The Well-Tempered Gig Bag

To paraphrase the slogan from CapitalOne, what's in your gig bag? No synths, just support gear (cables, etc.). Is it lean and mean, or do you schlep more than you need? Anything unique that makes the gig just a little easier?

Have fun.

My 'gig bag' isn't a 'bag' at all. It's an old Anvil road case that was originally stuffed with tons of foam to accomodate a Moog Source I owned years ago. (I ordered a 'custom' case from Anvil in 1982 and they sent me this!) It's about 24" x 12" x 8". It holds my four foot pedals, the midi pedalboard for my guitar rig, the micstand for my Ultimate stand, my mic, my extension cords, an assortment of extra cables and connectors, and a few small tools.

All of this would fit nicely and more lightly in an actual 'bag' of course, but the advantage to the anvil case is it can serve as a step for high stages, a box to set my rack on if need be, or on end it's a nice drink/set list stand.

All my keyboard gigbags contain duplicate pedals, power adaptors/cords and audio cables. That way, when I leave for a gig, I just have to disconnect my keyboard from the stands in my studio and put it in the gig bag. No need to take out any cables or accidentally forget them since I have duplicates in the bag already!

If you're a gigging musician, I strongly recommend packing duplicate cables, ESPECIALLY power cords/wallwarts.

If it uses a non-standard cable or wallwart, It's more than worth it to buy another one. I can't stress that enough.

Just keyboard, power cord, and 2 audio cables for conecting it.

I started a similar thread awhile back. Here it is:

GIG Survival Kits - What's in Yours?

My text from the original thread, slightly updated:

I think it is important to have a routine survival kit planned out for all gigs.

In addition to gig clothes, I travel with a mini version of my at-home bathroom: toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss, Advil, Excedrin, soap, Tums, lots of gum. Also, I have mosquito spray for outdoor gigs.

A quintessential item is the "mobile speakeasy," since one never knows if they will get bar privileges (or play a dry gig...the horror). I always carry a cooler with at least a 6-pack, in addition to some Diet Cokes and water. Plus, having some little airplane bottles of Capt Morgan or Jim Beam has proven to be a lifesaver. A lot of the time the libations are not needed, but they really hit the spot in certain situations. I usually have a sleeve of plastic stadium cups, in case there is a need to sneak leaded beverages into a dry event.

I have extra power supplies for every keyboard and amp, as well as extra patch cords and MIDI cables. I have a small toolkit with the tools I would need if something went wrong.

I always have a spare change of clothes, for after the gig. I've started bringing a fold-up chair for lounging/tailgating during down time.

The latest addition was a nice heavy-duty folding cart that will move my entire rig (cooler included) in ONE TRIP! It is amazing!

Regards,

Eric

In Eric's thread above I mentioned that I was looking for the perfect gig van... and I found it - a late model Chevy Astro I call "Ruby":

Ruby has spare cables of all sorts, amps, lights, wardrobe, plugs, CD's, wardrobe, bottled water, keyboards, songlists, you name it.

It's also ultra-secure and has a third party alarm system, caged windows, locking cabinets, etc. I installed a solar air vent to keep it cool in the sunshine. Most of the gear stays in it so Ruby is always ready to gig.

Ruby has spare cables of all sorts, amps, lights, wardrobe, plugs, CD's, wardrobe, bottled water, keyboards, songlists, you name it.

It's also ultra-secure and has a third party alarm system, caged windows, locking cabinets, etc. I installed a solar air vent to keep it cool in the sunshine. Most of the gear stays in it so Ruby is always ready to gig.

Great looking rig, Pro. If Batman played keys, he'd have this vehicle! Now I'm feeling sheepish about using my Tarus.

I've often felt a desire to have such a rig, only mine would have the boards already set up. I'd just drive to the gig, open the back, slide out the stage with the boards attached, play, slide it back in, and leave.

Regarding Eric's, um, luggage: I knew of a keyboard player that traveled with one of those portable bars - you know, the small attache-styled bags that contained at least a couple of bottles of liquor, glasses, and so on. He called it his Tragedy Kit.

Good suggestion on the duplicates, elsongs.

That's been my number one gig tip to newbies.. I'm glad to see others post it / follow it.

I posted this on another site...

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Duplicate your wiring on the stuff that you want to take live. That way you dont have to crawl around all your stuff at home over and over when you take stuff in and out. Just unhook the equipment from the audio cables and you're ready to go because you'll have an identical set waiting in a gear bag to go to the gig.

Have as many adapters as possible. You never know when something is going to go wrong. That way if you need to you can connect your synth using the headphone jack and not the 1/4 jacks.

If using a laptop, make sure you plug your adapter into a seperate circuit than the rest of your gear or try to get a ground loop isolator (avaible at radio shack type places). Alot of laptop power adapters induce hum into the circuit that will be picked up by the audio equipment. If not possible make sure your laptop battery is fully charged.

Do not ever haul around a desktop pc and monitor. Sequenced live and played back live makes no difference to anyone other than you. And you should get over it. If you don't believe me try unloading and loading up the PC + the extra time it takes to hook up for a week straight. Your back by that point will feel differently than you do.

And to continue that train of thought .. when getting ready for a show, do a master mixdown of your material, but remove one or two key parts that you want to play live from one or two synths or sampler. Take the master recording and transfer to your device of choosing (minidisk, DAT, laptop.. ect). And then make a CD or tape backup of it. And then bring a CD or tape player with you (walkman type is ok) along with the needed cables and adapters to to transfer the audio out the headphone jack to a mixing board. This is just in case your primary method fails.

On the synth you intend to play live, if it allows you, make a cutom perfromance with the patches in the order that you will use them. That way you just ove one patch at a time rather than have to keep searching for them.

If playing back from a CD, make sure it is in either an industrial A/V CD player that will withstand shock or keep it as far away as possible from any speaker. Bass from the monitors or PA will more than likely make the CD skip.

As I said, have one set of cables for the gig, one for home that you leave in place. The ones for the gig, get some velcro cable ties and tie them and label them. that helps because you dont waste time unraveling cables and you know where it goes (IE the Motif).

Make a master list of everything you take with you including every cable, power adapter, CD and whatever.

IE ..

Motif 6 -

Power cable to Motif

Quiklok x stand

1 dual 1/4 - 1/4 cable.

Backup CD #1

Sony Discman w/ adapter.

As you get ready for the gig, mark each item off as you pack it. And when you pack up to leave the gig do the same thing.

Practice setting up and taking down your live setup. Use a garage or something roomy. An ideal setup time is 30 - 40 mins a person. Each person performing should have their own personalized versions of the above lists and equipment. Make a master floor plan of who and what goes where along with a breif wiring diagram into your mixer and effects ect.

Here is a list of suggestead items to take with you aside from your gear:

A full set of screwdrivers. Phillips and flathead.

A full set of alan wrenches.

A wire stripper + butt connectors.

Audio adapters in every sort.

An LED flashlight with spare batteries. (LED so the bulb doesnt break).

Duct tape.

Electrical tape.

Extension cords.

Surge protectors / power strips.

Various spare cables.

First aid kit w/ aspirin (or personal preference) and personal medications.

Fuses (see what types and amps your equipment needs)

Don't forget the gaffers tape!

I, have never needed it. I should have put that in though. the only gigs i've played were original music, and allways at dive clubs / bars around town. The last thing they cared about was the condition of their lousy plywood stages anyway

That sort of "Bat-gig vehicle" entered my mind too, but I realized that there is no place around here where I'd actually use the van as some kind of performing platform. I was thinking of all kinds of semi-useful but still pie-in-the-sky things like a custom awning, installing a custom sound system that was giggable, custom wheels, etc. but that would just be a waste of money. It's enough just to keep Ruby low-profile so noone is tempted to try to break into it (even if they wouldn't succeed). I have an EZ-Up tent I can pitch next to the van if I ever want to do something silly.

I always carry spare instrument cables and power cables, but have never thought of packing adapters (quarter inch to XLR). Good thought, though, Protues9.

Equally good: spare fuses. I once played a gig where the guitar player blew a fuse. I was astonished that he didn't have a spare. Fortunately I had a Crate Taxi amp that I used for a monitor. He got through the night on that.

Left it back in the States. I wish I'd brought a couple of items with me.

But I remember the contents.

2 (1x4) Midiman MIDI thru ports

2 (2x2) M-Audio USB MIDI interfaces

10-12 MIDI cables

10-15 audio cables

3 surge protectors/power strips

1 20' extension cable

All the power chords for my devices.

Extra guitar strings

rolls of colored electrical tape.

1 set headphones

Adapter jacks for stereo, guitar & 1/8"

Y cables with guitar jacks & stereo jacks.