Members Telecruiser Posted December 20, 2011 Members Share Posted December 20, 2011 I got in a little late on this but -Unless you have taken the time to train all parties involved exactly how you want it done you have nothing to gripe about. That's just me.In my previous business with 70 employees we took a lot of time showing all employees how we expected things to be done no matter what their skill level. Expecting people to know how, without you showing them, you want something done is a recipe for heartburn. If you don't have the patience or time to show them then stock up on Prilosec. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TheDoctorMo Posted December 20, 2011 Author Members Share Posted December 20, 2011 Well, I never even asked for the help. They just started doing stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Telecruiser Posted December 20, 2011 Members Share Posted December 20, 2011 Well, I never even asked for the help. They just started doing stuff.Got it. People with good intentions but very little experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 6Imzadi Posted December 20, 2011 Members Share Posted December 20, 2011 One of my two helpers is a mouth. He's constantly running it. I discovered that having him help costs us more time during setup. If it's only me and the light man, we can be done in about an hour. When it's all three you would think things would go faster, but no and we're the two who pay him. It takes the better part of an hour and 45 minutes. And I have to keep "reminding" him how to do things. One of my favorites is when he sets the male end of the mic cable down by the mic stand and runs it really neat to the snake head only to find out it's backward. Then rip it out and not so neat reverses it. Grrr. He is the lead singer's neighbor and husband of their babysitter. So, it's hard right now to fire him. After the new year, though..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members W. M. Hellinger Posted December 21, 2011 Members Share Posted December 21, 2011 I'm (still) of the contention that tear-down and load out should take longer than load-in and set-up... and if not, I contend that something is wrong. It's just a litmus test for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Musicman717 Posted December 21, 2011 Members Share Posted December 21, 2011 Here is another grip that i have, ok, i pull my truck up and back it in to where i can unload at a outside event, and from the the truck to the place i am going to setup there is no one there and i am thinking awe man great time to get everything out of the trailor and i unlock the thing and start getting things out and i turn around and there is more or less a family reunion of people standing there in between my trailor and where i intend to setup and be stationed at doing nothing but talking. and they act like they havent seen each other in a hundred years and probably had dinner night before last with each other. and they WIL NOT move to get out of your way at all you have to go around,and they dont think well maybe we are in this guys way and then go somewhere else. It's totally aggrivating to me. i don't know if ya'll have any problems like that but it has happened to me more than once. and then if they get by the trailor they watch you take everything out and just look at you and never ask if they can help you. at times i have had that happen to me too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators MarkGifford-1 Posted December 21, 2011 Moderators Share Posted December 21, 2011 I think I'm going to start sitting around until the rest are ready to go home. Then, I will start packing things. This will also give me a chance to talk to the owner and cool off for a bit. This isn't going to win you any goodwill from the owner, who's paying his help to stay, until you're done loading out. The faster you can get the heck out of there, the happier he's going to be. I always advise people to look at every aspect of their setup/strike and see if there's anything that you can do to shave off a minute here and a minute there. A few bucks in cable ties, plastic tubs, etc. can make things much faster, and just as importantly, less prone to loss/failure/operator error. MG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Miko Man Posted December 21, 2011 Members Share Posted December 21, 2011 I'm (still) of the contention that tear-down and load out should take longer than load-in and set-up... and if not, I contend that something is wrong. It's just a litmus test for me. My experience is different. The load-in and set-up takes longer because things have to be placed and adjusted, cables correctly routed and taped down, and everything checked. The out is faster because there is less thinking and figuring out exact locations--it all goes back into the case/box/bag where it lives and gets in queue for the load. There is less thinking and deciding for the out (thank God, cause at the end of some shows, not much brainpower is available). Mark C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members himilcyclr Posted December 21, 2011 Members Share Posted December 21, 2011 Fortunately I am to the point that most of the crew I will bring is trained to how I like things done. It took awhile the payoff is huge and everyone pretty much has a task they handle. One of my biggest gripes was and still is the occasional "helper" that is in an all-fire hurray to get it packed and out no matter how wrong it is done. My response is, "Dude if you are in a hurray, there is the door, leave." I would rather do it myself and do it right. Generally this is the know-it-all in the crowd. I do try and be polite and as many in this post have pointed out, I let them know I have a system and were I will really need and appreciate their help is when we are staged and ready for load-out. I then become the director for the point, push and roll to the truck, trailer or van. So far, so good. Communication is the real key to whole thing working well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members twostone Posted December 21, 2011 Members Share Posted December 21, 2011 Well, I never even asked for the help. They just started doing stuff.Well be glad they offered I've had a band member in the past that didn't wanna lift a finger with ex singer with the worse case of Diva syndrome I ever ran across in my 35 years of being a musician and playing in bars. He thought he could show up 5 mins till show time then sing then get paid more then the rest of us then leave I Also had 1 band member in the past get so drunk that he couldn't even roadie his own gear out to the truck. Best bet is to have a pow wow and make a game plan and assign specific roadie chores to each band member on how you want it done in specific order.Mogwix has the right game plan do the cables and make the rest do your grunt work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Musicman717 Posted December 21, 2011 Members Share Posted December 21, 2011 Well be glad they offered I've had a band member in the past that didn't wanna lift a finger with ex singer with the worse case of Diva syndrome I ever ran across in my 35 years of being a musician and playing in bars. He thought he could show up 5 mins till show time then sing then get paid more then the rest of us then leave I Also had 1 band member in the past get so drunk that he couldn't even roadie his own gear out to the truck. Best bet is to have a pow wow and make a game plan and assign specific roadie chores to each band member on how you want it done in specific order. Mogwix has the right game plan do the cables and make the rest do your grunt work. Been there , Done that , bought the T shirt and out grown it. A fe of the band members that i have worked with tend to like to get their stuff setup and then turn around and sit down and watch you get the P.A. and your guitar system setup. That's why i am a one man show. dont have to worry about any of that anymore. and here is something else , i set my system up just the way i have set it up for the last few years and then I have had someone that is a good friend of mine that is in the business say , if it was me i would hook it up this way or that way, My feeling is that what works for some may not work for others. I have it set up just the way i want it setup. UGH!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members twostone Posted December 22, 2011 Members Share Posted December 22, 2011 Been there , Done that , bought the T shirt and out grown it. A fe of the band members that i have worked with tend to like to get their stuff setup and then turn around and sit down and watch you get the P.A. and your guitar system setup. That's why i am a one man show. dont have to worry about any of that anymore. and here is something else , i set my system up just the way i have set it up for the last few years and then I have had someone that is a good friend of mine that is in the business say , if it was me i would hook it up this way or that way, My feeling is that what works for some may not work for others. I have it set up just the way i want it setup. UGH!!!!! One man show as in a solo act or a lone roadie? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Musicman717 Posted December 22, 2011 Members Share Posted December 22, 2011 One man show as in a solo act or a lone roadie? a little bit of both. LOL, when i setup my sound system for events that hire me i do it by myself. My system is small, and doesn't take that long to set up. and then i take care of the stage swapping out bands and then running the mixer. of course my dad and mom helps sometimes with unloading , but it's pretty much me until they help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TheDoctorMo Posted December 22, 2011 Author Members Share Posted December 22, 2011 This isn't going to win you any goodwill from the owner, who's paying his help to stay, until you're done loading out. Everywhere we play, the bar stays open for another couple hours after our last song, so, this isn't an issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarjrh Posted December 22, 2011 Members Share Posted December 22, 2011 Here is another gripe of mine: I hate moving things once, let alone two or three times.We usually unload the entire truck before any setup. This is to keep the bar's door closed to respect the owner's AC/Heating environment. However, people always set things down right on the stage area or very near. The first thing I have to do is move it all out of the way. ARRRRRGGHHH! This happens to me all the time and I hate it too. The system and trailer are mine and I'm the last one in after unloading it completely as you describe. Monday night I walk in and ALL the damn monitors are sitting on the front edge of the stage!!! Of course, we had to move them to even be able to get ON the stage to set up the back truss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WynnD Posted December 22, 2011 Members Share Posted December 22, 2011 Why the "Monster" speaker cables? Was making my own bi-amp cables with speakon connectors and 50' lengths. Don't like cable problems and run a fairly low power system and didn't want to lose much in the cables. That's why the 12 gauge wires. My current setup that still uses those cables that I made about 12 years ago and I'm up to a three way system that maxes out at just under 2000 watts total (RMS) with largest speaker configuration. (Didn't use that at all last year. Did use the 1270 watt configuration three times last year.) All my PA cables are bi-amp configured and totally interchangeable. the +/- 2 is always attached to the HF amp. (Even on the sub out speakon connectors.) I set the system up so it's hard to make a mistake in connections. (More likely to be in too much of a hurry when setting up. I do need the cables to be in the right bags. I do some small sound jobs with a bit of regularity and need to be able to reach for the correct bag to find the right cables. Just noticed that my bandmates will wind the cables up, but never put them in a bag. They do end up in the right place that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dogoth Posted December 25, 2011 Members Share Posted December 25, 2011 I understand your pain. Luckily I've worked with the same guys for years so we know who does what and if not we ask first. We get a lot of riders that spec X number of QUALIFIED stage hands for load in & out. For a while the organization I work for was sending anybody from banquet setup guys to janitors to help. We put an end to that. We now hire from a local sound contractor who is more than happy to keep his extra crew busy (and leverage a couple of buck besides). The traveling acts are happy and so are we. Working with pros is a joy, working with volunteers, sometimes is not as much fun (and CAN be dangerous if dealing with fly rail issues or loading a truck (this is why we started using better labor - liability)). We do however have an A/V department that you'd think should have the skill set to do this kind of work. A few of them do but most of them don't. When they offer to help we usualy tell them "thanks we've got it covered". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Miko Man Posted December 25, 2011 Members Share Posted December 25, 2011 The fly rail can seriously hurt or kill more crew than anybody else in the theater. (I guess the sound guy could damage more folks ears during the show, and the lazer tech could blind or damage a lot of eyes in a hurry, but I think that the fly rail is the most likely -- pyro excepted.) Mark C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TimmyP Posted December 25, 2011 Members Share Posted December 25, 2011 Here is another grip that i have, ok, i pull my truck up and back it in to where i can unload at a outside event, and from the the truck to the place i am going to setup there is no one there and i am thinking awe man great time to get everything out of the trailor and i unlock the thing and start getting things out and i turn around and there is more or less a family reunion of people standing there in between my trailor and where i intend to setup and be stationed at doing nothing but talking. and they act like they havent seen each other in a hundred years and probably had dinner night before last with each other. and they WIL NOT move to get out of your way at all you have to go around,and they dont think well maybe we are in this guys way and then go somewhere else. It's totally aggrivating to me. i don't know if ya'll have any problems like that but it has happened to me more than once. and then if they get by the trailor they watch you take everything out and just look at you and never ask if they can help you. at times i have had that happen to me too. Just get some earplugs and one of those little air horns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.