Karaoke Forums

We all know what our equipment costs, and how delicate most of it is. We personally have some type of case, bag, box, for every piece of our equipment. After every show, or when we break down our equipment, each and every piece has it's own "container" for lack of a better word. Mics go in zippered bags, video monitors have covers that strap on them, all cords, and cables are wound up, and placed in a rolling case. Disco lights are put in canvas bags, everything is loaded in rolling carts, placed in our wagon, unloaded at home, and in the closet at home. Also, have rolling bags for speakers if needed, although at our venue, we leave the speakers up on the stands. We cover the speakers with custom vinyl covers. Just the opposite when setting up. We use a six foot folding table to set up on, complete with table skirt. We also have a banner which we hang on the wall behind the singer area. The reason I'm bringing this up, is that I watch other karaoke hosts just bundle up the cords, grab their speakers, throw everything in the back of their vehicle, and in 10 minutes, they're out of there. The thing is, "look at their equipment", it looks like they just picked it up off the trash pile, all scuffed up, duct tape on the video monitor, and don't even get me started on their mics.... What are some of your procedures concerning handling your equipment. I'd like to hear the different approaches different hosts take in keeping their equipment in tip top shape. Also any horror stories you've seen done by other "hosts".

Srnitynow

I had one show where I didn't have a choice but to be out in less than 15 minutes or would have to wait until the next day to finish up. Break down, I had all cords set up to do a quick wrap & into the mixer case and effects rack - always connected. Everything else went into a plastic box & loaded into the van. Sorted everything out at home the next day.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

A place for everything and everything in its place. Most importantly, organization of what goes in/out first and in a way you should only touch things once, maybe twice. If there are two of you, each take a set of tasks and do them, inspecting the equipment before putting them away. If you have books, slips, and pens/pencils collect them 30-15 minutes before the end of the show. Organization is the key.

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You can be strange but not a stranger

Fortunately for me my wife, the nurse, is anal-retentive about cleanliness and actually wipes down my monitors and speaker bags while spraying them with lysol to kill any surface bacteria, almost weekly. She really hates the smell of food on the equipment from both venues, so we have a dedicated can of lysol in the trunk of the suv.

In the interest of saving space, i've successfully talked both venues into letting me use their equipment (dj lights and 4 tv screens) so i carry less gear now. I have 3 sets of books and one venue lets me leave in their office (asst manager sandy wipes them down) and the other lets me keep a set in their employee break room. That really helps to lighten the load.

I will admit i used to (many years ago) tear-down quickly to get the heck out of dodge, but found myself spending much more time untangling wires and wiping down things pre-show the next night in a scurry to start on time.

My rig is pretty much self contained these days with shelves to hold the mics, extra wires, song slips, golf pencils, but is pretty heavy. The laptop has its own shslide shelf and is velcroed down and all wires are secured with zip ties. I am fortunate to have a table at both places for me to use so i don't carry one anymore. Speakers have rolling bags that the hold wires too. The tvs have their own closed totebags and get covered with micro-fiber towels to protect and clean the screens.

I, too, have seen so many cheap azz karaoke setups that used disc players from toy-r-us and speakers from radio shack, but worse, they were all sludged up with food, cigarette ash, obvious spilled but dried coke on the knobs, and never wiped clean. I was embarassed FOR them.

Professional appearance has always been important for me since i'd like to be taken seriously and professionally. My yellow & black Rock-N-Roller cart with all the black covered gear with my stitched-in-logo on every piece looks nice wherever or whatever type of gig i'm going to. Fortunately my neighbor is in alterations, so she designed and stitched my logo on every bag i own.

I have been fortunate enough to be able to leave almost all equipment on site at all 3 of the "permanent" gigs I have had.

My first and longest running gig, everything was racked in a large roller case. I started with a laptop then went to a rack mount PC near the end. All speaker wires were permanently hung as well. The rolling rack, speakers, stands and the case for the mics were all stored in the back room. Took 30 mins to set up without ever breaking a sweat. I could do it in 15 when I needed to.

My Seattle gig, everything is stored on site as well, but I can't use the roller rack because there is no place to store it. So I use a 1/2 rack that gets stored under a pinball machine and that thing is real heavy even for me (I am 6'4"). I really need to trim the rack down as well as the speakers because of the weight. This gig is being handed off to someone else now and I am truly concerned about someone getting hurt lifting things.

This latest gig I picked up will be the easiest of all. Five nights in a row using their lights and sound (using my own mixer though). I am building out a 1/2 rack this week for a rack mount PC, and a Mic drawer. Once I meet the DJ's that work the weekend, I may let them use my mixer just so I don't have to haul it in and out. I am hanging a flat panel from the ceiling on Friday and the songbooks get to be stored in the DJ booth. This is a dream gig in that I press a few buttons, put out a mic stand and books, and I am ready to go.

-Chris

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-Chris

everything i have is mounted in a 16sp rack on wheels. the front cover turns into a table. everything plugged into a power conditioner and the main cord replaced with a 40' extension cord hard wired inside the conditioner. one 2sp drawer for the mics with cut foam spaces, a 4sp drawer for the box of slips and pens, plus the laptop. books set on the bottom like a bookshelf along with the noismakers for birthdays, and tip jar. all internal cables made to size, laptop only needs power, 1 usb (from a hub with hard drive cable, sound card cable and mouse reciever) and HDMI (to a converter to wireless video sender) all 3 of which are tied together in a "snake" of sorts. boards main out goes to x2 wireless.
Bose and 2 subs set up, cables for subs are cut to size, power and 9v adapter (for wireless reciever) tied together. video reciever stays mounted behind the bar plugged into the distro switcher. set up time, under 10 minutes to be playing music.

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Paradigm Karaoke, The New Standard.......Shift Happens

most of our equipment is perm installs as well. all we usually need to pull is HD's and wrap wires. We do keep a spare box of wires/converters available just in case. Everything is rack mounted and locked up between shows. Books are stored in totes with extra pens and carried along.This does mean we do have a lot more equipment to maintain but saves our backs so is very worth it.....we also can customize a system to the room for optimum sound.

Blessings
Athena

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"Integrity is choosing your thoughts, words and actions based on your principles and values rather than for your personal gain."
Unknown
"if a man has integrity, nothing else matters, If a man has no integrity, nothing else matters."
Lee McGuffey

Paradigm, sounds like a nice, neat set up, BUT, (I know it's on wheels), how do you transport your rack. That's got to weigh a ton. Especially if there are ANY stairs involved. I've always thought about having everything pre connected, and just plug and play, but the lifting is not worth the convenience in setup time for me and my lady. We make maybe 6 trips in and out, and setup in a little over an hour (including soundcheck), but it's at a relaxed pace, and we find it enjoyable. Maybe if I was still a he-man in my 20's, I go the other route. Since I'm not, I'll have to stick with the "old fogie" way of doing things...

Srnitynow

We move our equipment on hand carts. Set up/tear down time 20 minutes taking our time, have done it in half that time rushing.

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You can be strange but not a stranger

I use custom made racks designed for table tops. All of the wires wind up and are attached to the sides of the rack. I make 3 trips to/from my vehicle - the first is the rack & stage monitor, the second is the speaker & stands, the 3rd is the books, TV & stand. If I have to bring lights, add one trip.

Without lights, (some of my bars either have their own, or I have installed lights) I can be set up & running music in 5 minutes, running karaoke within 8, and if I am running lights, that probably adds 10-15 minutes, depending on what I am bringing.

That custom made rack - has everything contained within it, to include the computer. I also have a rolling speaker case that doubles as a place to set my rack, in case I need to bring a table.

I've always thought about selling them on Ebay because I think I have a system down now where I can make one in less than 8 hours. I just need to find cheaper carpet because that is running me $35 per rack.

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I'm not a cheerleader, but I paid for my pom poms with my own money!

The first racks that I built were rather heavy, thanks mainly to the amp. But, I ended up needing an amp like immediately, and the only one I could find locally was a Peavey IPR 1600. This amp is like less than 5 pounds and was intended to only be used (long term) as a back up. Well, I ended up installing it in one of my mobile racks and dropped probably 30 or more pounds in doing so, so I left it.

The bad thing about the IPR series is that I don't believe that they have bridge mode. But, I just end up running everything in mono for my shows that I need a sub, dedicate one channel to the speakers and one to the sub.

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I'm not a cheerleader, but I paid for my pom poms with my own money!

Rosario, when I was doing gigs, I'd say I was somewhere in between the sloppy ones you mention, and someone orderly........to coin a phrase, orderly confusion......
The thing that always scared me the most, was good intentioned, but drunk, friends & patrons.....wanting to help me out......

I have a very streamlined professional system and can fit 2 Mackie 450's, 2 Mackie 350's, 1 singers monitor, 2 mic stands, 1 bin with ALL cables and extra gear (songbooks etc), 2 speaker stands, and of course my rig, EASILY into my medium sized CAR, and there is still room for my wife. It takes me 10 minutes to tear down and load my car. The key is my rig design and singer TV design. I am in the process of redesigning my rig again to even further streamline, and weight reduce, the rig. Notice the carrying handle in the lower left picture of the rig collage. Pick the rig up by the handle a walk out like a big suit case (50 lbs). The singer's TV folds up flat and is not much bigger than a broom.

I use a Gator for cables, cords, extra video monitor, tape, mics, carpets, etc. My Yorkies have custom bags. I have a sweet set up with bungee cords in my trailer to keep from pulling my lights off the stand.

Then this little thing. I made it myself, it acts to cart items from the trailer to the stage and once there, it is my table. It leave about 6" on either side of my rack for song slips, whatever. The white circle is the hole I drilled in the pressed wood to drop cables thru to the rack (rack has hole in the bottom) and I have a custom made skirting that goes between the rack and the table (skirting has the same hole) so all my cables/cords are out of sight. This has saved my back a lot of stress and it's easy to move. Keeps my minimum set up area required small when needed. My overall set up/tear down time when I bring my own PAs and sub, lights, stage monitor, mic stand, fogger is about 30 minutes. Less elaborate set up, less time to set up/tear down.

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KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

Don't want to scare you, but I absolutely agree. I would also add that with proper organization, one can carry more equipment in a smaller transport, saving fuel and adding to profits.

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"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."

Prefer using my 5 by 8 cargo trailer. Once loaded, it stays loaded and ready except for the occasional borrow by kids (twice in 3 years). Before that it was:

1. Carry from house to vehicle.
2. Carry from vehicle to stage.
3. Carry from stage to vehicle.
4. Carry from vehicle to house.


Now it's:

1. Carry from trailer to stage
2. Carry from stage to trailer

I'll pay the additional fuel to save time and wear and tear on my back. Most of my gigs are very close to me. I can't leave all my equipment in my extended trailblazer as I use it for other activity.

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KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

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Paradigm Karaoke, The New Standard.......Shift Happens

We do the same. Equipment resides in the trailer when not in use. One less load-unload per show.

that would be great, but unfortunately i would come out to a puddle of melted plastic and metal durring the 300 degree summers

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Paradigm Karaoke, The New Standard.......Shift Happens

Of course it's not as hot here as AZ, and we don't get 300 degrees here (although we did have 85 days of 100 degree or higher last year with a high of 112)