Cable management *on stage*: Any tricks you can suggest?

[walterw]

OK. Coiled them that way last night. Gig in a couple hours. Will give a review of this method tomorrow.

No noticeable advantage to coiling XLRs from the center as far as I could tell.

so it was no easier on "the night of" to coil them that way? do you have many cables longer than 20 or 25 feet? (and were you still doing "over-under"?)

how about the uncoiling the next night? that's the part that still messes me up, throwing them out the wrong way and ending up with all the overhand knots

 

[DuraMorte]

how about the uncoiling the next night? that's the part that still messes me up, throwing them out the wrong way and ending up with all the overhand knots

You aren't throwing it out the wrong way; you're allowing the end that needs to stay put to pass through the center of all the loops.
Make sure that when you wrap the cable, you keep the end you started from in your hand. When you go to toss the cable, make sure the end hasn't passed through the loop.

 

[Jeff Bonny]

You aren't throwing it out the wrong way; you're allowing the end that needs to stay put to pass through the center of all the loops.
Make sure that when you wrap the cable, you keep the end you started from in your hand. When you go to toss the cable, make sure the end hasn't passed through the loop.

Throwing cables is bad form. Put the cable on the ground and walk the end out. One of the points of coiling over and under is that the amount of cable you want flakes neatly off the coil without dragging the whole thing with you across the stage.

 

[walterw]

You aren't throwing it out the wrong way; you're allowing the end that needs to stay put to pass through the center of all the loops.
Make sure that when you wrap the cable, you keep the end you started from in your hand. When you go to toss the cable, make sure the end hasn't passed through the loop.

that's the hard part; the next time, it's not easy to tell if an end has migrated through the center of the loop or not.

 

[walterw]

Throwing cables is bad form. Put the cable on the ground and walk the end out. One of the points of coiling over and under is that the amount of cable you want flakes neatly off the coil without dragging the whole thing with you across the stage.

ah. good point, and it goes to the principle i mentioned a page or two ago, of leaving the coiled excess sitting neatly by the mic rather than by the snake box.

 

[DuraMorte]

that's the hard part; the next time, it's not easy to tell if an end has migrated through the center of the loop or not.

There's an easy way to make it impossible. I'll make a video when I have time.

 

[Floyd Eye]

so it was no easier on "the night of" to coil them that way? do you have many cables longer than 20 or 25 feet? (and were you still doing "over-under"?)

how about the uncoiling the next night? that's the part that still messes me up, throwing them out the wrong way and ending up with all the overhand knots

It was easy enough. Easier ? I couldn't say. 25' and 50'. Mostly 25's.

 

[ggunn]

There's an easy way to make it impossible. I'll make a video when I have time.

Don't do it on my account; I am perfectly happy with the single twist method. I've had guys try to tell me that it's "improper" and damages the cables. 'Tain't so; the single twist method puts the cable torsionally at rest, the same as if it were wound on a spool like it comes from the factory.

DSFDF and YMMV. Do whatever works for you.

 

[walterw]

the single twist method puts the cable torsionally at rest, the same as if it were wound on a spool like it comes from the factory.

if the other end of the cable is free to spin while you wrap it, right?

i don't think actually winding it onto and off of a spinning spool is the same as looping it over and over in the same direction. take a cable wound on a spool; un-spool it and it lays straight again, but slide the whole wrapped thing off the side of the spool and i suspect it would want to twist up when you laid it out.

 

[xk49w]

I've tired of dealing with over-under cable wrapping in a band situation. No one else seems to be able to figure it out and the "helpers" turn the cable box into a mess. (Though the method was showed to me by another bass player - heh). I'm now using the divide-by-two method. All cables are 30 ft or less and have a velcro wrap up near the male end. Ensure the cable has no twists. Hold the connectors in one hand and slide the other hand down the cable to the midpoint. Bring the midpoint up and hold it with the connectors. Slide the hand down again to the new midpoint and repeat until the bundle is a convenient length to secure.

They stow in a small space, don't tangle in the box, unwrap easily and without overhand knots or twists, and almost any knucklehead can figure it out.

 

[drummer5359]

We switched from a snake to a digital stage box/digital mixer which is controlled by an ipad.

We only need to run cables to the stage box. Our one guitarist has a toolbox that he rolls in. Each XLR cable is marked with it's length, Each drawer on the tool box is marked as well and only cables of that length go in the appropriate drawer. It is a bit over the top. As the drummer, I use my own mics and cables. They too are marked and I can set up mics and cables to all of my drums in under ten minutes. Mine are rolled and packed separately in my gig bag. We are careful about running all cables neatly, the stage always looks sharp.

The most important thing is to have it down to a repeatable system, and to have everyone on board with keeping the stage neat.

 

[musicman7722]

I run a 30' x 12 channel snake from my DL1608 mixer out to the center of the stage. I then run 2 x 10' x 4 channel mini snakes to stage left and right. Each of these holds the guitar and mike for the guitar players on each side of the stage. The other two sends got to my powered top and sub so I have one small snake for 4 mike cables.

 

[musicman7722]

I know some companies have made little cable spools, and that seems silly, but it would seem to have the combined benefits of a) faster wrapping for stowage, b) partial wrapping so you don't have rats' nests scattered around the stage, and c) no more tangles, ever. If that's my perfect solution, anyone have any suggestions?

That said, I'll probably end up with a couple-few little snakes someday...

-jb

I use a $10 garden hose spool/cable from Home Depot. i plug all my mike cables together and spool them on. Easy peasy. They are bright orange and not rock and roll black but what the heck L)

 

[John Bigboote]

Amazing this thread has come back to life. Or maybe not.

My "system" has evolved to this:
- Two 4 x 25' Whirlwind fanouts, often only use one. Run to the opposite side of the stage for keys (submixer), guitar and their two vox
- 25' XLRs on an orange extension cord reel
- 50', 10' and shorter XLRs roadie-wrapped, ends plugged to themselves, and velcroed
- TRSs for monitors roadie-wrapped, velcroed, and hope for the best

Everything goes into a single, translucent tub with a locking lid, from the big box for about $12.

Gets the job done. But I've given up on asking bandmates to stow cables. They make a bigger mess than they prevent. I tell them to leave the cables alone and let me stow them at the end of the night. An extra 10 minutes of work for me, but saves tons of aggravation at next setup.

None of this has saved me from the rats' nest next to the mixer (which started this thread). I guess the best solution I have for that is, use the fanouts whenever possible.

-jb

 

[Ox Boris]

I've found that gadgets claiming to be "the solution to cable woes", aren't. You can't wrap all the cables up in one big sock or other device and only have one thing to step over. This is because the paths of cables are legion.

Without fail, the best solution is, as usual: gaff and graft.

Have them lying side-by-side, gaff 'em at intervals and lay it out around the stage periphery like a circuit board or the London Underground map, with splits and sidings, similarly gaffed.
I don't do to often, but sometimes I'm concerned about it enough to spend 20mins taping 'em up.

One disadvantage is that, if you're at a particularly lively gig at the Ayr RSL, for example, and the singer's swinging the mic like a lunatic and knocks over a cymbal, which lands, uncannily, on it's edge, completely flush across the neatly side-by-side cables, it can (and did) slice ALL the cables neatly and instantly in two.

Luckily, no explosion, but we had to go to acoustics and busk the tables for the rest of the night.