Please visit our new blog on our new site

Our blog has been moved to our new website! Please go there for up to date information and pictures from our latest events. Also, be sure to subscribe to our new RSS feed.

Thanks!

Our blog has been moved

Our blog has been moved to our new website! Please go there for up to date information and pictures from our latest events. Also, be sure to subscribe to our new RSS feed.

Thanks!

New blog/site

Our blog has been moved to our new website! Please go there for up to date information and pictures from our latest events. Also, be sure to subscribe to our new RSS feed.

Thanks!

Pamela and Mark

Back in September I had the pleasure of working at The Merion. We work there a lot and Cliff and the crew always do a fabulous job. The food is great, the attention to detail is always spot on and the little touches they add to eachevent always make it memorable.





This wedding was for Pam and Mark and I met them last year at our new office, which if you haven’t seen you have to come stop by, and we clicked right away.





In our office you are not only able to relax and get a chance to meet us, but you are able to see all of our lighting options, as well as see how we mix. Our new DreamSpace is even bigger now, over 1000 square feet! During the meeting I was really able to get to know them and they were able to get to know me, which is the most important. Feeling comfortable with your DJ is key!





It was good that they were able to see the lighting too because Pam had always wanted to have pin spotting. We were able to show her that, as well as the up lighting. She had been to a few other places that offered up lighting, but was very impressed by the way we brought more fixtures and were able to make it look more like a wash and not a column like effect.





The day of the event was busy. We had four guys there to get the show up and with the tight turn around time we had, it took all of us the whole time to get it up and set. The result was awesomeness! The room looked great.





Our dance floor was full too! Like most of the couples that hire Synergetic, Pam and Mark allowed me to program most of the night myself. I was able to mix in older songs like "Run Around Sue," and "I Want You Back," as well as new songs like "Give Me Everything" and "Raise Your Glass." I was shocked on one song though, they loved ""Shake Shake Senora! There is always one song that just does it at a wedding.





We worked with Jennifer Childress on this wedding and she got some great shots. Working with her is so much fun and makes for a great night. When we work with friends and people we know well the end result is always that much better.





If you are looking for a DJ, I would love the chance to sit down and talk to you. Just call Kelly in the office and she'll get the process started.



-Kurt

Synergetic Sound and Lighting, Inc. Launches New Website

Synergetic Sound and Lighting, Inc. has just launched a brand new website, adding a number of new features including an interactive portfolio.

“It has been a long time coming,” President/CEO, Jason Weldon said on Thursday afternoon. “We have been in need of a site that represents our style and is, at the same time, much more informative to our clients and potential clients. We are really excited about it!”

On the new site, visitors will be able to learn about both the Entertainment and Production sides of the company as well as get a thorough idea of what Synergetic is all about. This modern site is an accurate depiction of Synergetic as a company and will be a great way for potential clients and professionals to get to know the company.

The new portfolio will give visitors a solid idea of what their event can look like. If a client wants to get an idea of what their event could look like, all they have to do is push a few buttons and all of the images meeting the criteria they input will come up. The portfolio can also be searched by venue.

Visit www.synergeticsounds.com to see the site.
Synergetic Sound and Lighting, Inc. is based in Bensalem and located at 776 Haunted Lane. If you have any questions or would like more information on the company, call 215-633-1200.

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Digital Signage

For many of the corporate events we do, digital signage is becoming a bigger add-on. It used to be more of a lower line item, but now, we are seeing it more and more including multiple monitors throughout the venue.

For those of you that don’t know, digital signage is, in its simplest form, a plasma or LCD screen that displays specific content created by our client. This content is usually pretty important to the event and many people are going to need to see it. So having the screens set up in key areas is crucial, that way everyone at the event will know what is going on. For example, it could be a screen in the hallway of a trade show telling you where the seminars are.

We have invested in some great technology that allows our customers to get creative and bring an interesting “style” to their next event or convention. While the simple screen on a stand is typical, our clients are always looking to add that next level of design, something that makes their event look different, without killing the budget.

There are also some big benefits to digital signage that are usually overlooked. It is a great way to generate revenue because the same screen can be used as advertising for the convention. This could in turn keep the cost of the ticket lower. It is also a great way to stay green. Imagine having to create all those signs for a one time purpose and then throw them out after!

The next time you need to get multiple points of information to guests or attendees give us a call and let us help you with creative digital signage!

-Jason

Construction

There is currently construction happening on Haunted Lane between Bristol Pike and our office daily from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. To get to us, take State Road instead of Bristol Pike - you can go past the signs and make a left into our complex. If you have any questions, give us a call, 215-633-1200.

{Testimonial} Lynnmarie and Ken

We absolutely love getting emails and reviews like this!

"I cannot say enough about how wonderful it was to work with Matt! Ken and I could not have asked for a better DJ. He helped us plan out the timeline so we could enjoy our wedding. Also, he kept everyone dancing all night and our guests still comment on how great our DJ was! I would highly recommend Matt to anyone and thank him from the bottom of my heart for making our wedding such a memorable night for everyone! -Lynnmarie"

Thanks so much Lynnmarie and Ken! We truly appreciate your feedback and are so thrilled that you were happy with our services. We wish you all the best!

Awesome Mendenhall Inn Event

I love it when we get clients that want to drape out the dance floor! I love it even more when they want to use the drape for a reveal later on in the night. And that is exactly what we did at Stacie’s wedding.

In September, Stacie needed a way to block off the ballroom section of Mendenhall Inn for her ceremony so the guests wouldn’t see the rest of the room. She wanted them to come into a room that looked like a ceremony space, as well as have a nice backdrop for the photographer, Jennifer Childress.

We accomplished just that and more. In talking to Stacie, we told her that she should just leave the drape up around the dance floor. We can pull it back and create a cabana style effect to surround the dance floor in.

It was a great idea. You can see from the pictures that it looked really different! The guests loved it, the staff had never seen anything like it and even the DJ was snapping pictures of it left and right.

Let us help you in creating something a little different that can add a unique design to the wedding. All it takes is a simple phone call, 215.633.122, and some brainstorming. We are waiting to listen to your ideas!

What is a Lumen? Why does a lens matter?

When companies call us for a corporate event and need a video, slide show or power point presentation shown at their event, they usually just ask for a projector and a screen. Some of our customers know the difference, but others haven’t the slightest idea of what goes into the type of system they could get. So the next series of blogs is going to go into detail about the common nomenclature of the A/V world, specifically, screens and projectors.

We are going to start with projectors. Projectors are always rated first on how bright they are. So, when you see the term “lumen,” that is telling you how bright the projector is. The higher the lumen output, the brighter the image will be. And, as you can imagine, the higher the lumen output, the higher the price. Most professional projectors range from 2500 lumens to 10,000 lumens. The projectors you see at concerts can be upwards of 100,000 lumens. The most common lumen output you will see would be in the range of 4500-6500.

The higher the lumen output the better the picture will be. The blacks will look better, the contrast ratio is typically higher and the image, most importantly, will be easier to see. It really comes into play with the general lighting in the room. If you are having an event where you expect the lights on, or it may be in the afternoon in a venue with a lot of windows, a high lumen projector will be necessary. When I say high, I mean at least 5000 lumens. You don’t want your client to be complaining that it isn’t bright enough. Ultimately that will be what happens.

The next thing you need to know is the projection distance, or how far you have to “throw” the image. In most cases you will project the image onto a screen, and that screen is relatively close to the projector. But in our world, we need exact measurements to make sure we fill up the whole screen. That’s where the lens comes in. Lenses are sometimes called “glass.”

The lens, or glass, will allow you to “throw” the image very wide if you are extremely close to the screen or keep it very tight if you are far away from the screen. Both wide angle and short angle lens's can get expensive to rent. And those lenses tend to need a higher lumen projector. So knowing where the screens will go, in relation to where the projector will be are very important to us. All lenses are numbered. The number is what tells you the distance you can be from the screen to fill it completely. For example, a 1:1 lens means you have to be 12 feet away to fill up a 9x12 screen. Pretty simple.

So now you know a little more about projectors. Next up will be the screen! As always, any additional questions you have, don’t hesitate to call Matt or Michael and they will help you through the process.

-Jason

{Wedding Wire Review} Christine and Yordan

Christine and Yordan had a fun wedding at the Washington Crossing Inn.

"We had a very positive experience with Synergetic. We ended up going with Mike as our DJ. Mike was young, easy-going, and a very friendly and easy person to work with. We requested him because he had worked on other intercultural weddings before. He was outstanding, considering the few twists we had to make his life more complicated.

The week of the wedding, Mike spoke with us in a lengthy conversation about the order and flow of how the reception would be. Because we both have families from Europe, we had a variety of people (and many non-Americans) in our bridal party. Mike practiced over and over again how to pronounce peoples' names correctly. In the end, he did not mess up at all when he announced everyone as they entered the reception.

At our wedding, we had professional Bulgarian dancers perform and lead the guests in dancing. Mike worked with us and the dancers very well to coordinate the music and the flow of the entire evening. Mike was very sensitive to our needs ... we had quite a bit of European techno and pop hits that we wanted played. He played most of them throughout the evening; he also included a nice balance of classic songs that everyone could enjoy - our dance floor was NEVER empty the entire evening (no joke).

He started out the night with the pass-a-dollar game ... we had never heard of that before, but it turned out to be a real hit with the guests and set the mood for a fun night. Mike always talked to either my husband or I during the reception to see how the timing was going and if there was anything else we needed. We did other activities during the evening, such as the Anniversary Dance, bouquet toss, garter, and cutting the cake.

Many guests commented to us how fun our DJ was at our reception. My husband and I agree that Mike was one of our top vendors ... Synergetic was professional (always communicated with us in a timely fashion through e-mail or phone). One thing to be aware of is that it is kind of difficult to get ahold of your DJ directly ... it always has to be taken care of through the people working in the office. Though we did talk with Mike months before our wedding, we were a little nervous that we didn't get to talk to him again until the week of the wedding.

I highly recommend Synergetic, and specifically, Mike. He has a great attitude, is extremely flexible, and was not over the top like many other DJ's at weddings can be." -Christine and Yordan

Thank you so much Christine and Yordan! We truly appreciate your kind words and I know they mean a lot to Mike. We wish you all the best!

{Video} Lighting at the Merion Tribute House

The color of 2012

The color of 2012
In 2010 it was turquoise, 2011 was honeysuckle and what will next year be? The Pantone Color Institute has named “Tangerine Tango,” a blend of red and orange, as the “it” color for 2012.

I am a huge fan! The orange tone makes this such a fun, bright color that can easily bring out all the energy of an event, yet keep it feeling warm and cozy with the red like tones. It is a color that you can easily see in the longer, sun filled days of the summer, but still make a room feel comfortable through the shorter days of winter. Many people have to opt out of the darker colors in the summer because the sun’s rays last longer, but this hue will definitely allow guests to see it more easily, earlier in the event.

I am hoping to see a lot of this color in the floral! Lighting beautiful centerpieces just makes for an incredible room and shows the time and attention to detail that the client wants to portray to their guests. I am also interested to see what the florist’s pair with this color to make it pop even more.

Our friend Leigh at La Petite Fluer says that she is encouraged by this color selection. “We love it because it’s a color that can be interpreted for many styles and seasons. For Spring- tangerine, yellow and gray would be amazing. For Summer, we like a citrus blend- tangerine, yellow and lime. And for Fall, grape, tangerine and mocha is rich and sophisticated.”

When it comes to lighting, this would be a great color for up lighting, break up patterns for walls or ceilings, but not so much for a dance floor wash. While this color is in the skin tone family, I think this would most likely end up being too orange and make people look a bit strange, especially in photographs and video. Sticking to a lighter amber or lighter pink is still best for the dance floor.

The ladies over at Proud to Plan also like this selection. Owner Erin Proud said, “It is time for this vibrant and fun color to take center stage! The reddish-orange shade makes it a great choice for bridesmaid attire because it beautifully compliments most skin tones. Try combining textured tangerine linens, with lush ivory floral, lots of gold candles, all washed in gorgeous amber lighting and you'll create a warm and inviting setting your guests won’t soon forget!”

And our friend Tanya Gersh, of Tanya Gersh Wedding Design, based in Montana, said, "Tangerine is the new pink. It is bold, edgy and sexy. The perfect description of today's modern, confident bride!" I think Tanya is spot on!

I am really excited about seeing this color and hope our designer friends come up with creative ways to show it off!

For information on this color and the Pantone Color Institute, go here.

The color of 2010

The color of 2011

-Jason

{Wedding Wire Review} Jill

Another great Wedding Wire review - this time of Chris :).

"Synergetic was one of the best vendors to work with! They listened to everything we wanted and made sure everything went smoothly! I have heard nothing but compliments from all of our guests! I cannot recommend Chris and Kirk enough! They kept the reception running smoothly and kept everyone dancing all night long!" - Jill

To see more of our reviews, go here.

Thought You Might Be Curious

Since we are an A/V company, we get asked by our friends, family or just the average person what the “two pieces of clear plastic” next to the president are when he speaks. Well, the answer is his… teleprompter.

The “contraption” resembles a mic stand with a piece of glass attached to the top of it. From the audience's perspective, the high quality prompter glass is transparent, giving the impression that the presenter is speaking fluently and professionally without any assistance. From the presenter perspective, the glass displays a mirror image of the pre-prepared speech from the LCD monitor at the base of the stand. Whenever you have a behind the shot view of the president, you can usually see wording on the glass.

So now you know what it looks like and what it is.

-Jason

WOW My Wedding - One More Day to Enter!

Do you want to make your reception one to remember? Want to "WOW" your guests? Want your pictures to stand out? Share the story of your proposal with us and you could win a lighting package worth over $1000!

If you are a current DJ (Wedding I package) or Lighting client, or book us before December 18, 2011, and your wedding is happening between January 1, 2012 and June 30, 2012 you are eligible. If you have already booked lighting with your DJ package, or multiple lighting options, we will refund you the difference. DJ clients will be able to WOW their guests with reception up lighting, a dance floor wash and monogram. Lighting clients will have their current package upgraded, so if you booked up lighting, we'll give you a dance floor wash and monogram, if you booked a monogram, we'll give you up lighting and a dance floor wash and if you booked a dance floor wash, we'll give you up lighting and a monogram!

To enter, share the story of your proposal. How did it happen? Was it unique? Were you surprised? WOW us with your proposal story and we'll WOW your guests. Send your proposal story with the subject "Wow my wedding," to beckyd@synergeticsounds.com by Sunday, December 18, 2011. Please keep stories to 600 words or less, and include at least one picture of you and your fiance/the proposal.

We will pick our three favorite stories and post them on our Facebook page on Tuesday, December 20, 2011. It will then be up to our fans to vote for their favorite story. You can place a vote by "liking" the Synergetic Sound and Lighting page and then "liking" your favorite story. While comments are nice, they do not count as votes. Voting will end at midnight on December 24, 2011 and the winner will be announced shortly thereafter.

So if you want to WOW your guests, send in your story today!

Lighthing Before & After

We thought we would take some time and show you, as well as explain to you, how and why lighting can make a difference. Most people can easily “see” how lighting changes a room, but they don’t necessarily know why. So let me help you with that.

We will start with up lighting. The most popular option and the basic foundation of most lighting designs for weddings/event. I want to show you how just adding something as simple as up lighting, can make not only your eye, but the camera see a totally different room. For example, in the picture below, there is no up lighting behind the pin spotted centerpiece.

In looking at this picture, it is hard to tell the depth of the room. The background looks flat, the picture is very black and white and the room just doesn’t jump out at you. While many may think the up lighting's only purpose is to simply put color on a wall, its other purpose is to create the depth and add light to dark areas. While your guests notice the color and “oooh and ah”, the photographer and videographer will love the light in the background for better pictures and video, as well as that field depth.

As you can see in the above picture, adding a simple amber up lighting package makes a big difference.

Camera lenses aren’t built like our eyes. They need as much light as they can get. So the more light they can use in the background, the better your pictures will look, as in the picture above.

The above picture shows you how no lighting at all just makes for a typical room. It is hard to see or tell any of the features of the room,the floral’s, or each other.

When we add the up lighting, the room gets that first layer of depth. You can clearly see the depth of the room, what the walls look like, the simple details become more visible.

The only hard part to see are the flower arrangements, the dance floor, the tablescapes or anything inside the room. Up lighting shuts down our iris to take in the extra lighting in the room. So anything in front of the up lighting tends to look dark or hard to see. So now we have to bring the pin spotting in to get some more direct light in the areas we need. For this instance, it would be the flowers.

As you can see, the light for the flowers doesn’t just brighten up the flower arrangements, but it also lights up the table and some of the area around it. This adds the next level of depth, allows our eyes to focus on different parts of the room and most importantly really makes your guests go “wow.”

Lighting is important. Whether it is the natural room lighting or professional lighting, the need for lighting can be for much more than just to see. If you can’t afford to hire a professional lighting company like ours, just make sure you keep control over the natural room lighting. Simple fades throughout the night can evoke emotion and give the other professionals the perfect light they need.

And if you do hire a professional lighting company, remember that we are looking at the room, taking into consideration the other professionals, the physics of the lighting, etc., our number one goal is to evoke emotion and make the room come alive! We hope these pictures helped to show you what a difference lighting makes.

-Jason

{Wedding Wire Review} Mr. and Mrs. Awesome

Another amazing Wedding Wire review - thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Awesome for the awesome review of Resident DJ Matt Bowyer.

"Matt Bowyer put on a great show and was able to make everything we wanted to happen, HAPPEN when it was suppose to. GREAT DANCE music played, and all the other music in between. Our wedding was unique and they were able to make it all turn out AWESOME!" -Mr & Mrs. Awesome, 11/11/11.

Blossom Productions - guest post

My love of working with couples on TLC’s A Wedding Story is how Blossom Productions came to be. Allowing a couple to share their story with me as their producer, truly allowed me to see that every couple is unique. Preserving their story for generations was and still is, truly an honor.

What I think truly sets us apart from other wedding filmmakers is our ability to get to know our couples, understand their story, the details of their wedding, while seamlessly incorporating our artistry, style and high production standards into a highly personalized wedding film.

Since every couple is unique, every one of our films is unlike any other that we produce.

The best compliment we can receive at the end of the wedding day is, “We didn’t even know you were here.” It’s true-we can document everything from the first dance to the sweetest of nuances in an unobtrusive, “stealth-like” manner.

When we hear we are working with a company like Synergetic, we absolutely know two things: 1) the venue is going to look beautiful 2) Our film will look even better because we are able to capture the lighting, the ambience and overall feel that the couple had wanted for their event having incorporated lighting into the day.

As a result, we’re able to film the wedding without having to use on-camera lights. It’s one more reason we’re able to blend in and get the job done well while incognito!

-Gabe and Alicia Nathanson, Owners of Blossom Productions

DJ Classes - The Perfect Stocking Stuffer or Holiday Gift

Did you ever want to learn to DJ? Now you can! Well, at least the basics of it!

This is meant to be a fun, laid back, learning atmosphere for you to learn how to mix some music. Bring your partner, a friend or come by yourself - we promise to teach you as much as we can. One DJ will teach classes of no more than 20 people.

We've changed it up a bit this time around and are offering one night classes at an extremely affordable rate. These would make great stocking stuffers or holiday gifts!

Classes will be held Monday, January 9th and Monday, January 16th, at our warehouse in Bensalem. During the night we will teach you the following:

DJ overview
Basic equipment overview
Very basic music theory
Simple cueing
Beat mixing
Programming
Simple scratching techniques
Microphone techniques
Mixing songs

Each class will be $50 per person/$90 per group of 2 and will include a class of no more than 20 people. You must be 13 years of age or older (youth classes can be added if there is an interest). Full payment is due at the time of registration - check or cash is accepted, all credit cards will be billed a 3% convenience fee.

We will have two sessions in January - one on the 9th and one on the 16th. Let us know which one you want to attend. More nights will be added in February!

Call (215) 633-1200 or email info@synergeticsounds.com to sign up or get more information!