Ask A Sound Guy

So you got the gig.  You’re excited but you’re also worried.  What if something goes wrong? What if the sound guys is drunk/high/stupid/dead and it sounds terrible? What if the drummer gets stuck in traffic? What if you forget your guitar strap?

There’s a million “Oh Noez!” that you are going through your head as you prep for gig.  Each one is worse than the one before… is there no hope for a fluke-free gig?

Well, there is no way to guarantee there won’t be an hitches at your show, but there’s an awful lot you can do to be prepared for minor setbacks that could cause BIG problems.

The Gig Crash Kit is Something I’ve been working on since I shifted from playing music to recording it.  It’s just a toolbox, but it carries all sorts of tools and gadgets that ensure peace-of-mind at the show.  Even if something goes wrong, chances are I can handle it. 

Here’s some items in my Crash kit:

1)    TAPE – duct tape, masking tape, painter’s tape, gaff tape, electrical tape, scotch tape… you get the idea.  Tape is your friend.  It puts up posters, it secures set lists, it lets you mark the settings on your amp knobs so you can find them again quick. 

Tape can fix a broken guitar strap, it can insulate a quickly soldered cable, it can… well… really it can a million things.  And That’s why I have a lot of it.

2)    Headphone Plug Converter – You know those plugs that change the end of your headphones from the 1/8” (mini) to the ¼” (Guitar Jack) size?  Well they happen to be great little tools in a Gig Crash kit.

A lot of Mid-Size Amps have Direct Outputs that allow a Sound Guy to get a feed of your guitar without micing the amp.  This is GREAT when you’re at smaller gigs and your amps are just too loud.  You can give the mixer a guitar feed off your amp and play through the PA… but how do I turn off the Speakers?

Simple little studio trick- throw that plug in the “headphone jack” of your amp and all of a sudden – no sound out of your speakers, but your mixers got a nice clean guitar feed that you can crank as hard as you please.

3)    Ipod Cable – This is a funny cable that Sound guys call the “iPod Cable.”  It’s got a 1/8” stereo phone jack (the one on the end of your headphones) and Dual RCA (VCR plugs) on the other end.  I usually carry a pair of RCA Female to Quarter Inch Mail converters.  That cable and those plugs together allow you to throw up some tunes off your ipod, cd player, walkman, whatever… into the P.A.

Really, you’ll find a million uses for this cable.  I used to use it for recording bootlegs off mixers, playing my ipod into Hotel Room TVs, whatever.  Trust me, just get one and you’ll see.

4)    Power Strip – This is handy whoever you are.  You never know what kind of power a club’s going to give you.  Might as well take chance out of the equation by bringing your own power strip… In fact everyone in the band should carry one, yes even drummers.  Why? I don’t know, and neither do you.  That’s reason enough to be prepared.  (That’s Sound Guy Logic)

5)    Outdoor Power Cord – I say OUTDOOR because it’s gotta be sturdy.  Get one of those ugly, stiff, orange power cords (15-50 ft) and make sure it has a ground plug (the end has three prongs).   This kind of follows the same logic as the power strip, but you’ll find it more useful.  Often times sound guys aren’t given a lot of power options for the band, especially in small venues.  Sometimes a full band will unload a mountain of gear onto a stage to find that the owner expects them to share ONE power strip at the back of the stage… Well if you’ve got your own extension cable, you’re all set!

6)    Guitar Extras – Picks, LOTS and LOTS of strings, and at least one strap.  It’s all about being prepared, and those guitarists are almost as forgetful as that drummer you saw playing on a folding chair because he left his drum throne at his girlfriend’s place… (yeah… that was me….)

7)    Batteries – you need a ton of AA’s and 9-volts.  They go in tuners, active basses, guitar pedals, all sorts of stuff. 

8)    Drum Sticks – Yes.  We drummers forget things.  We break things.  We just aren’t good at anything other than hitting things.  So please, help us and carry a spare set.

So that’s just a few of the things in my Crash Kit.  I’m sure everyone’s would vary based on your bands setup.  Any Suggestions for additions?

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