Karaoke Forums

How long does it take a KJ typically to set up his stuff.  Is you setup already there and you just hit the power switch, or are you transporting most of it in a van?

Is the tear-down time the same as setup time?

Two of us from van to start average 20 minutes, have done it in 15.

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I put 5 minutes, because my main gig is an installed system. Uncover a few racks, plug in the laptop, change the input on the TV, done!

If I am doing my mobile outdoor setup, it is 45 minutes if I unload it all myself, 35 minutes with help.

We can setup in 30 min but we are early and might be eating a burger or talking to customers or strangers during setup. Then it takes about an hour. Teardown and loaded is 20 min.

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driz,

 You know...this is the ONLY part...set-up and breakdown...that "bothers" me. Other than that, I'd do this for as long as God lets me. My show starts at 8pm. I leave my home at 5:30 pm to get to the venue by 6pm. Mind you, At 2pm, I've loaded up the "vehicle", ( 93' Town Car...yes it all fits in trunk and back seat ) and THAT already took ME 35-45 minutes. Okay, I'm at the venue, start lugging the stuff AGAIN...by myself...and then stop to rest. About 7pm I start "setting up" and doing my sound check, usually all set by 7:45 at the latest. Then I take that 15 minutes to grab a beer, socialize with the patrons, then at 8pm off and running. My show ends at 12midnight (never) but I always play later because the crowd (and myself) is having a good time. ( plus they usually take up a collection for me playing overtime....very nice crowd) Usually a little after 1am I shut down the karaoke, play some dance songs, ( slow and fast ) take a beer and a cig break while the dance music is playing, then I shut it down, pack it up and call it a night. I'm usually out of there, on my way home, by 3am...getting home and in bed by 3:30am..then unloading  in the morning after 2 cups of coffee, and a LOT of oohs and ahhs from the non-responsive, over the hill, lack of exercise, just plain "in pain" muscles. But, it's still fun for me...even with those "drawbacks".

                           Donny "B"  

BTW: As you probably realize...my style of setting up/breaking down is NOT the norm !!!!

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It takes my wife and I about 40-45 minutes to set up, at a gingerly pace.

Breaking down, on the other hand, takes the better part of an hour with all of the electrical and acoutical wires we have to re-wrap.

  I hate breaking down because:
    - we have no set order for doing so and, therefore, it can get pretty chaotic
    - we've left stuff behind on chairs or tables that we've had to go back for the next day
    - things don't always fit easily back into their designated "case"
    - I sometimes end up, late at night, finishing the "wrapping" and "packing" when we've run out of time as they're were closing the doors at the "gig"

In a way, I envy those who can show up 15 minutes before the starting time and have everything ready on schedule.  But the shows I refer to don't set up additional monitors, only have two wired mics (no cordless mics), don't have song catalogs or request slips to put out.

My partner is rather OCD about equipment (old musician who lived 'on the road' for 50 weeks of the year for years and years) - everything goes in the van the same way every time, comes out in the same order every time....all cords wrapped properly, all mics wrapped in bubble wrap, cords in one bin, etc. etc. I hump stuff out of the van and set it on the floor for him.  Usually 1-2 singers will offer to help. Only one he trusts to carry stuff.

Set up time from van to singing is probably closer to 40 minutes...but he always has 15 minutes to spare before having to start.

Ericlater, know what you mean about the entire time it takes. We leave house at 8:10 and arrive home at 2:10 from a 4-hour gig, and we're only 16 miles from the place.

k

[font=verdana]  I know about the ‘chaotic’ part of tearing down. As some of you know I used my equipment at my daughter’s wedding reception last Friday.  When it came time to shut down my new son in law was nice enough to stay and help me.  He along with another daughter and granddaughter were carrying out things while I got them ready.  In all the confusion, somehow we left one of my 50’ Peavey speaker cables.  I have a case I put them in, and didn’t realize until Tuesday that they weren’t both in the case.  My newly wed daughter checked with the place where the reception was held, but they couldn’t find them.  The Saturday night after the wedding, they had a band in there, and they probably have a very nice cable now.  D**n!   Going to see if I can contact the band and very nicely ask if they possible picked it up 'by mistake'
 [/font]  

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Dusty Rose
Blue Rose Classic Karaoke
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Breakdown for me is 30 minutes, with just a bit of help from my wife, daughter, or friends. It always seems longer, but when I look at the watch that is all it took.

If I were doing this for a living, I would very definitely get a dedicated van or trailer. The equipment would go in there and stay there. (I have the garage space.) I would have my rack pre-wired, and we would be talking very few connections or cables to wind. Two mic cables, three speaker cables, maybe a rack connect, and that would be it.

If I had a small bar venue that turned out to be long-running, I would eventually buy a pair of powered speakers that would be permanently mounted to the wall. The power and input wires would be run and locked down. There would be a wire to a bar TV. I would have to arrive with one small rack and a laptop with external monitor, hook up a couple of mics and a couple of cords, and away I go. One small rolling cart holds it all,
and unload time is 2 minutes.

The price:

          Speakers: $500-$1,300 (B215A pair: $500, Peavey $800, Tapco $700, EV pair: $1,300)
          Speaker mounts: $60
          XLR cables: $70
          Power cords: $15

Bear in mind that if I lost the gig I would retain all those items for the next. The savings in setup time would be huge. Granted the sound might not be killer, but it would be serviceable.

When I only had a Saturday show I use to leave a powered mixer, 2 speakers and a 13" TV  at the place that I shared with the other DJ.  It took 10 mins to plug in the lap top, set up some mics and away I went.   At the new show on Thursday it's taking about 30 minutes from start to finish to set up and about 20 to tear down.

I used to allow at least 90 minutes for set-up, and I'm including lighting as well.
I'd get into the venue in the afternoon, secure everything and come back smiling a few minutes before start time.   Granted I used more gear than most, but once you're used to doing things a certain way it becomes a standard and anything less seems like a cop out.

About 10 to 15 minutes here. I leave most of my equipment setup. I like to take the mics home to clean them. I just uncover everything, hook up hard drive and mics, test equipment, and set out maracas, tambourine, books, pencils and slips, grab my coffee and I'm ready.

Now if I have to do a private party I'd say 20 - 30 minutes tear down. A little longer for setup.

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I could usually have everything set up in around 20 minutes, 30 max.  I will always have any kind of cabling for tv's already stationed with switchboxes on the tvs that I would need, so this was a big time saver.
Most of the rack was already connected so just a couple of cords to plug in, run the speaker cables & start testing!

Tear down might take about as long, but usually a little quicker.

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I have 2 racks My Mixer rack which has all my sound processing and my amp rack.

Power and a pair of XLRs come out of my mixer rack. The XLRs are plugged into my crossover. A wing connects onto my mixer rack and a preset wire connect to my notebook containing 2 usb - 1 Hard Drive and 1 Sound Card - Power for notebook - Audio out and TV out. I connect 3 speaker wires from the amp to speakers and I'm setup. It takes about 10 min max.

It takes 2 loads of my dolly if Im using 1 sub, if I'm using 2 subs it takes 3 loads.

I'm currently at abut the 50 minute mark...

I need to get a van so that I can leave parts "semi-assembled" ratehr than going to each and every nut/bolt each time for lighting, so that I also don't need to run lighting cables each time.

In fact - the lighting is the bane of my setup.

NL

Does it take you any longer to breakdown and pack up?

Set-up = 20-30 min (depending on how much of a crunch we are in)
Tear-down = We can be out the door in 15 flat (a little messy, but dealt with the next day)

MrD

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I'd like to know this person.  I, too, am very OCD when it comes to my equipment.  I NEVER let anyone help me cause things aren't done like I want it.  Everything has its' place and it better be there when I set up next time.  Everything goes into my Suburban the exact same way EVERY time.  My system works best for me.

45 min. setup, 25 min tear down.

I usually have a friend that helps me set-up. With him, we average 20-25 mins for set-up and 20-30 for tear down. Without him I can do it solo in about 25-30 set-up and no more than 40 tear down.

With time you develop a system and a meathod. I use velcro wire wraps for all my cords, and I attach them to the outside of my carpeted box. I keep track at tear down of how many wraps are dangling, and know if we are missing any wires. Also, since I have a hatchback, things fit very tightly, and it would be very Obvious if something were missing.

Eric- I'll have to boot camp you into shape!

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about a half hour I said..I usually help wrap wires & cables & hubby does the lifting & taking to the truck. Sometimes we'll have a friend there & he helps too. I love those nights..

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Kelley
Star Sounds Karaoke & Mobile Recording Studio


[shadow=black][scroll]You have to respect your audience. Without them, you're essentially standing alone, singing to yourself....KD Lang[/scroll][/shadow]