what do you bring to a gig - soundman essential kit

[pounce]

i think that for musicians, the answer to what they bring to a gig should be obvious. their instruments, extra strings or drumsticks or drum heads, tuners, maybe your own microphones. that whole area is fairly straightforward. big acts have numerous spares ready backstage most of the time.

for soundguys, there are a lot of things you'll even bring to "briefcase" gigs. so the list of items you'll have may be larger or smaller based on the gig. i don't bring my workbox with me for little gigs, although it's come with me on bigger gigs out of town. a list of things i have with me normally for sound gigs includes..

my own headphones (closed full muff) decent AT brand
my own lightweight clearcom headset
cable tester - the big horizon one
cuebox - best thing ever
mag light
sharpie
gerber multitool
drum key
at least an extra 58 as an annouce mic
short mic cord
ipod plus adapter to plug into soundboard
some sound check cd's (normally using the ipod now though)
a few extra cables that i might want at foh
earplugs
multimeter
deoxit
a little towel
gloves
cell phone / business cards
a variety of adapters
extra batteries (AA and 9V)
might have a ground lift or 6 way strip
hat or rain slicker


that's the list off the top of my head. slightly more of all of the above in bigger gigs, including extra plugs and a soldering iron. maybe a little less for a one off in a theatre where i know they already have some of this stuff. please feel free to add to the list.

[bunnerabb]

for club gigs:

my own 24/24 insert snake. I refuse to use that dodgy Hosa crap.
a couple of comps I like (ART Pro VLA / some dBX units)
some gender bender connects
some RCA to 1/4 adapters
7506s
a 57
a 58
solder
soldering iron
spare Neutrik connects
some 1/4" to Speak-On adapters
maglite
sharpie
desk tape
a Lexicon MPX 100. cheapo verb, indispensible algorithms and a nifty tap feature for delay time that lets me drop cues in like *snap* that.
a set of sidecuts, jeweler's screwdrivers and a screw shooter.
small, IKEA, halogen lamp so I can see what I'm doing
couple of six pack power strips
cable tester
tuner "You're out of tune" "no I'm not" "use a tuner" " I don't have one" "*p0ink*" "wow.. I guess I was"
a few patch cables
Evian

[pounce]

oh yeah, i knew i'd forget some things.

board tape and at least a roll of gaff tape

i may as well say it here again, i'll never tire of this message. there is a special level of hell for people who put duct tape on my cables. never do this. always use gaff. gaff gaff gaff.

[bunnerabb]

Pro gaff user.

this.. is the shit, however:

clean all of your cables with soap and water and then put about three applications of Tire Wet on them.

they look cool and nothing sticks to them.

ever.

[mousdrvr]

Ok not a sound guy, but in addition to a lot of the stuff already listed. I bring:

at least 4 fresh 9 volt batteries

Advil

food ( like an energy bar or 5 ) and water

a set of those little mini screw drivers

Actually I take a full on overnight bag to every gig and it's crammed with all kinds of shit, folks mock me .. until they fuck up and mous's bag saves their ass. I actually consider it a very good omen when that happens.


-mous

[Comte de St Germain]

I guess I'm lazy.

I don't bring shit.

Except what fits in my pocket, like uh, ear plugs, butane high powered lighter, keys, LED keychain, swiss army tool, baubles, wallet, cellphone and invisibility cape.

The cape is really all that's required.

If the house guy doesn't have tools and the rider isn't met, then chances are, no matter how many tools one brings it won't matter.----------------------------If it's broke, bypass it.

Yep.

I'm lazy.

<Great thread BTW>

Just remember, fanny packs (full of tools) are not cool, robot assistants are. My robot brings all the good stuff and when I tell the robot to fix something, the robot is happy to execute the procedure. If the robot fails, we blame the human programmers. Once the programmers become Yoko, you're off the hook.

Always keep a Yoko on hand for emergencies.


BTW I do bring a pistol for tweaking digital eqs.


BTW, if the gig involves a flatbed, or is in someway thrown together by amateurs my car is full of useful stuff which is only there so I won't need it.

So the next time I'm doing a gig like that you can rest assured, there will be at least one roll of toilet paper, sunscreen and a crossbow in the trunk.

The cross bow is a multi purpose tool that is wonderful for firing things at the stage manager, like flaming donuts, wireless systems and instructions for when the talkback button goes on the abused console and the walkie talkie system is stolen by some amorous hippies.

[dumbass]

Here's by techbox contents tonight...

Headphones
CD's

Bank Money Bag with the following contents:
2 Allen wrench sets metric/SAE
Phillips/Flathead screwdrivers
1/4" & 5/16" nutdrivers
Small crescent wrench
Pliers
Jeweler screwdriver set
Handfull of wirenuts
Small bag of 6/32, 8/32, 10/32 (rack screws) and 1/4-20 screws
Crimpers w/small bag of red and blue inline splices

Another bank money bag:
2 each XLR turnarounds (M & F)
2 each XLR connectors
2 1/4" TRS Male
2 1/4" TS Male
Soldering Iron, solder sucker, solder, couple of feet of heat shrink.
6 foot coil of shielded mic cable

3rd money bag:
Extra dose of meds
4 sharpies (Guest FOH fuker's always steal at least one)
1 pr clean sox in a ziplock
travel size Gold Bond
Aspirin/Excedrin Migrane
Band aids - Specifically the knuckle wraps, finger tip and regulars

3 cell Maglite (REAL useful to smak mutherfucker's who try to put a beer on the damn doghouse!)
Extra D Cells for maglite
"shak em' up" flashlight
Board tape
Gaff
20 foot spool of tie line
2 3 meter insert cables
2 3 meter trs to trs
1 claw
Small towel
Gloves
25' measuring tape
AC Cell phone charger
Power strip

Bottle opener (on keychain)

Leatherman Wave on the belt - (The Wave and newer won't cut your hand all to shit when using the pliers)

In addition I carry my analyser/mic

If I'm not sure about FX - H3000/PCM 80/PCM 91/SDE 1000

[ggunn]

Add:

AC circuit tester
Roll of white tape and Sharpie
Ground lifts (I know, I know, but some ground loops are unsolvable without them)
Male and female XLR <=> Hi-Z 1/4" adaptors to make an extendable Hi-Z run from a mic cable
Banana to 1/4" speaker adaptors
Dual mini lights on glasses frame
Extra reading glasses
My box of every kind of signal cable adaptor imaginable
CD player (don't forget CD's!)
Pink noise/RTA/calibrated mic

[clicktrack]

My gigs are slightly different, in that I have to configure the truck for the upcoming gig.

However, in terms of walkable stuff, I always load my tote with:
mini-mag on the belt
keys for the truck
4-D Mag
ipod with connections for the console
a tonne of adapters in various forms (ever have a 20 cent part hold up a job worth a few grand?)
blank CDs & DVDs
Sweater
AKG headphones
extra power cable with various adapters

Jeez...almost forgot one of my most important pieces of kit...

My ER-15s. Huge.

[graveleye]

clean all of your cables with soap and water and then put about three applications of Tire Wet on them.



just dont get it on your hands before you pick up a guitar... slippy..

[Noiz Boy]

Here's what I've got in my magical bag,

Headphones (in ear and regular 7506)
Rat Cable Tester :Thumbsup:
Minirator Signal Generator
Various cable adapters (XLR, RCA, Jacks, coax... M & F)
Ipod :Roll eyes:
Sonometer :Razz:
Multimeter
1 SM58
Ibook
USB to serial adapter
Firewire Interface with Measurement mic for Smaart
Electrical Tape in various colour
Black gloves for Load In/Out
First Aid Kit
USB key for D5 backups and other various applications
Sunglasses :Coolio:

A bit of humour too just in case :very happy:
I got another touring toolbox but that's another story:Twisted:

Cheers!

Noiz Boy

[Jason Phair]

A few additions to your wonderful lists:

-spike tape (I don't care if you have a "volunteer stage manager" at your festival - I am the monitor guy, therefore I run the changeovers)

-extra cigarettes, preferably in something waterproof

-Flash drive with basic templates for any sort of digital desk

-Whirlwind MCT7

-IL-19's, especially if I'm combining my shit with your shit. It WILL be noisy

-dumbass already listed it, but it has to be said again...Gold Bond, for that minty feeling downunder.


Oh yeah...extra copies of any riders/input lists/plots...you know someone will lose/forget them.

[pounce]

ah yes, IL19's and a thumb drive. i love and use both and forgot to put them on my list. great.

i will be loading my thumb drive (microcenter has 1 gig thumb drives for fifteen bucks right now) with the m7cl setups i put into the mixers at the two local theatres with those m7cl's just so i have them. so i'm just starting to use that idea.

for people travelling with computer i go one step further. i suggest using a thumb drive as a place to hold all manufacturer contact information, serial and authorization numbers, copies of manuals and documentation, any related paperword, audio files, session files, presets, etc. something that if your computer went down could be put into a borrowed computer to make a show happen. i am suggesting that for an entertainer i work with. i suggested that his office computer be given a one gig partition (to match the thumb drive). on that partition, he could load all of his show music, business paperwork and press materials, serial numbers, etc. and then just sync the thumb drive up with that partition before travelling. of course keep the thumb drive on his person, not packed in with the other gear. (that way if something is lost in transport or whatnot he still has the show on him so to speak). lots of security for fifteen bucks.

i have two cable checkers, same kind (some nice big horizon one which i like real well). one is older and broken. i use it when soldering cables now. i just stick the connector into it while i'm solder the cable to it. works great. so the old cable checker box still has some life.

[G. Hoffman]

Most of my sound gigs are little corporate things, so I don't usually need much. I carry a bunch of ground lifts, polarity flips (cause Smackie boards don't have them, and that's all too often what I get), M/M and F/F adapters, and TRS/XLR adapters. IL19's are nice to have, and I carry a Berringer Shark (the audio swiss army knife, with a perfectly tolerable delay line, feedback eliminator, and a really lame but passable mic pre/eq section. I've even used them from time to time as an entire single mic PA before the power amps - shockingly useful at times).

Most of the sound guys I work with when doing light gigs these days are carrying laptops with SIA's SMAART, and if I was setting up a lot of big complex rigs I would probably do the same. I just don't need it very often.

Oh, and one of my friends uses a Freeware program called Soundplant (http://www.soundplant.org/) (or you can pay $25 and use it with MP3's), which he rents out for the same price as he would his Instant Replay, if he still had it. Basically, it turns you laptop into an Instant Replay.


Gabriel

[pounce]

i neglected to mention my laptop, which i almost always have, which has Spectra Foo on it. i don't use it as much anymore, especially since i'm in a single house and know it pretty well by now. but having a spectrum analyzer ain't a bad thing.

[floodstage]

Just a bar band sound guy here. I have a small tubberware tub that has my miclaneous stuff inn it.

At my last gig, it had:

3 prong adapter
Yellow Power Tester
DB meter
Headphones
Earplugs - light db reduction
CD player
CD Wallet
Cables to hook up CD player
mp3player
Mini Maglight
Mixer (post-it) Tape
Gaffers Tape (actually didn't fit it, it came to the gig on top of the tubberware)
Business cards
x-tra fine sharpie
Pens
Notepad
9 Volt Batteries
AA batteries
AAA Batteries
3 - short TS cables
Mic for DriveRack