it has to be electronic as it does multiple patterns, and the fact that it reacts to sound. besides, the LEDs are fixed. it would seem more cost efficient to program patterns onto a chip than some complicated mechanical system. even with "rave spinners" that have motors to spin LEDs that create patterns similar to these discs, i bet the patterns & switching are done electronically.
i've noticed there are several different versions of the same thing too. i'll likely try two of them... one that was reviewed as "best" from a user who's tried several and another because it seems to make softer, more snowflake looking patterns that are distinctive from all the other variants i've found video for.
i'm going to have to try modding the lights to if i go with them as all of them have cords that come out through their bases and that would block one or two LEDs. i'm hoping it's possible to rewire one so the cord comes out through the top, or towards the inside of the trailer when mounted for unimpaired patterns. a blurry black shadow on every panel would really cheapen the effect. if it's doable and i'm betting it isn't, i'd like to replace all of the red LEDs with purple ones for a better color harmony, and because purple is just a sexier color to me.
the video quality is worse, but this TSSS unit might be better for sound activation, especially at high SPLs, so it's at the top of my shopping list.
the patterns on this one are a little different though, the "greens" appear to be a nicer looking aqua that balances against red better, and with the light more diffused, it should be better at optically mixing colors (though the "glue trick" can be applied to any LED you want to diffuse the light from)
i might even mix and match though, maybe with these softer lights on the sides and the crisper TSSS on top, or by dividing sides from the front & back. seeing what they look like in person though is most important. i kind of liked the "4 way +" pattern as well as the wider 2 LEDs per side triangles on the second unit too. i like the way that blue & red mix a nice magenta (hot pink) with these too. the colors look less "toy" than harsh RGB. it looks more like tie dye in the video. also, the first unit has both higher contrast & more saturated colors and apparent strobing that look like it's more likely to cause eye strain, much like some RGB projectors i used to own that were hard to look at for extended periods of time.
i really don't get lighting manufacturers, they ALL base most of their lights on hideous looking RGB when they're not actually trying to optically mix the full spectrum where they could come up with more harmonious color schemes like green/blue/violet at the cool end of the spectrum, or red/orange/yellow at the warm end, but red & green, or pretty much ANY colors in opposition (on opposite sides of the color wheel) just don't go together well at all. same goes for yellow/purple & blue/orange, but red/green is the worst... sorry christmas. halloween orange/green isn't any better either as far as i'm concerned.
OK... COOL... the lights can be inverted further away from the surface they're projecting on which diffuses their patterns and would solve the issue of cords blocking the pattern.
i have no idea what droog's saying, but there's your definitive answer to what's inside
everything after this has nothing specific to do with the system other than my motivations to build it, so only read on if you're hungry for some biography, history, & sociology
i've ALMOST lived "in canada", both that the border in NY (one of the reasons i took the french i've never used) and a couple years ago in oregon which has a similar, low aggression/crime mindset, and i miss it greatly, but because the economy here is so bad, it's like quicksand trying to get out. as soon as i can afford it, i'm probably going to move to washington. the pacific northwest definitely has a different mindset than i've seen anywhere else in the country. the women there are the best! they're really down to earth, environmentally aware, and don't put any social climbing airs on. they go crazy for bike systems there. i've had my leg humped by an extra busty MILF with that saddlebag system playing "my sharona" among other positive interactions.
UNLIKE canada though, i guess, people in oregon tend to crowd around party events at parks etc. one DJ used to hold bi-weekly outdoor parties downtown there, the cycling group where my saddlebag system got drowned out by the trailer system was there, and another woman set some speakers up in a park with a bike path through it and about 50 people were dancing to it. that's my kind of environment... people are enthusiastic about joining the fun there. i've seen some of that here too though the night i joined a loud-bike cruising event.
me? i have SERIOUS issues with the attitudal pseudo-gangsta crap and soulless techno that gets played in clubs and have ever since the end of the 80s when good POSITIVE dance music was essentially murdered by record companies and replaced un-funky ugliness as they sought to turn the positive energy of REAL hip-hop into the next crack infiltration with gangsta crap and the country's vibe changed for the worse.
so, for me, this system is an essential tool to fight back against the forces of evil... negativity inspiring attitude rap, as i've said before, soulless techno made by idiots with no actual musical skills just pushing a few buttons making disposable crap that sounds like everyone else's disposable crap, and the internal combustion culture. i'm making a stand for the things i believe in, and i STILL believe in the potential for hip-hop to do good (again) if only people can be exposed to it.
- it inspires people to find creative outlets (dancing, DJing, painting, beatboxing and *ugh* even rapping) and that adherents apply themselves to self improvement in a form of neo-humanism
- the TRUE message of hip-hop is positive and NON-VIOLENT. breaking was a way to end gangs. people would dance instead of fight (except for the knuckleheads) and there's a RULE in breaking that you never so much as TOUCH an opponent "in battle". it's a great positive way to fight stress and dissipate aggression, AND it inspired racial harmony. just as the era was ending with the rise of house/techno & gangsta/booty/money rap, i went out to this club where i was the ONLY caucasian, and it was a rough enough club that it had a metal detector and pat downs. despite that, once i hit the dance floor, no-one bothered me at all. within a year or two after that, i started seeing fights breaking out in dance clubs where i NEVER saw them all through the 80s wherever i danced
- hip-hop is NOT a style of music, it's a CULTURE based on those tenets that, unlike my punk phase, i embraced and refuse to let go of despite the culture being "stolen from me" by those with an agenda to destroy it because of its growing power. i think "pump up the volume" was what REALLY scared elitist white america. here's this hip-hop song coming from the "UK motherland" being played by EVERYONE of every ethnicity. things started going downhill quick the summer after that.
to quote some hip-hop songs, the CULTURE is about
"peace, unity, love & having fun"
"so come inside and don't be shy
we're not here to hurt you, just have a good time"
there were a few raps too about staying away from cocaine & crack or materialism in general eg.
"calvin klein's no friend of mine, don't want nobody's name on my behind"
&
the ever popular
"hip-hop and you don't stop" refrain always meant keep applying yourself to improve to me
i can't quote any specific songs, but a lot of them used to end with "PEACE" and there was more than one early rap about negative MCs bragging or putting others down etc. that were ruining the positive scene the believers tried to preserve until outside forces first silenced the movement by cutting the flow of GOOD dance records off, then replacing them with the kind of crap you can't get away from today and that i'm keen to make a stand against in my little way.
i KNOW at least some ladies will be with me. women generally tend to like non-aggressive music eg. easy listening in my experience, and were always the first ones to dance to a mixtape i brought to a party until some hateful racist threw a tantrum and got everyone to STOP dancing playing evil devil worshipping heavy metal or goth punk. i'm fighting against THOSE anti-positivity forces of evil too. the only way i can do it is to create my own scene i KNOW some will respond to just like both the riders and many on the streets did to the old school funk loud-bike played. it's a crime that people are deprived of the spirituality of positive dance music because so many sourpusses CONSPIRE against it, but i won't be silenced.
i'm looking for my lost tribe, so to speak. the status quo music/social scene here does absolutely nothing for me. as much as i've ALWAYS despised the song so much that i couldn't bear to watch the movie until just a couple years ago...
it's time to get
**broken link removed**
on this redneck/gangsta town
(BTW, we were dancing MUCH HARDER than the lightweight crap in that movie when it came out... not counting the gymnastics scene)