Church AVL Systems & Consultation
Above is how nice a church with an Indoor Sonrise on Easter Morning can look.
I've served as an Operator, Technician, and Chief Engineer for several local churches and have 20+ years of experience operating, troubleshooting, repairing, refreshing, and training others on Church AVL Systems. I'm currently a part of several AVL Teams but am still available for Consultation should you be a part of a church in need of it.
Above is how nice a church at first without but then with Added Platform Lighting on Christmas Eve can look.
My Shure M44-7 Upgrade
DJ Waldo's Booth Banner Options
Over the years I've had several banners in use on my setups and while they've generally been fine for most events I've had a few situations where having a more generic look might have suited the event better so going forward while most of my traditional banners will continue to be an option the newer more generic looking Logo'd One or the Solid Black One (both shown below on a version of the secondary setup I typically use for smaller outdoor wedding ceremonies) are the main banners I offer as options (not shown here but still an option and shown on other parts of my website my smaller DJ Waldo's Live in the Mix one typically used when subs are deployed since generally it fits them perfectly). Either way I think they both look nice and serve their purpose well which is to present the cleanest and most professional look possible to my setups while remaining functional. I hope you agree.
Some Semi-Retired Flyers/My L2 School Board Contractor Screen Status
Believe it or not I still perform at these venues and along these lines just with different types of setups than shown above. My L2 School Board Contractor Screen is also up-to-date so I'm good go on legally providing these days Smaller-Medium and sometimes even Larger Scale Production Grade School Dances/Events in Florida.
The Passive JBL JRX100 Speaker Series that I've Delivered Many of My Performances On
While I no longer have my entire (keep in mind the keyword now here is entire) Huge Passive JBL Sound System to offer as a part of my setups being that some time late 2016 I transitioned into the world of modern powered speakers since I don't really get asked to do much in the way of large scale events these days I thought it would be nice to have something up here to show where I was gear wise the last couple of times I set up this monster in all of its glory. As sad as I am to have let it go in terms of just raw sound blasting power it was the right thing to do in order for me to move forward/be competitive in today's DJ World. I hope you enjoy these pics and the updates that come with them too.
A special Thank You to PUMC for allowing me to use your pavilion.
In case you missed what I've gone to replacement setup wise these would be examples of it on its first trial run:
In case you missed what I've gone to replacement setup wise these would be examples of it on its first trial run:
After going thru this difficult transition I've come to the conclusion that while a well tuned Passive System still packs the best punch Quality Powered Speakers work well and now offer a better way for me to work in today's DJ World.
2020/2022/2024 Powered/Hybrid Sound System Update
As of early 2020 and again in early 2022 now too due to a couple of nice semi-local opportunities that presented themselves you can see above that I've finished some upgrades to my current Sound System and am now really good to go in the Extra BASS department especially. I kind of got away from using Subs when I went to a 100% Powered System in 2016 for a lot of reasons and generally still don't use them unless I have a real need for them but am glad to be able to offer them again with Extra Side Fill Speakers too also when the need comes up on a now Hybrid System.
As of early 2024 due to yet another semi-local opportunity you will get to see some of the JBL JRX100 Series make its way back into my productions from time to time again mostly for some larger events that I will be taking on this year and for possible others someday too. In the next few months I should have some more media of this gear in action up here and am beyond excited to have it as an option again for when I want just raw sound blasting power.
For now here's some pics of the speaker rebuild project itself that me and my older boys took on that came with it and a few pics with a video of this stuff on it's first real trial run. We literally picked up all of the gear in that first pic minus those amps and that light fixture, took it back to our shop, tore it entirely down, and completely rebuilt it. As you can probably tell from these before, during, and after pics this has been a lot of work (and it still is a work in progress really I'm now workiing on hopefully selling the Peavey gear eventually to make back some of what went into this) but I think it will be worth it since a once long lost dream of having double 15s as something I could offer has been fulfilled.
As of early 2024 due to yet another semi-local opportunity you will get to see some of the JBL JRX100 Series make its way back into my productions from time to time again mostly for some larger events that I will be taking on this year and for possible others someday too. In the next few months I should have some more media of this gear in action up here and am beyond excited to have it as an option again for when I want just raw sound blasting power.
For now here's some pics of the speaker rebuild project itself that me and my older boys took on that came with it and a few pics with a video of this stuff on it's first real trial run. We literally picked up all of the gear in that first pic minus those amps and that light fixture, took it back to our shop, tore it entirely down, and completely rebuilt it. As you can probably tell from these before, during, and after pics this has been a lot of work (and it still is a work in progress really I'm now workiing on hopefully selling the Peavey gear eventually to make back some of what went into this) but I think it will be worth it since a once long lost dream of having double 15s as something I could offer has been fulfilled.
Some Demo Videos of Way in the Past Setups (Click Each To View)
My Free Promo Mixes
Over the years I've released various Free Promo Mixes via various Media. I've handed these out at random, thrown them out on top of crowds, and have even done release parties for some of them. As of 2016 I finished my sixth one so I decided to re-brand and re-master them all into an MP3 CD so they can come on 1 Disk vs. 6 Cassettes and/or CDs since most people have MP3 Capable CD Players and/or Devices these days and/or may want to load them onto
a USB Drive instead--they're also all available for Stream on my Mixcloud Page below.
a USB Drive instead--they're also all available for Stream on my Mixcloud Page below.
Going into 2017 I began work on a Followup MP3 CD, released the first Free Promo Mix on it, worked off/on with the others for a while, and in 2018 started releasing the rest of them. Generally I only release 1 of these a year but being that 2018 was my 10th year as a DJ and that I had a few years in there where I didn't release one I went ahead and released that year's mix and 2 extras to make up for the lost time. Since then I have released my 2019 and 2020 mixes now too and as with my previous Free Promo Mixes these are all available as Cassettes, CDs, a second MP3 CD, and of course for stream on my Mixcloud Page above.
Now that I'm all caught up to date with these you might ask what am I doing for 2021 and the future in general? At this point probably not much--while these Free Promo Mixes are fun to make they take a lot of time to produce that I really don't have to invest into them these days with 3 kids and all so going forward the remainder of the event streams I put on my Mixcloud Page above will more than likely be my latest Free Promo Mixes.
That being said I was hoping to just continue to load audio to it as it gets produced at various events but as of December of 2022 I've now maxed out what I can put on my Mixcloud Page due to new rules that are in place for basic users. Fortunately none of what's currently up there is at risk of being deleted so I will probably just leave it as is and will make a decision at some point about possible future audio streams.
Now that I'm all caught up to date with these you might ask what am I doing for 2021 and the future in general? At this point probably not much--while these Free Promo Mixes are fun to make they take a lot of time to produce that I really don't have to invest into them these days with 3 kids and all so going forward the remainder of the event streams I put on my Mixcloud Page above will more than likely be my latest Free Promo Mixes.
That being said I was hoping to just continue to load audio to it as it gets produced at various events but as of December of 2022 I've now maxed out what I can put on my Mixcloud Page due to new rules that are in place for basic users. Fortunately none of what's currently up there is at risk of being deleted so I will probably just leave it as is and will make a decision at some point about possible future audio streams.
Speaking of Cassettes as old as they are I have always been a firm believer even to this day in releasing my Free Promo Mixes on them too because you can't call them true Mix Tapes unless you actually have Tape Versions of them.
Unfortunately when I went to make them for this round I found my main Tape Deck to not be working very well so I ended up installing new belts in it and did some maintenance too so it now runs like new again. This was not an easy task but me and my xennial self found it to be very rewarding once it was complete which even made me think about my years long ago in the Tape Ministry at North United Methodist Church (NUMC now Crossroads) where I spent a lot of time working with Cassettes and learning the art of Audio Recording.
Unfortunately when I went to make them for this round I found my main Tape Deck to not be working very well so I ended up installing new belts in it and did some maintenance too so it now runs like new again. This was not an easy task but me and my xennial self found it to be very rewarding once it was complete which even made me think about my years long ago in the Tape Ministry at North United Methodist Church (NUMC now Crossroads) where I spent a lot of time working with Cassettes and learning the art of Audio Recording.
A special Thank You to Bob Doll for all of his mentoring over the years as of March of 2019 may he RIP.
The Venues DJ Waldo's Performed At 162 To Date So Far Always A Work In Progress
***Along the way I've now helped 46 Brides/Grooms with their Special Day as well.***
Grow Financial Business Spotlight October 2016
A special Thank You to Grow Financial for putting DJ Waldo Productions in your Business Spotlight of the month.
A Celebration of Life
Never in a million years did I think I would be needed at a cemetery but when my mother-in-law passed away in 2016 that was the case. My family decided to have a short/small service for her and what started out as something really simple ended up turning into a reasonable size gathering. We decided to have her service where she was laid to rest at The Groover Funeral Home under their outdoor pavilion and I provided the setup you see below to make it happen. I ended up building a derivative of the setup I generally use for smaller outdoor wedding ceremonies which in this case included my Wireless Handheld Mic turned into a Pulpit Mic, a 400W Powered Speaker for Live Sound Support, a Digital Audio Recording Device, my DJ Mixer and a CD Player to handle the music with. This setup worked perfectly not too quiet nor too loud and pretty compact, I received several compliments on it afterward, and decided to put it up here as an example of something I can offer should a similar situation occur with someone else's loved one.
My Business/DJ Name/First But Not Current Business Card Design
Ever wonder where I came up with DJ Waldo Productions? Well DJ for one thing stands for Day Job because if you're going to be a Disk Jockey in today's World you better have one. Waldo believe it or not is a name I actually earned on my Day Job and it fits me well because I'm good at getting lost haha not to mention it's an easy name to remember, fun to play off of as a DJ, and while there are other DJ Waldos out there as far as I know I'm the only one in Florida so I felt it was a good stage name to go by that was well earned too. All that leaves is Productions which fits my business to a T because I've always focused on not just providing an entertainment experience at the events I take on but generally a full on production when it's all said and done. As far as my Business Cards I've had several in use over the years--the one above was my first and while its contact info isn't totally accurate anymore its message is still the same.
I'm Always Kid Ready
In case you can't tell from looking at my website I'm very kid friendly/capable whether it's just for a song or 2 or even for an entire event and a lot of times it really shows like here for instance when at the end of a school dance a group of elementary age girls come over, hand me this, and run away giggling leaving me cracking up in the process too. You probably had to be there to fully understand the true silliness of this message/moment but it's something that I thought was hilarious so I saved it and put it online for your amusement as well. This would be one of many reasons why I say I'm kid ready when I take on those kind of events and/or have kids show up at any kind of event really.
The Facade Experiment
So being that facades are all the rage right now in the DJ World I decided to pick one up and give it a go. I thought about how to integrate it into a setup for a while before actually taking it out to an event and while I did a nice job doing so and did get a lot of compliments on it because it did look cool I wasn't very impressed with it from a functionality standpoint so that was a huge drawback for me--it ended up taking a lot of work/time to run the cables/make it look right/be reasonably safe, I felt like I blocked myself off from the crowd in the process not to mention it made my setup a lot larger across than it generally is and worst of all I was afraid I would damage it in transit or that a party goer would lean on it and/or spill something on it. Later I found out from a friend that had a bad experience with one of these that many aren't fire retardant either so they're not the best for DJs that work in front of smoking crowds from time to time but fortunately the event I tried mine out at went well, no damage was done, and I can now say that I gave it an honest go finding out that its not a good fit for me so I found it a new home and thought I would share the results of
my facade experiment with you in case you ever wondered why I've chosen to stick with my banners instead.
my facade experiment with you in case you ever wondered why I've chosen to stick with my banners instead.
Finally...A Van Of My Own 2018
Over the years I've used a lot of vehicles to deliver events with and while I wanted to get a van of my own I just wasn't in a position to up until I took delivery of a 2002 Toyota Sienna. Sure its not the latest and greatest van out there but it's in really nice shape, has a reasonable mileage level on it, fits perfectly in my garage, it can be used as a dual purpose vehicle which is a huge plus with kids, the price was right and after a mechanic friend gave it some wrench time it's now fully tuned up and ready to rock. I took it out for its first event and it did really well. As you can see I was able
to deliver a great setup for Frank's 70th Birthday Bash with plenty of load room to spare so I'm looking forward
to using it for future events and so is my wife when I don't have it in use haha.
to deliver a great setup for Frank's 70th Birthday Bash with plenty of load room to spare so I'm looking forward
to using it for future events and so is my wife when I don't have it in use haha.
My Approximate Coverage Area/Parrish's Top DJ/A Top DJ In Manatee County
While many of the events I've DJ'd for have gone down in the Bradenton/Sarasota/Venice area and while I do prefer to stay kind of in this area as marked on the above left map you can see that I'm not limited to it...generally I'm willing to go as far North as Tampa, as far South as Punta Gorda, as far East as the Myakka City/Arcadia/Wauchula area, and as far West as Clearwater/The Barrier Islands. Every so often a potential Client will ask me to goto the Lakeland area but its rare and while I have gone before generally I don't because of the distance. I'm also proud to be able to say I've been Parrish's Top DJ for a while and a Top DJ in Manatee County for a long time as well not only from an internet search standpoint as you can see above but for a lot of other reasons too.
DJ Waldo's Sponsored F1 Car Which Raced In The 2022 Parrish Pack 146 Lego Derby
Some Things to Consider: Did your "Professional" DJ...
Answer their phone and/or respond back to your initial inquiry fairly quickly?
Talk with you about the vision you had for your event to make sure they could make it happen?
Check out and/or meet up with you at your venue to help you both try to understand your event’s setting?
Offer a written agreement with a reasonable rate for their services?
Make it as easy as possible to help you get a grasp on the music for your event?
Work with you to help you assemble a reasonable customized plan for your event?
Check in with you regularly to offer guidance/keep things moving forward leading up to your event?
Arrive prior to your event with plenty of time to load-in/setup before your guests started arriving?
Dress in theme for your event and have it ready to start at the agreed upon time?
End up providing a setup that looked and sounded professional that was well built and safe?
Work with any other vendors that were involved day of to make sure everybody was on the same page?
Do a good job as your MC keeping things on track and your crowd engaged throughout your entire event?
Put on a LIVE SHOW and not just play but MIX the music you agreed upon while working in reasonable requests?
Use professional grade gear and have backups ready to use should some sort of equipment failure occur?
Send you off in style at the conclusion of your event?
Tear-down/load-out in a reasonable amount of time?
Follow-up with you in the week after your event to make sure they met and/or exceeded your expectations?
Offer to share any media (pics/videos/audio recordings/etc.) that they may have captured from your event?
Have your back the entire way and then some making it as easy as possible for you to make your event happen?
Build a professional relationship with you and maybe even make you into a friend in the process?
Talk with you about the vision you had for your event to make sure they could make it happen?
Check out and/or meet up with you at your venue to help you both try to understand your event’s setting?
Offer a written agreement with a reasonable rate for their services?
Make it as easy as possible to help you get a grasp on the music for your event?
Work with you to help you assemble a reasonable customized plan for your event?
Check in with you regularly to offer guidance/keep things moving forward leading up to your event?
Arrive prior to your event with plenty of time to load-in/setup before your guests started arriving?
Dress in theme for your event and have it ready to start at the agreed upon time?
End up providing a setup that looked and sounded professional that was well built and safe?
Work with any other vendors that were involved day of to make sure everybody was on the same page?
Do a good job as your MC keeping things on track and your crowd engaged throughout your entire event?
Put on a LIVE SHOW and not just play but MIX the music you agreed upon while working in reasonable requests?
Use professional grade gear and have backups ready to use should some sort of equipment failure occur?
Send you off in style at the conclusion of your event?
Tear-down/load-out in a reasonable amount of time?
Follow-up with you in the week after your event to make sure they met and/or exceeded your expectations?
Offer to share any media (pics/videos/audio recordings/etc.) that they may have captured from your event?
Have your back the entire way and then some making it as easy as possible for you to make your event happen?
Build a professional relationship with you and maybe even make you into a friend in the process?
If you can answer yes to most of these 20 questions then you hired a truly Professional DJ to handle your event and are more than likely smiling ear to ear right now as you remember how well your event went. If you can't well now you know what you should expect for next time. If you hired or are considering hiring me to handle your up-coming event you can be assured that you can/will be able to answer YES to ALL of these.
The Spot on 26th Street
The above pictures were taken late in 2015 after a change of ownership, some building renovations, some sound/lighting system updates, and while me and my buddies Jimmy P & Will K DJ'd there good times. Sad to say it but I found out late in 2018 that JT (the best bouncer ever) passed away from a heart attack in his sleep may he RIP. Also sad to say it this place closed sometime around late 2019 long after my times there may it RIP as well.
Halloween 2016
Generally I'm out working on Halloween but this time with it falling on a Monday not so much so I decided to have a little fun putting on a bit of a creepy house spin instead with some new gear and some I haven't used in a while which was perfect for this particular application as you can see below. Thanks to all the Trick or Treaters that came by.
Roller Skating 2018
While roller skating really has little to do with DJ Waldo Productions since I put a couple of videos up on my Youtube Channel about it I figured I should have something up here about it too. That being said I got very heavy into it in my college years and have kept it up since. I've made a lot of good friends along the way and have skated at many rinks, plenty of places outdoors, and enjoy skate parks too. For me its a great way to clear my head, cut loose, and to sneak in some exercise. My wife and kids have gotten into it as well even. Check out the above videos to see me in action.
Christmas 2021
This was my second year with actual Vintage C7 Lights, a Custom Painted Nativity, some LED Effects, and more. Definitely a lot of fun to setup again and still is a fairly simple display that looks nice. We took part in Wreaths Across America as a Scout Service Project too and made sure my grandparents each got one in the process. A special thank you to all our Veterans both with us and not as much anymore we were glad we could remember and honor many of you and to everyone that checked out our house over December I hope it brought you some Christmas Cheer.
Lighting Setups in Color vs. Black & White
I'm sure that you've noticed that my lighting setups tend to be full of color but did you ever wonder what they looked like in good old fashioned black and white? I had a little fun with a black and white filter on a couple of them, am very pleased with how these came out, and as you can see my lighting setups look pretty cool either way.
A Look Back At Some Of The Music & The Scene That Eventually Inspired Me To Become A DJ
DJ Waldo's Engineering Background/Approach
I've approached many things in life from an Engineering Standpoint haha even years before I became DJ Waldo.
Above would be me when I was a college student at MCC in 2003 (back in the days when I had spiked hair wow) standing in front of the final project that I built for my Devices 2 class. Since we were learning about devices that were generally integrated into audio electronics as a part of this class and since I was very heavy into the club scene shown above as quite a club goer at the time I thought it would be fun to build my very own DJ Rig. I did a ton of research, a lot of experimenting, and built the above setup which included a Voltage Regulated Power Supply for it, 2 CD Players as input devices, a fade capable Mixer with a level meter too, an Amplifier, and 2 Small but mighty for their size Speakers. This project was one of the best in the class that year and it taught me a lot about the component level inner workings of audio equipment which is knowledge that I'm glad to have and am still able to apply to what I do today.
I'm also proud to say that I earned my Associate in Science Degree in Electronics Engineering Technology in May of 2005, have earned a lot of various Certifications since, and am a very seasoned full time Field Engineer by trade.
Above would be me when I was a college student at MCC in 2003 (back in the days when I had spiked hair wow) standing in front of the final project that I built for my Devices 2 class. Since we were learning about devices that were generally integrated into audio electronics as a part of this class and since I was very heavy into the club scene shown above as quite a club goer at the time I thought it would be fun to build my very own DJ Rig. I did a ton of research, a lot of experimenting, and built the above setup which included a Voltage Regulated Power Supply for it, 2 CD Players as input devices, a fade capable Mixer with a level meter too, an Amplifier, and 2 Small but mighty for their size Speakers. This project was one of the best in the class that year and it taught me a lot about the component level inner workings of audio equipment which is knowledge that I'm glad to have and am still able to apply to what I do today.
I'm also proud to say that I earned my Associate in Science Degree in Electronics Engineering Technology in May of 2005, have earned a lot of various Certifications since, and am a very seasoned full time Field Engineer by trade.
Some Setups/Structures Enhanced With Up-Lighting
I offered Wired Event Up-Lighting as a part of my setups for a long time as you can see below.
Originally I added it to my Rig when it was in its infancy because I saw the potential and at the time wired was the only way to go. It definitely enhanced a lot of my setups, I used it in a lot of different ways, and it looked great in most of the venues I put it in as I could literally transform the entire look of a venue with the push of a button with it; however, it was a lot of work to setup/teardown mostly because of the wiring that was involved to make it happen not to mention that I was limited in terms of were I could safely place it too even though I had plenty of wire.
Fast forward to today where really expensive totally out of my reach cost wise Battery Capable Wireless Up-Lighting now pretty well rules the scene with very little in the way of wire and minimal to no placement concerns safety wise and you can probably understand why I chose to get out of the Up-Lighting world while I could.
I'm happy to announce as of April 2019 though thanks to a generous donation I'm now able to offer Event Up-Lighting again and while it's still wired very much along the lines of what I had before it's better than not being able to offer it at all. I'm looking forward to how I'll use it to enhance future setups considering how much I've done with it in the past.
As one of the last things on my Projects Page I thought I'd leave you with these pics to show just how far I've gone in the past with Wired Event Up-Lighting so you'll better appreciate it with events that I'll use it at in the future. Enjoy.
Originally I added it to my Rig when it was in its infancy because I saw the potential and at the time wired was the only way to go. It definitely enhanced a lot of my setups, I used it in a lot of different ways, and it looked great in most of the venues I put it in as I could literally transform the entire look of a venue with the push of a button with it; however, it was a lot of work to setup/teardown mostly because of the wiring that was involved to make it happen not to mention that I was limited in terms of were I could safely place it too even though I had plenty of wire.
Fast forward to today where really expensive totally out of my reach cost wise Battery Capable Wireless Up-Lighting now pretty well rules the scene with very little in the way of wire and minimal to no placement concerns safety wise and you can probably understand why I chose to get out of the Up-Lighting world while I could.
I'm happy to announce as of April 2019 though thanks to a generous donation I'm now able to offer Event Up-Lighting again and while it's still wired very much along the lines of what I had before it's better than not being able to offer it at all. I'm looking forward to how I'll use it to enhance future setups considering how much I've done with it in the past.
As one of the last things on my Projects Page I thought I'd leave you with these pics to show just how far I've gone in the past with Wired Event Up-Lighting so you'll better appreciate it with events that I'll use it at in the future. Enjoy.
Incandescent Lighting
Incandescent vs. LED Lighting
Incandescent & LED Lighting Working Together
**The graphical artwork in use on my website is courtesy of its artists & Yahoo! for helping me to find some of it.**