diff --git a/bin/dmxserver b/bin/dmxserver
--- a/bin/dmxserver
+++ b/bin/dmxserver
@@ -34,6 +34,17 @@ from light9.io import ParportDMX, UsbDMX
 from light9.updatefreq import Updatefreq
 from light9 import networking
 
+from txzmq import ZmqEndpoint, ZmqFactory, ZmqPullConnection, ZmqRequestTimeoutError
+import json
+
+def startZmq(port, outputlevels):
+    zf = ZmqFactory()
+    e = ZmqEndpoint('bind', 'tcp://*:%s' % port)
+    s = ZmqPullConnection(zf, e)
+    def onPull(message):
+        msg = json.loads(message[0])
+        outputlevels(msg['clientid'], msg['levellist'])
+    s.onPull = onPull
 
 class ReceiverApplication(object):
     """
@@ -248,6 +259,8 @@ print "starting xmlrpc server on port %s
 xmlrpcServe = XMLRPCServe(options)
 reactor.listenTCP(port,server.Site(xmlrpcServe))
 
+startZmq(networking.dmxServerZmq.port, xmlrpcServe.xmlrpc_outputlevels)
+                  
 oscApp = ReceiverApplication(9051, xmlrpcServe)
 
 reactor.run()
diff --git a/light9/dmxclient.py b/light9/dmxclient.py
--- a/light9/dmxclient.py
+++ b/light9/dmxclient.py
@@ -5,6 +5,10 @@ dmxclient.outputlevels(..)
 client id is formed from sys.argv[0] and the PID.  """
 
 import xmlrpclib, os, sys, socket, time, logging
+from twisted.internet import defer
+from txzmq import ZmqEndpoint, ZmqFactory, ZmqPushConnection
+import json
+
 from light9 import networking
 _dmx=None
 log = logging.getLogger('dmxclient')
@@ -13,6 +17,15 @@ procname = os.path.basename(sys.argv[0])
 procname = procname.replace('.py', '')
 _id = "%s-%s-%s" % (procname, socket.gethostname(), os.getpid())
 
+class TwistedZmqClient(object):
+    def __init__(self, service):
+        zf = ZmqFactory()
+        e = ZmqEndpoint('connect', 'tcp://%s:%s' % (service.host, service.port))
+        self.conn = ZmqPushConnection(zf, e)
+        
+    def send(self, clientid, levellist):
+        self.conn.push(json.dumps({'clientid': clientid, 'levellist': levellist}))
+
 def outputlevels(levellist,twisted=0,clientid=_id):
     """present a list of dmx channel levels, each scaled from
     0..1. list can be any length- it will apply to the first len() dmx
@@ -28,8 +41,7 @@ def outputlevels(levellist,twisted=0,cli
         if not twisted:
             _dmx = xmlrpclib.Server(url)
         else:
-            from twisted.web.xmlrpc import Proxy
-            _dmx = Proxy(url)
+            _dmx = TwistedZmqClient(networking.dmxServerZmq)
 
     if not twisted:
         try:
@@ -41,14 +53,9 @@ def outputlevels(levellist,twisted=0,cli
             log.error("outputlevels had xml fault: %s" % e)
             time.sleep(1)
     else:
-        def err(error):
-            log.error("dmx server error talking to %s: %s",
-                      networking.dmxServer.url, error.getErrorMessage())
-            time.sleep(1)
-        d = _dmx.callRemote('outputlevels', clientid, levellist)
-        d.addErrback(err)
-        return d
-
+        _dmx.send(clientid, levellist)
+        return defer.succeed(None)
+    
 dummy = os.getenv('DMXDUMMY')
 if dummy:
     print "dmxclient: DMX is in dummy mode."
diff --git a/light9/effecteval/effectloop.py b/light9/effecteval/effectloop.py
--- a/light9/effecteval/effectloop.py
+++ b/light9/effecteval/effectloop.py
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ class EffectLoop(object):
         if self.currentPlaying:
             t += max(0, now - self.songTimeFetch)
         return t
-        
+
     @inlineCallbacks
     def sendLevels(self):
         t1 = time.time()
diff --git a/light9/networking.py b/light9/networking.py
--- a/light9/networking.py
+++ b/light9/networking.py
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ class ServiceAddress(object):
 
 curveCalc = ServiceAddress(L9['curveCalc'])
 dmxServer = ServiceAddress(L9['dmxServer'])
+dmxServerZmq = ServiceAddress(L9['dmxServerZmq'])
 effectEval = ServiceAddress(L9['effectEval'])
 keyboardComposer = ServiceAddress(L9['keyboardComposer'])
 musicPlayer = ServiceAddress(L9['musicPlayer'])
diff --git a/makefile b/makefile
--- a/makefile
+++ b/makefile
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ gst_packages:
 	sudo aptitude install python-gi gir1.2-gst-plugins-base-1.0 libgirepository-1.0-1 gir1.2-gstreamer-1.0 gstreamer1.0-tools gstreamer1.0-plugins-good gstreamer1.0-pulseaudio 
 
 packages:
-	sudo aptitude install coffeescript freemind normalize-audio audacity python-pygoocanvas python-pygame gir1.2-goocanvas-2.0-9 libffi-dev tix
+	sudo aptitude install coffeescript freemind normalize-audio audacity python-pygoocanvas python-pygame gir1.2-goocanvas-2.0-9 libffi-dev tix libzmq3
 
 raspberry_pi_virtualenv:
 	mkdir -p env_pi
diff --git a/pydeps b/pydeps
--- a/pydeps
+++ b/pydeps
@@ -26,3 +26,5 @@ pyserial==2.7
 
 scales==1.0.9
 statprof==0.1.2
+txzmq==0.7.4
+
diff --git a/show/dance2014/networking.n3 b/show/dance2014/networking.n3
--- a/show/dance2014/networking.n3
+++ b/show/dance2014/networking.n3
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ sh:netHome
   :patchReceiverUpdateHost "localhost";
   :curveCalc        <http://dash:8060/>;
   :dmxServer        <http://dash:8030/>;
+  :dmxServerZmq     <http://dash:8031/>;
   :effectEval       <http://dash:8070/>;
   :keyboardComposer <http://dash:8050/>;
   :musicPlayer      <http://dash:8040/>;