Something that I didn’t anticipate when I was practicing and until I was actually performing was that the player was set to turn-off after a certain amount of time when it was inactive. Thus, when I went to select the next song for a routine, the player had turned itself off. I had to keep talking to my audience as I turned the MP3 player on and waited for it to go through its start-up process, which took a few seconds.
Of course, the time seemed like an eternity on stage. While this battery-saving feature is great for those who are listening to music and have forgotten to turn off the player, it’s not a good one for performers who would prefer that the player remain on.
After that first show, I reviewed the functions of the player to see how I could prevent it from turning off. At first, I tried the “hold” switch. However, my player continued to turn off.
In a submenu, I discovered an “auto-power down” menu that allowed me to set the time that the player would wait before shutting down. I set the player to turn off after 30-minutes, which solved the problem. With this fixed, my remaining stand-up shows over the weekend went quite smoothly. If you are thinking about buying an MP3 player, be sure that you can control its automatic power down.
Making the MP3 Play
I like the ability to store all of the songs in my show on one tiny device. I can select any song, or any combination of songs, as long as I have previously put them together in playlists. The device allows me to adjust the volume if I need to. Unlike CDs that can sometimes get dirty and skip around as they play, the music coming from the MP3 player is solid and reliable. With an MP3 player, there’s a lot less to carry around-no CDs and cases.
I performed my strait jacket escape in one show and encountered no problems teaching a spectator how to press “play” to start my music (I had already selected the correct playlist so it was ready to go). An MP3 player is inherently more complicated than a CD-player, but my spectator pressed the correct button to start the routine. (Being bound-up, I can’t start the music.)
Another plus, I’m in full control of my songs and can see exactly what playlist I’m loading. Unlike my wireless system that sometimes leaves me hunting around, pressing buttons and trying to figure out what track I’m on.
On the considerable downside, I have to look down at my player to select and play songs. I had previously transitioned between tricks and looked down to load CDs in my show, so I don’t think that this detracts much from my connection with audiences. For now, I’m definitely sold on the use of an MP3 player.
To contribute comments, ask questions or discuss MP3 players, please check out the thread on our forum. I will continue using my MP3 player and I’m working out some other ideas that I’ll discuss in still another story.
-Wayne N. Kawamoto
