Looper's Delight Archive Top (Search)
Date Index
Thread Index
Author Index
Looper's Delight Home
Mailing List Info

[Date Prev][Date Next]   [Thread Prev][Thread Next]   [Date Index][Thread Index][Author Index]

RE: Dragging Instruments



This has been a concern for my band too...especially if you are not the
only band playing. How do you minimize setup/breakdown time, minimize
the inevitable 'something must be plugged in wrong' error when you have
to set up fast and have a lot of gear?
I do use a Gator case now that has the mixer on top, with all my rack
stuff plugged in. I have my pedals zip-tied to pegboard so they are
already set up. We try to get on and off stage and try to be good about
troubleshooting when something goes wrong. 
I have played with bands with lots and lots of gear- it is funny. Some
bring out tons and tons of stuff- so much so that when they take forever
to set up and it eats into their performance time, they don't seem to
mind. Hell, I have seen bands that take as long to set up as their
performance. Maybe ok if you are the only band, but if people are
waiting to go on stage and the crowd starts leaving, then it is no fun.
Then there are guys/girls that have huge setups that they have set up in
no time at all. 
I played with this band once, that was a 4 piece-
vocals/harp/guitar/bass. They were the 2nd of 3 bands. The bassist
played bass pedals & cello also. The harpist played keyboards as well.
They played to a DAT tape of drums. They had 40 minutes to play. It took
40 minutes to set up, and the stage was a mess of wires. Well, the DAT
tape didn't work, and they fumbled with that for awhile. There was no
sound out of the cello. In all, a bit of a nightmare. The club owner cut
them off after 20 minutes. They *seemed* to know their gear, but in the
real world, the more you have, the more can, and will go wrong. I felt
bad for them, because I could see what they were trying to do, but in
that situation, the 2nd of 3 bands, and only 40 mins to play, some
compromises should have been made. Maybe it just takes experience, and
setting up/breaking down your gear many many times. 

Dave Eichenberger 
http://www.hazardfactor.com
 

 
> I'm always torn about the BIG SCHLEP.  It's a bit the whole 
> schlepping 
> thing, but also a huge part of it for me is the break down of the 
> studio and the set up brake down set the studio back up again.
>