Best gig setup practices and advice please

[Liko]

/THREAD

And yet we're still going 40 posts later

Everybody who's gigged has learned life hacks for making the bookend work easier. I probably didn't even touch on half the little tricks this forum has on tap.

 

[SoCal80s]

A lot of great ideas here, especially post #3. Loading in and out is the worst part of being in a band, so when selecting gear consider easy setup as a substantial factor. I'll just add a few thoughts:

1. Going ampless is a game-changer. You're already bringing tops for your PA, so add a good sub-woofer and now you no longer need any amps.
2. Going with in-ears means no wedges to haul around.
3. Rack-mounted digital mixers are much smaller and lighter, and if you put it in a rack with wheels are much easier to setup.
4. Get one of those bags that can hold 6 mic stands. Much easier than trying to tie them together or hand-carrying.
5. Lights with built-in rechargeable batteries means you don't need to run power cables to them
6. Try to set up the things that will go in the back of the stage first (banners, drums, mixer, amps) and then the stuff at the front. Pedal boards, mic stands, and wedges should be the last thing because they will get in the way when you are carrying the other stuff. For load out, do it in reverse. Get the mic stands, pedal boards, and wedges out of the way first.
7. Our drummer stacks his drums in their cases on a hand truck, and all other hardware fits in a case with wheels so he moves everything with 2 trips, very efficient.

 

[Bill Murray]

My band and I are a bunch of older guys and We are mostly new to gigging. We successfully completed our first 4 hour gig and the venue owner has invited us back for 2 more dates. I myself would like to improve our gear unload and load up since we obviously are doing it ourselves. I’m the youngest in the group at 53 but I would still like some advice to set up quicker for outdoor events with no sound guy and avoid some common mistakes as well as help out the older guys who are a little slower at setting up. My current rig is a fender rumble 4x10 cab and I will be adding a 1x15 soon. I also will be bring 2 basses, a boss multi effects processor, mic stand and I also take care of the PA setup.

Lots of folks seem to be suggesting that you buy new equipment, book different venues, get a sound guy, etc which is cool but not sure that’s the right route to go quite yet.

1) Teamwork. Even though this rarely happens haha having at least one other person you can count on is huge (hint it won’t be the drummer).

2. Have a routine.
Get stands up
then get speakers and monitors in place
then get all your cables plugged/routed from speakers to board/mixer.
Now plug in the power cords.

3. Label the channels and cables. Color coding works great, use different color tape or white tape works, just label everything. Ex: CH 1 vocals CH 2 guitar CH 3 bass.

4. sound check in order of the channels

**If you get a good sound at the venue, take a picture of the settings and next time you’re at THAT venue, you can just plug in and set knobs then just go for it. It won’t work for every venue but it gives you a solid starting point.

5) Coil everything cleanly. I use separate bags in a suitcase. Mics go in there bag, XLR cables are all linked together and get rolled up on an extension cord reel, another bag has 1/4”, another has power cords, and one has extensions for XLR and power if needed. All of the bags are labeled as well so if someone wants to chip in it’s straightforward enough.

Sound guys are great but they need a cut, probably only worth it if you’re playing bigger venues with BiG PAs or getting paid enough where it doesn’t matter.

Modern PAs are amazing! There is a learning curve if you’re not great at utilizing software or don’t use Apple products often, but they save some time in the long run.

Guitars are very easy to go DI with these days if you invest in the right unit. (AX8, FM3, headrush, HX Stomp) this will get rid of the guitar amps.

bass can go DI as well if you have subs

Electric drum kits are way easier to set up and DI as well.

In ears are amazing when used properly and can replace monitors, but they can be a hassle if your not using modern gear. With the right PA you can adjust everything on your phone (including in ears)

Investing in proper cases/storage for everything and having different color cables for different instruments will make life way easier though. (Cases with wheels, Blue cables for drums, green for bass, etc, mic cases, use an extension cord reel for all the XLRs, etc)

No matter what you do, it takes time. It really only takes YOU less time when you have more people pitch in.

 

[iiipopes]

All good advise so far, depending on the setups of the rest of the guys in the band. I have commented to my party band (10-piece, including horns) that the setup of a band reminds me of an anthill in action: everybody scurrying around in seeming chaos. Then all of a sudden it's done and the gig starts.

 

[Nomad5]

At 75, I sold all my cabs and heavy amps that I had and got just one Mesa 115 and a 7 lb class D amp head. I can manage it myself, but I can always throw down the age card if need be and the band will help be with my gear. Nothing like getting a little respect in your senior years. Also, I don't do stomp boxes, that means bending over to plug things in and make adjustments. Not gonna happen.
My wife helps me at times carrying bags but in her absence, this is my 2nd wife.
View attachment 4319809

+1 for this cart! I actually have 2 of them now. When I'm not using my "big" rig - everything can go on this cart and sometimes stays on during the show

Cheers

 

[DirtDog]

Good advice all around so far.

I’ll second the acquisition of a hand cart/dolly, preferably one of those convertible ones. Or a road case with casters for all the cables and small stuff.

Second, I’d think about how you can minimize chaos when routing cables and plugging things in. Find a way to set up some wiring harnesses for stuff that gets set up the same way each time. Have all your cables marked on both ends.

Finally, too many cooks in the kitchen can create chaos. Have someone be more or less orchestrating the setup and/or delegating. Especially when plugging things in. Huge pain in the ass to track down someone else’s mistake. Numbering and/colour coding the cables and inputs makes things go quicker and minimizes errors.

 

[oldcatfish]

1. Find a sound guy. Even if you have to pay him a slice of the take, it's worth it to have a good soundman. He's an extra pair of hands and legs to move and set up the gear, he's an extra pair of ears out in FOH listening to the mix, and he can have his hands on the board when you can't because you're too busy playing. When you're running your own sound, have someone dedicated to running it. Our band is lucky; the lead singer and the drummer's son are an item, so he tags along to all the gigs anyway. Instant roadie. Not only do we put his volunteer-fireman ass to work in the load-in/load-out, we're teaching him the rudiments of running the board, so when it's our board he can bump faders out in FOH.
2. Look for gigs with professional "house" sound. In terms of your load-in/load-out responsibilities, house sound is a boon, as is a house sound guy that knows the system to run it. It won't always be available, especially for the kinds of gigs new bands often land. However, venue owners and event coordinators have their own reputation to uphold as a place bands want to come and play, and a place people want to come to hear the bands. As such, at least halfway decent house systems for live music are becoming a staple of venues that host live music, and annual events seeking to attract talent will invest in a third-party media crew. Either way, you should be able to know in advance what your load-in is going to be, and if you're hauling your own PA to and from BFE for the gig, you can negotiate that into the price.
3. Scale the PA, not your stage rigs. Sounds counterintuitive, but when you think about it it really isn't. You need the PA anyway, at least a couple tops and monitors for vocals. If your rehearsal rig won't carry the house, neither will the drums, and if you're miking the kit you'll need a PA beefy enough that you might as well mic up everything. It's tempting to make sure that you yourself have enough rig for the gig no matter what the PA situation is (and there are definitely advantages to that approach), but this is how volume wars start between band members, and nobody wins a volume war, least of all your audience. You'd be surprised how far a decent pair of 1000w 2x12" or 2x15" mains and one or two subs underneath will take you, even outdoors. Considering you need the tops anyway, that's less load-in than an extra cab for your bass amp and each guitar amp. There are some gigs where you have to look like a stereotypical rock band, complete with backline, but they're rarer than you think especially in the bar/festival circuit; most venues in fact encourage the opposite, because they don't have the space for it all and because they need to minimize turnaround between each act. Sometimes it won't even be your rig you plug into; the venue will insist on their backline (or DIs), making your load-in your axe and maybe a pedalboard.
4. Furniture dollies/hand carts. It's so obvious, yet so rare. Don't haul the gear when you can roll it around. This is an investment that pays dividends in spades, and it doesn't even have to be that expensive (for the price of a single Shure SM58, you can have Invalid Link Removed). Obviously not as useful for the roof patio gig up three flights of stairs, but you'd be surprised how many people make a dozen trips to and from the truck carrying cabs and amp racks by hand when a simple hand cart cuts the trips in half at least and the effort by more than that.
   
5. Have a plan to divide and conquer. Nobody should be standing around watching someone else hauling gear and doing hookups. By the same token, you don't need all five people clustered around the stage box trying to plug things in. You're a band; your entire gig is fundamentally dependent on your ability to work together. That should extend from the time you pull up to the venue to the time you head out home. The exact plan depends on the band, the gear and even the specific venue, but the goal should be that everyone is tasked with things they have the knowledge and strength/dexterity to handle, that keeps them out of everyone else's way. You might assign a band member to their "home section" of the stage, as in the lead singer is also responsible for the monitor wedges along the frontline, the bass player and lead guitarist handle the mains on their side of the stage, and the rhythm guitarist handles the connections at the stage box. Whatever. Just make sure everybody knows what needs to be done, the approximate order of operations, and what of that they are expected to do.
6. Help the freakin' drummer already. If you're like most bands, and you've followed my advice so far, you'll have already cut your load-in significantly. Your drummer, however, has been back of the eight-ball from the moment he discovered that hitting things with sticks is fun. The drummer typically has the worst loading and setup/teardown requirements of the whole band, even if he doesn't touch the main PA components. You want to streamline the prep and teardown, you help the drummer with theirs. Obviously you should ask him if he wants help - people can be picky about who handles their stuff - and you need to know what you're doing, but it won't be long before you'll have seen that kit get set up and torn down enough times that you could probably do the whole thing yourself, maybe minus the fine-tuning. It ain't rocket surgery; it's an instrument designed for a guy who thinks hitting it with sticks is fun after all.
7. Mise en place. That's Frenchy talk for "a place for everything, and everything in its place". For bands and audio gear, that boils down to, have an intuitive and organized way to store and transport all your stuff. That means cases. They don't have to be designed specifically for music; before getting scammed on light cases at Guitar Center or Sam Ash, take a look at what Home Depot or Lowe's has in their tool storage section. You can get a durable, lightweight, accessible rolling tool caddy for a lot less than a purpose-built flight case. Make sure to economize on number and size of cases, you don't want a bunch of small bags or boxes getting lost in the shuffle any more than you want a big half-empty monstrosity to find a place for backstage. The cases don't have to be ATA rated, at least not until you're on a 50-city tour of the US, but not only will these cases give your valuable gear some protection, they give your gear a place it should be when not in use, where it can be easily gotten to. Given such a place, put the gear where it goes when you're done.
8. COIL AND WRAP YOUR CABLES. An important corollary of the previous point. After you've closed the bar down on a 4-hour gig playing every song you know and a few you don't, it's very tempting to just rip everything out of the jacks, ball it up and throw it in the duffel bag. Don't be tempted; you're just going to deal with an even bigger mess in that bag at your next gig or rehearsal. Take the time to coil each cable, and have a Velcro wrap-tie on each one. Still too much bother? Pro tip; head to Home Depot and pick up an Invalid Link Removed. Hook your first 20' XLR into the clip on the reel and start reeling it in. When you get to the end, hook the next 20-footer to it and repeat until they're all on the reel. A reel like the one I linked to will easily hold 10 cables, tangle-free, knot-free. Then at the next gig, just set the reel down on stage and start pulling of cable as needed. If you have different lengths (10, 20 and 50 are common on-stage), have multiple reels. They aren't expensive.

—I can’t even begin to express what an excellent post this is. Do exactly what it says to cut your setup time in half.

 

[WI Short Scaler]

My band and I are a bunch of older guys and We are mostly new to gigging. We successfully completed our first 4 hour gig and the venue owner has invited us back for 2 more dates. I myself would like to improve our gear unload and load up since we obviously are doing it ourselves. I’m the youngest in the group at 53 but I would still like some advice to set up quicker for outdoor events with no sound guy and avoid some common mistakes as well as help out the older guys who are a little slower at setting up. My current rig is a fender rumble 4x10 cab and I will be adding a 1x15 soon. I also will be bring 2 basses, a boss multi effects processor, mic stand and I also take care of the PA setup.

The simplest things can make life easy at setup.

-as gear is unloaded put it in roughly the spot it will be used, saves moving things multiple times
-have a job for everyone so multiple jobs completed at once, once the speakers are set in place our female singer runs cables from the board (already roughly in place as said above) to each side and cables the subs to the tops, guitarist sets the monitor in place and runs cable to the board (see above) and the power, while those jobs are getting done I set the lights and sound board up
-after this all comes together guitarist and I set basses/guitars/stand and amps while female singer sets up her cajon riser
-the PA jobs are all made easier at set up if cabling is stored neatly and appropriately at the last load out, power cables and XLR's for speakers are packed with them, power for lights stored with them, etc
-and running cabling is FAR easier if they were wrapped neatly at last load out, no untangling needed

Just some simple steps we take that mean we are usually 45 mins from starting to unload to start sound checking. May be helpful for you.

 

[bassliner50]

Tip jars can be a plus, but only when appropriate! Take requests, smile, learn peoples names. In other words, "Schmooze" as well as perform and you should be rewarded.

 

[1bassplayinfool]

Get there early.

 

[jdh3000]

My band and I are a bunch of older guys and We are mostly new to gigging. We successfully completed our first 4 hour gig and the venue owner has invited us back for 2 more dates. I myself would like to improve our gear unload and load up since we obviously are doing it ourselves. I’m the youngest in the group at 53 but I would still like some advice to set up quicker for outdoor events with no sound guy and avoid some common mistakes as well as help out the older guys who are a little slower at setting up. My current rig is a fender rumble 4x10 cab and I will be adding a 1x15 soon. I also will be bring 2 basses, a boss multi effects processor, mic stand and I also take care of the PA setup.

EV Evolve 50 and a nonpowered board. Easy set ip, light and powerfull. Get a set amd you can play most anywhere.

 

[SoCal80s]

Couple more things I thought about:

1. Power cords. My mixer is inside a closable case with rack mounts. This allows me to use the rack as a case and all the power cables can ride in there pre-connected. This is everything I have to plug in (guitarist does his own): 3 PA speakers and 1 monitor, mixer rack (closable case), and pedal board. The speakers and monitor all use the same type of power cord so I pack those 4 in one giant ziplock bag and throw that inside the rack. Everything in the mixer rack is pre-connected to a heavy duty long power strip, so all I have to plug in is one power strip and the 4 speakers. I also plug my pedal board into that power strip since it's usually right next to me. I bring 2 extension cords and 2 power strips in case there are no convenient plugs.

2. XLR cables. I've tried color coding cables and all that before, but I think it is better to make everything interchangeable so I can just grab the next cable and go. The distances between things will change from venue to venue, so it is hard to pre-plan what length cable you will use. So all my cables are about the same length (20'). If I need longer I connect two of them together. If I need shorter it still gets a 20' cable, but I coil it neatly on the floor below. That way I don't have to think about which cable was assigned to what, I just grab the next one. I like the idea of a cable reel, will have to get one.

 

[Slough Feg Bass]

only other thing I thought about I guess I only use when on tour, when I am out of my mind, but a well though out check list of items & locations can really help to remember how and where everything might go. I usually print out one for each gig and at the end of the night go through it to make sure we collect everything we need and put it back in the van/trailer. It also helps when you have someone else who doesn't know all your gear assisting you with things.
heck, a decent stage plot never hurts as well, so everyone knows where things go.
good luck, and post some gig reviews!

 

[BlueTalon]

My current rig is a fender rumble 4x10 cab and I will be adding a 1x15 soon.

At 75, I sold all my cabs and heavy amps that I had and got just one Mesa 115 and a 7 lb class D amp head.

I'm already at the point where if I have to bring an amp to a gig I bring a small class D head and 1x12 cabinet.

Small is the new big in bass amplification. The best, most capable, best sounding, smallest, and lightest bass gear in history is being made right now.

For an easier load-in/out, ditch that 410 cab as soon as you can. You don't need it. There are smaller, lighter cabs that sound as good and get just as loud.

 

[OogieWaWa]

Great ideas. Especially the stuff at the used things store. Oh, and surplus stores; it's amazing how much stuff we've designed to hold military gear.

Get some help, some young musician or something, BUT if you do, keep an eye on them at first and teach them what not to do. Like not stack the guitars and keyboard cases flat on the ground, in a pile, and in the sun. That happened. Getting help is a watch-what-you-ask-for thing. But after a couple of times you'll have a system figured out and may not need them. We're actually looking for a mule, er, roadie.

 

[12BitSlab]

Regarding tear down and loading up at the end of the gig:

You absolutely should have one less person packing up and carrying things at the end of a gig than you do before the gig.

Why?

There should be a member of the band assigned to collect your money at the end of the gig. I played near full time for 15 years and played well over 1,000 gigs. You wouldn’t believe how many “responsible” people disappear as soon as you complete your last song.

The person assigned should be firm, yet polite. They should pursue the goal (i.e., collecting the money) like a bulldog with the approach of a puppy. Make sure the person collecting the money has a copy of the signed contract between the band and the responsible party. What? You don’t use contracts? Prepare to be a sorry person.

The bottom line?

If you don’t get the money you agreed upon, what was the point in playing?

 

[SoCal80s]

There should be a member of the band assigned to collect your money at the end of the gig. ...

That's a good point. In our band the first priority for the person who booked the gig is to collect our pay. Beyond that, there is also value in having someone talking up the manager to get a couple more gigs booked. So don't give that guy grief if he's not helping with load out. If someone is getting me more gigs I'll gladly carry some of their gear.

 

[Jason Hollar]

This is true ^ because the person collecting the bread can also schmooze with Mgmt and hopefully book a follow up gig if not already on the books.