countdown beeps on DAT for video shoot

[Ryan L.]

This is more of a production question rather than post, but I figured this is as good a place as any to ask it! My company is getting more into music video production and we're still trying to figure out the best solution for song playback on location. So, what kind of countdown is usually used before the song begins? To me, a simple 4-count in the tempo of the song makes the most sense......On our last shoot I placed beeps on the last 4 seconds before the song started at 01:00:00:00 on the DAT. It worked okay but it seems like the band might get thrown off if the countdown doesn't match the song's tempo. Anybody have experience in this area?

Ryan

[ModernMusic]

I usually make a Single bip for cue, then an 8 count in the tempo of the song.

[philper]

The count in beeps are most useful if they DO match the tempo of the song. Three seems to be a better number than four, the band seems to get right away that it's "1, 2, 3, downbeat". It's not hard to do in a DAW.
It seems like many "stage" type shoots are going toward using a laptop for playback instead of a DAT.

Philip Perkins CAS