Working In Your Own Landmines

I originally had plans to take lots of pretty pictures of a show set up last week...but of course the time crunch monster showed up (courtesy of a what turned out to be an intermittent DMX lighting cable...joy).  So, I thought this week I would just point out what I consider to be some of the biggest time wasters during set up.

• Making Load In An Obstacle Course - First and foremost, make sure you're not leaving cases and containers in the way of your normal work paths.  I've got one guy I work with who without fail will bring in the cable bins and his pedal board and dump them right in the middle of the stage where you have to step over them everytime you go from one side to the other.  Here's a better idea, don't bring the pedal board up until you're ready to actually set it up, and put the cable bins at the front of the stage. 
• Fishing Cables Behind The Amp Line - We're all guilty of this one...we move all of our amps and drums in place and then try to run cables behind them.  Now, what should take a minute instead takes five.  Run your power and signal lines first, then move your backline into place.
• Building The Stage Backwards - Technically, this is another "obstacle course".  I've seen guys bring the monitors in and put them in place before anything else happens.  Really?  Stack 'em off stage until you're actually ready to for them.  Same story with pedal boards and vocal mics.  You want to build the stage from back to front, and top to bottom if you're going to fly your lights.
• Obstacles Part II- If you have the provision and the club has the infrastructure to hang your lights, you want to do that as early in the build process as possible.  You don't want to have to be stumbling over drums and cases to get to your hang points.  I'll take a ceiling mount light over a ground support any day....less stuff for the drunks to trip over.  So, once again...back to front, top to bottom.
• Taking Over The Entire Stage - If you have a small stage area, it's real easy for the drummer to bring everything to a screeching halt while they build their kit simply because they're got to lay everything out.  Here's an idea...build most of the kit off the stage if possible.  Get your stands unfolded and ready, mount the toms, set up the high hat, and get the snare ready off stage.  Then when everything across the back is ready move 'em in place.
• Not Clearing Your Empties - If a case is empty and it's not going to be used on stage (like to put an amp on), then it needs to go to the bone yard.  Be that a corner of the club or back in the trailer, it needs to go.

Again, this is all common sense that just comes down to keeping your work area clean and organized...and that's exact what your stage it.  It just never ceases to amaze me how folks that I consider very intelligent people overlook this stuff.  And I think a lot of it comes down to just looking at their set up, and not the entire production.

The best example I've ever seen of this is the guitarist who gets to the club early and sets his amp, pedal board, and all of his expensive guitars out before there's anything else on the stage.  Man...that's just begging for a snapped headstock on one of his instruments, and that'll ruin a gig for you.

When you build the show, you go macro to micro.  Put up the big stuff first and the small stuff last.  Then when you strike the show, it's in reverse.  I'll always grab the mics off the stands first and put them away.  Why?  Because they're easy for anyone else to grab.  I saw a guy at a club go up to the stage after the show and make off with over $300 in vocal mics.  The band was too busy trying to get to the bar for last call, and everyone else in the club thought he was crew.  Fortunately, one of the band members who had gone outside for a smoke caught the guy, but you get the idea.

Next week...something non-technical yet what I consider very important, and that's "how does your stage look" after you're set up?  Some things just don't belong there, so it's going to be more of a rant than anything else.  But, it will be amusing (unless you recognize yourself in the rant). 

Until then, keep the meters out of the red.

Ken

Ken Carver has been a musician and performer since the early 70's, and involved with live music production since the mid 70's. He worked for 15 years as a broadcast engineer, building numerous studios and transmitter sites around Texas. He's also worked in Critical Care Communications for the medical industry, R&D for an automated lighting manufacturer, and owned Project Lighting & Sound in the 80's. He currently heads up an R&D Hardware Technician Team at National Instruments in Austin, and still performs on the weekends in the Central Texas area. You can reach Ken at itsjustlogistics@gmail.com