about 15dB off the sound levels, are about £10STG. Quite a lot of people use them these days, you don't get weird looks for using them.

annieobrien8

would the ear plugs make it impossible to hear people screaming at u?! its near enough to impossible without them!

DarkJager

You just can't beat the strobe lights, especially when the tune is kicking in and everybody is giving it loads on the dancefloor. I don't know what the attraction is but when you experience a strobe used properly with the right tune, its unreal. Sorry if you can't be near them Annie, but it wouldn't be the same buzz if they were turned off.

L1011

annieobrien8 wrote: »

would the ear plugs make it impossible to hear people screaming at u?! its near enough to impossible without them!

They don't use flat attenuation - its easier to hear people talking. I've serious problems at some gigs I go to with mates where the 3 or 4 of us with earplugs in are able to talk much quieter than they can possibly hear!

annieobrien8

damn, one response from limerick and you're in favour of strobe lights!!:(

think i'll try those earplugs, they sound promising, altho a little scary! talks of an insertion tube and if they get stuck in your ears:eek:

L1011

These no way Elacin ER20s can get stuck in your ears, believe me.

annieobrien8

Alpine MusicSafe Pro were what i was reading about getting stuck. I just ordered Elacin ER20. will it be really obvious that im wearing them??

shane86

annieobrien8 wrote: »

does anyone else think that the music is too loud in clubs?? fair enough we have to drown out the drunken singing! but i think it's gone way beyond that!

Ah come on now!

What I miss about the old Redbox/new Tripod the most is that the sound in new Tripod has been bollix since it reopened from what Ive heard on three visits.

annieobrien8

why do u condider the music bad? too low?? or literally bad music!

DJ_Spider

annie if you get a no lights disco sorted for dublin I'll do it for free! Just give me some free advertising! LOL Oh and if you look on my site you can see although I have bad music I don't play it! Look at the top 50 songs I play at parties!

annieobrien8

lol! brainwave havent even responded to me yet:( why do so many organisations have email addresses that they don't use??

DJ_Spider

Maybe they haven't taken thier meds today and forgot they had a email address! :eek:

annieobrien8

lol! oh dear, what do u think of us epileptics??

L1011

annieobrien8 wrote: »

Alpine MusicSafe Pro were what i was reading about getting stuck. I just ordered Elacin ER20. will it be really obvious that im wearing them??

What stalk colour did you order (clear is the default if you weren't asked). The clear stalks make them pretty much invisible, I've had a barman notice them once - thats about it.

discodiva86

I've been involved in clubs and promoting events for years and personally they're not what they are cracked up to be. There is far better lighting equipment out there (which cause people no harm/discomfort) but unfortunately lazy lighting techs supply them to clubs as a simply solution.

In relation to asking management/dj, I see no reason why not unless its very much a dance/trance orintated club they should have no problems not using it. You are after all a paying customer. As far as I'm aware they cannot ask you to leave if you tell them you have a medical condition as suggested above. Nightclubs like any other business have a responsibility to look after the safety of their customers.

Best of luck, and happy Clubbing!

ps
Maybe email nightclubs and ask them what their policy on it is? Purly out of interest!

annieobrien8

they didn't say what colour, so hopefully they'll be clear!

I think I will email the clubs! i bet they wont reply though!

annieobrien8

Emailed the Trinity Rooms and Icon. No reply from Icon:mad:

But the Trinity Rooms replied! They're not sure how much they can do to help me because, even if they turn off the actual stobe lights, strobe effects are built into the other lights too but they said to ring them before i go out the next night and they'll see what they can do:D

DJ_Spider

See, just proves the saying in Geordie Land: 'Shy bairns get nowt' in other words, if you don't ask, you don't get! Hope you enjoy your next night out annie, and if you're ever up the city maybe we can have a quiet/non stroby drink! :cool:

annieobrien8

I didn't ask the Trinity Rooms to turn down the music though, I thought that might be asking for a bit too much!

God, a quiet non stobey night sounds so boring... but I'd love it:D

Anonymossy

hey
i've a friend who suffers from epilepsy. the only club he can have a night out in is that forementioned one, trinity rooms. their T2 (red room/quarter club/r n b room) isn't equipped with any strobe lighting. it has lights but none with strobing effects. also the courtyard isn't fitted with strobes and their mobile lightning doesn't contain strobe either. most nights we head out we end up in that courtyard. sound levels aren't so bad and at least if ya want a conversation ya can have one out there or in the bar beside it. just when i read icon and trinity, assumed you were able to travel into limerick from tipp.
hope this helps as i know how awkward it can be for you

annieobrien8

sorry the reply took so long, i just kept forgetting it! the problem with those parts of the trinity rooms are that in the side rooms the dance floors are tiny! and the court yard is full of smokers! does your friend have photosensitive epilepsy?

DaMonk

annieobrien8 wrote: »

sorry the reply took so long, i just kept forgetting it! the problem with those parts of the trinity rooms are that in the side rooms the dance floors are tiny! and the court yard is full of smokers! does your friend have photosensitive epilepsy?

I feel sorry for your condition but you are sounding way too picky to be honest, the clubs are too loud, too much vibration, too much smoke, dance floor is too small. I love strobe lights and trinity rooms now has a laser too which is class.

annieobrien8

believe me, i realise i'm way too picky! but there is no reason why the clubs couldn't have even one weekend night every fortnight with no strobes and music at a decent level. i know im not the only one who doesnt want to go deaf! and with regard to smoke, i will never say i'm wrong for not wanting to inhale 2nd hand smoke

Davei141

annieobrien8 wrote: »

believe me, i realise i'm way too picky! but there is no reason why the clubs couldn't have even one weekend night every fortnight with no strobes and music at a decent level. i know im not the only one who doesnt want to go deaf! and with regard to smoke, i will never say i'm wrong for not wanting to inhale 2nd hand smoke

You may have got some sympathy at the start but now your just taking the piss tbh.

Anonymossy

tbh i'm kinda siding with dave and da monk. the average saturday night capacity of a limerick club is about 1000 people i'd say. doing that every fortnight would ruin a place. it sounds more like a one off? yes his is photosensitive. he has it fairly bad. he's not even allowed to drive! i'd be really sympathetic towards your situation but i think you're not seeing the whole point of a nightclub. you making those requests would be like me walking into a bowling alley and saying it's unfair that i can't use it for curling! i'm sure they could cover all the lanes in ice but... you get my point? if it's the smoke of the courtyard that bothers ya, stand into the bar? have you tried molly's?

annieobrien8

i'm not allowed drive either!

i'm not taking the piss at all. frankly i don't understand why people think it's not a good night out unless they get deafened and have lights flashed at them. it wouldn't ruin a club at all. as long as the music wasn't so low that you could hear everyone talking very few people would realise the difference and most people don't care either way about the lights. i have never heard someone come out of a club complaining about the lack of flashing lights! they complain that the music was bad or the place was too small or too hot but not once have i heard them complain about a lack of strobes!! i have been to college balls, private functions etc where there were no strobes and nobody cared. they danced away the same. And it's not at all the same as trying to turn a bowling alley into a curling area. the purpose of night clubs is to dance and socialise, there is no reason why somebody can't dance without strobe lights. and as for socialising, that would be much easier with slightly lower music. now thanks to the loudness of the music people can't hear each other, so basically the socialising takes place in burger king!

and molly's used be fine but a couple of months ago they started using flashing lasers, yet another place knocked off the list!

Anonymossy

hey annie
now i don't wanna sound like i'm taking the piss here but have you had your ears checked out? just out of curiosity as you may have a condition you don't even know about? some DJs have suffered serious hearing loss due to constant exposure to bass and others not being affected at all. doctors putting it down to different strengths/tolerences in their ears? just like a muscle sort a thing? just curious cos i know if i had a problem with my ears i'd be clueless as i can't recall ever having mine tested?
my point being though. i've never walked out of a night club, disco, gig, show or concert having found myself to be deafened? (can i just stress again that i'm not mocking or taking the piss) you may find levels louder than others?
i do agree with you to a degree with the strobes. when used incorrectly i'd be the first to complain! but when used correctly it can give a fairly cool affect(which i have heard people talk about eg. the new laser in trinity rooms)
the purpose of nightclubs is the late license. otherwise we'd be in burger king like you say!
what i keep seeing though is that imho you don't seem to realise that a nightclub is a nightclub, which is different to a disco, different to a ball, different to a function, different to a gig and if they were all the same or did the same thing they wouldn't differ nor have different names? each one has different aspects which make it what it is and unfortunately loudish music and lights are the more predominant elements of a nightclub?

all in all though i do sympathise with your condition and if ya did run a lightless disco i'd go and support-i've been to silent discos. who knows, you may have stumbled onto somethin huge?

annieobrien8

i did say it to my doctor before about how much worse affected i seem to be by the loud music than my friends etc are. she just said that everyone has different tolerance levels! the time i asked her my ears had spent 3 or 4 days ringing after a night in a pub where there was a dj playing!

you're right that a late licence is the main feature of a nightclub, hence i don't think that turning down the music a bit would matter much!

am i the only one that thinks that what a club needs to be popular are good music, a good sized dance floor, reasonably priced alcohol and a decent crowd?? i really dont think that super-loud music or flashing lights are a requirement!

is there any chance that this laser in the trinity rooms has replaced the strobe lights and that the laser doesn't flash???

btw are there any silent discos left in limerick?? i'd love it!