To Long Setup And Tear Down Help Please !!

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nextgen1

nextgen1

Mac Daddy DJ
Sep 23, 2006
3,178
784
65
Waterford, CA.
www.tngdj.com
This is something That I know I must work on is take down. It Just seems with setup and take down and getting dresses or undressed it takes me between 1 hour to 1 hour in a half. It depends on whether I have lights to setup. The venue manager this week end commented that I had to much stuff.

And I didn't even have my lights to setup. I don't setup in my tux nor break down in it either. Though I have been fond of making sure the cords go all in the correct bags etc etc. Am I the only one here that takes that long to setup and tear down. I have a rock and roller cart but even loading all the stuff takes a while. Comments appreciated.
 
Not knowing what gear you use, it is hard to give the best answers.

Myself, I have adjusted things to I can be set up and changed in less than an hour except when the hall in is real difficult.

Teardown I can be out of most places in 20-30 minutes. The venues around here love that.

I run 2 JBL Eons with 1 light tripod. I have 1 table with my rack and 4 cd cases. My anti fatigue mat, stool and speaker stands. ALso just started using a pipe and drape in front of me.

The kicker is I use small light show that I have permantaly mounted in a box. Tear down and set up in 2-3 minutes for the lights.

I do tear down in my suit so that does not add time changing.
 

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WOW..

This is ironic. Saturday night it took me more time tearing down then anything else! I was sweatin'...Not happy...I have the Bose L1s, there's gotta be a quicker way..Or else my ass is retiring real soon..

My great looking set up is taking al long time to tear down..:sqfrown:

It shouldn't take long, you think???

I've gotta come up with a unique system...
 
nextgen1 said:
Am I the only one here that takes that long to setup and tear down.
Click to expand...

Oh no, we take a LOT longer than that! :sqwink:

Seriously, make sure you aren't moving things twice. Develop a system to setting up and striking gear. If you are running multiple lines across the same path, get a multicable or snake to speed things up.

Other things to watch:
Between when you quit playing and when guests are truly gone, do little things that you CAN do in formal attire. Put away music & gadgets, start winding unused cords, etc. This will allow you to change after guests leave but still make progress towards getting out the door.

Cut the chatter. Yes, if you have guests and even banquet staff interested in what you do, you need to be talking to them. Especially in the case of staff, though, it is often more impressive to let them know you need to keep moving and get out of their hair. In either case, now is not the time for educational or philosophical discussions. Learn how to reschedule them!

And lastly, keep moving. I see alot of people who don't realize how slow they move, how many breaks they take or how often they sit for 'just a second'. These are time wasters when it comes to efficiency.

Hope some of these help/encourage you!
 
I always arrive at a venue around two hours before I'm supposed to start. I like to not have to rush to get set up, and I especially don't want to panic if something isn't working when I do a sound check. I also don't want to change into my tux if I'm sweating!

It takes me only around 45 minutes from complete roll-in to full setup, but I want the time buffer anyway. Venue managers like that.

I also change out of my tux before tearing down. Once I've changed clothes, it takes about 30 minutes to tear down and load the cart. That means that I'm usually one of the last people there, and it rarely matters.
 
Dave....It takes me 2 hours to set up, and an hour and a half to tear down. My normal set-up includes 2 Tops and 1 Sub. I also use a stage monitor, behind my facade, along with one sometimes 2 mics. When I have to set-up for singers along with the normal set-up it will take 2 and 1/2 hours.

I think the extra time that I take is because I want a clean professional looking set-up. I use cord covers a facade,a table that's skirted...etc. I'm not in a hurry , I want to do it right.
 
Using 2 15" tops and 1 18" sub it usually takes me about 30 minutes to break down and get out. Set up is about 45 minutes dependng on the load in. A faster way of breaking down is with the help of an assistant. I know you bring your wife, but another guy will get the heavier work done faster.
 
FYI: I have two 12" tops and a B-52 ACT-18 sub, so it takes me two trips each way. I load up my Rock & Roller cart with the tops, my console, my laptops, stands, wire tub, and any other miscellaneous stuff I need (e.g., table & skirt), and I have to roll the sub.
 
About 90 minutes to set up; 54 is the quickest from shutdown at 1 a.m. to rolloing out of the parking lot.

Eveything that is in my gig rack stays there. Speakr/dmx cable gets wrapped and sits in front cover. cables from the sub to tops go there as well. Wieless mic head stays there. Hedphones, misc tools all fit in...There's very little I put in boxes other than 2 Insignias, and the Kinta/Oceana.

My wife and I have it to a science I guess. She does here part of tear down...I do mine.

28 lb 310A's with bags and a sub with wheels makes it faster as well.

Dave...you need to look at each aspect of your show and finda a way to do it quicker..

(Do I really need 4 tops at each event?). that'll knock 10 minutes+ off your tear down.....
 
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This set up takes me about a half hour to set up and 20 minutes to tear down now. I have a cord bag that is system specific to the normal set up and a bag that I use if needing extra cords or length.

All cord is length specific for this set up. Unroll and plug in. That keeps things neat and tidy. The co-pilot mounted on the back of the t-bars allow me to run only two cords to each of them, one for power one for the controller. (Once I go dmx for the Intimidators there will be one additional cord, but I don't see that adding to much more time.) The Intimidators are are c-clamps and hang quickly.

I also color code everything and label things so that my 14 year old son can plug things in, if needed.

I want to put a front panel on my amp rig so I don't have to open the backs of the boxes, so I think that will save me a few more minutes.

Next time I have the gear out, I'll take some photos of the backside. I custom built all of my gear boxes.
 
My $0.02

I'm always told that I too bring more stuff than anyone else. It takes me 2 hours to set up...I get there 3 hours in advance just in case, and to make everything nice and clean. It takes me 1hr-90 minutes to tear down. There is always someone watiting around for me to get out of the room. I feel bad, but would they rather have ipod DJ's that walk in with two powered speakers and thier nano, or a professional to do the job right?

I bring:
(2) dual 15's
(2) 18'S
Main gut box
additional amp on floor
(2) crank stands
(2) pars on t-bars
(2) Q-roll scanners
(2) moving heads
then all the cords and misc. (video screen/projector stuff if needed)

I've been trying to think of ways to speed things up and. I spend too much time with DMX cables, I'm going to prewire everything I can and shave off some time. My main case is SUPER heavy but sits on my table so I want to get a couple more 4-wheel carts that everything can stay on in my trailer (lift once) Valerie is right about moving everything once...I used to bring it all in then move it into place, now I spot place it where it's going to stay from the get go.

I've found that having 3-4 smaller containers for 1. long extension cords 2. short extension cords 3. speaker cable 4. DMX cable is better than throwing it all into one large rolling case. I hate searching around for a specific cable for 5 minutes.
 
Things take time...

You can't speed up time. What you can speed up is the process. Like Valerie said, have a procedure that you follow. Don't do things twice.

Karl uses boxes for his lights that speeds up his process. Check my picture below... I mount my par cans on one pipe with "C" clamps to my truss. I can pull them all off in 2 minutes.

Here's my small set up from Sat night... it took me 55 minutes (by myself) to completely break down and have it all out of the building. I still had problems with the elevator (that's another thread here), but I kept humping and didn't waist any steps.

If you develop a "procedure" every time, it speeds things up. I started the break down with two songs to go. By that time, everyone was tired and didn't care that I was strapping things up. I even changed back into street clothes behind my screen. I saved about ten minutes by starting my break down that way.

I set up all of my storage boxes and have them ready to fill up at the last song. I ALWAYS put my cables away the same way. I've had the same cables for over 15 years without even one failure. I'm anal about my gear!

I've thought about another book... "How to take care of your stuff" or "So, you want to be a DJ". We'll see if I have another book in me once I settle down. If times for set up and break down are an issue... bring less gear or hire a roadie.
 

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A couple of strange little hints that some may not agree with. I have custom designed my equipment to be as portable as possible. This includes taking as little space as possible when broken down. Because of this my rack is hope built to fold, and extra shelving can be stacked on for more equipment. This means that my equipment. is not permanently rack mounted for chease in changing per show.

Because of this I have begun a practice that some frown upon, but one which has never caused me a problem in all the years I've been doing it:

I don't disconnect cables and wires from the last outputs ( in my case, the amp). I roll and velcro all speaker, video, and source cables and connections and lay them flat and slide them into a nylon zipper bag on top of the amp. You would be amazed at the time saved on setup and breakdown. The key is making sure that the rear of the amp ( where the connections are for me) is protected at all times.

Also, just because I HAVE a piece of equipment doesn't mean I NEED it for every show or event. Carry what you NEED. I actually have 3 different setups. A 3000 watt, and 1800 watt, and believe it or not a 750 watt- and the 750 gets PLENTY of usage in small bar and hall venues. As a matter of fact, it's what I use in most of my karaoke venues, and rarely need to bring it up more than halfway. The thing is, the baby amp only weighs 30 lb, and weight is time... Again, if you don't need it, don't bring it.
 
Don't listen to the guys that say they are in or out in 10 minutes, they are full of bull! Unless you want your set up to look like crap, it takes time. As for tear-down, neatly rolling and velcro-ing your cords takes time but it will speed up set-up time at the next gig. Unclamping a light fixture, putting it into a case and closing the case takes time... The best you can do is simplify your set-up and create a system, as mentioned. I never break down early because I think it looks very unprofessional but I do have it written in my contract that if the venue starts breaking down, so do I...
 
It does take a little longer with the BOSE because there are more pieces. Ok there I said it! LOL

I take about an hour to take down my wedding system. I don't rush, I change clothes and if the hall has a hard load out, then longer....

Setting up time doesn't matter, nobody has even given me a hard time about getting there early, in fact they like that because they know that the DJ is there.

At the end of the night, some building yahoo wants to go home and beat his...... whatever, Sometimes I will move each peice outside as I get it packed so there is less in the room and maybe that person can leave while I am putting it all in my van.

All my gear is on wheeels, I have an 8 foot ramp for the van so it all rolls in...
 
Tyrone, because I am goofy, and just happened to notice this in your setup.. if I was planning on leaving the speakers on the dollys, I would paint the wood black.....

I can't believe I just typed this... :sqerr:
 
No Tyrone likes them like that because he can find them easier at the end of the night... It's stands out more when they turn the lights off on him! LOL :)
 
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