Pro Sound Web: Many of us are masters at the logistical side of loading and unloading trucks and moving gear. Correctly positioning and tuning the PA for the best coverage is almost second nature. After years of doing our jobs, we’ve become decent (or better) mixers, getting musicians to sound great in the PA. We’ve even acquired the skill of dealing with diva performers and smarmy promoters.
2 comments:
After working both at a small rental house in Germany and at a large production company like Upstaging, I understand the importance of pre-planning, especially in term of bringing spare gear. When I packed gear for the jobs in Germany, there was always a fair amount of spare gear that went with. For larger gigs, they had pre-packed power cases that went on with. They had an assortment of extension cords, IEC cables, and power strips and 9 times out of 10 it was more than what was ultimately needed for the job but having those extras saved the day on more than one occasion.
When I was home for spring break I ran into another situation that turned into a major headache which could have been avoided with a single phone call. I was working with a guy I know doing sound for a small band that was performing at the booster club fundraiser for my old high school. In past years, the booster club had always hired a DJ through a company that also provided a PA. We would then just tie into their system for the band, so we only brought a few monitors and no PA with us to the event. When we got there we discovered that the booster club hadn't hired a DJ that year and so there was no PA. We had to scramble to pull enough gear together to make it work and ultimately this major headache could have been prevented with a single phone call. Long story short, pre-planning is definitely important.
Similarly to Philip, my experiences working at large production companies have helped me understand the serious importance of pre-planning prior to going on gigs. For several summers now I have worked as a sound technician for Eastern Stage Productions and KM Productions on Long Island and remember working shop calls pulling equipment we would always have a "spares" section on the rider. It is here where the engineer would write out all of the spare gear he thought that he wanted. All this would go in the nose of the truck and only be unloaded if we needed it. This practice saved our asses on several occasions. One of the worst gigs I remember working was in Gotham Hall in Manhattan, the Engineer didn't bother with a spares case and ultimately, at around 6am, on a midnight to 8am call, we had to send the truck back to the shop to pick up more equipment that we needed. This made our 8am call last until noon and by the end of it we we're all shot.
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