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How long does it take ***YOU*** to set up your live rig?


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Down to a single board now. Run it into a small mixer that feeds FOH and my powered monitor. Cable up and get cases out of the way. 10-15 minutes.

 

Explain to the FOH and monitor engineer what we have, despite them asking for a plot and input list, despite them never reading it, including time for them to grumble about it under their breath - another 30 minutes.

Roland Fantom 06; Yamaha P-125; QSC K10; Cubase 13 Pro; Windows 10

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My "setup/breakdown" length is similar to others -- about 15 minutes. But for me the big accomplishment/efficiency was reducing my "load in/load out" time -- I'm in heaven since reducing my gear to a single trip from vehicle to stage. My gigs often have inconvenient loading and/or parking locations, and that's what ate up my time. And load in/out is much less fun than the setup. Lots of "Excuse me," "Pardon me," "Coming through"... as opposed to jawing with my band mates during setup.
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Can you transport the Z stand mostly intact? I lay mine in the back of the van with 3 tiers installed, closed up as much as possible but without removing any parts. That saves a lot of time. Extend it out to the right width, tighten 3 knobs, and off I go.

Excellent point. In the past I had gone for minimal space, but I think for next gig I'll just fold the legs (and maybe narrow the crossbars) and see what happens.

 

That and a pedal board / cabling revamp should help a lot.

-Tom Williams

{First Name} {at} AirNetworking {dot} com

PC4-7, PX-5S, AX-Edge, PC361

 

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What about tear down? Say it took half as long, 30 min. That's another 50 hours. That means every year I'd be spending close to a week just setting up and tearing down...I'd rather have my extra week per year back.

Yes, for me, teardown is key, it's actually the bigger part of the time calculus. You can't really get back that whole extra week, because a quicker setup doesn't really reduce total gig time, at least for me. It doesn't matter whether I can set up in 5 minutes or 30 minutes because, no matter what, to allow for traffic and such, I'm going to aim to get there well before curtain either way.

 

Good point. For me on a typical corporate gig, it would involve a slightly earlier load in (maybe 30 min) but even still a week spent setting up and tearing down instead of doing something else, even if I'm still at the gig. I could be reading a book, hanging with fellow musicians, anything. I have better uses for my time. Not to mention the tedium would become unbearable. Hell I feel it's already a hassle and it only takes 10 minutes!

Kawai C-60 Grand Piano : Hammond A-100 : Hammond SK2 : Yamaha CP4 : Yamaha Montage 7 : Moog Sub 37

 

My latest album: Funky organ, huge horn section

https://bobbycressey.bandcamp.com/album/cali-native

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For transport, a couple things have really made my life easier. I got a spider pro instead of a 2-tier Z (though as I mentioned I am down to one keyboard). The spider goes in a bag and is easily carried. An R14 rock n roller cart has been the real key. No more multiple awkward trips through joints with my gear. If I can back up right to where we play, I don't use it, but that's not most gigs.
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I'm thinking it's not specifically about how long it takes to set-up, since different people have different gear and it's kinda hard to directly compare. Maybe more like the method used and how we all might save time and effort.

 

Videos for the win, guys. :D I'll get one up this weekend since we're not gigging.

 

~ vonnor

Gear:

Hardware: Nord Stage3, Korg Kronos 2, Novation Summit

Software: Cantabile 3, Halion Sonic 3 and assorted VST plug-ins.

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For transport, a couple things have really made my life easier. I got a spider pro instead of a 2-tier Z (though as I mentioned I am down to one keyboard). The spider goes in a bag and is easily carried. An R14 rock n roller cart has been the real key.

Yes, the stand makes a big difference. I use either a K&M18880+stacker(s) or the later generation Invisible (inferior to the earlier in some ways, but travels better). These stands setup or collapse in under 10 seconds, move in one piece, and way maybe 8 lbs.

 

As for the cart, I just ordered a new wagon style thing I want to try, we'll see.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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A few years ago I bought a Magliner cart/dolly, the long one. I wish I had one YEARS ago. I can pile stuff on it and cart them to the stage in fewer trips.

 

My rig a few weeks ago took about an hour to set up, which was surprising given how complex it is. I'm still streamlining the system.

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I look at a cart as just one more thing I have to load in and out of the car and pack with me, lol. Usually I'm pulling right up to the door of the venue or close to the stage so trips are short and I can make it in 2.

Trip 1: Keyboard in each hand, guitar on my back

Trip 2: Cable backpack, stands in one hand, K10 in the other.

I feel like I can walk a lot faster than I would pushing a cart, not to mention things like steps and getting through double doors, then you have to store the cart somewhere or put it back in the car, which is another trip.

Dan

 

Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth.

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Ok, I know I will won with my set up time but to understand the context, let me explain:

When I restarted to play gigs 4 years ago after a break of 10 years, I joined a band wpthat was playing Alternative Rock but had the worst sound I had ever met. Then, I did all I could to improve that and as I was doing well, both the guitarist and the drummer started to letting me do everythings, even their microphones on drums and setting up mo iron and cabs etc, then I was always the last one and setting up when you have already your drummer and guitarist smashing like crazy their gear, it's tough to be concertrate.

I had at Tha time a Nord Stage 2, D50 on top, NL2X on 3rd tier.

All connected to a Tascam mixer in a rack with the Proteus, the XV5080 and the Matrix 1000.

So, in order to save time I did snakes for all midi and audio, all well wrapped into the 8U rack but it was still too long.

Why, because I moved back to my home town and it was the same scenario with the new band, none of them had any idea how to sound good so, again, I was the PA guy first before setting up my stuff....

I improved then my snakes with labelling everything, plus colour coded, red for right audio, green for left audio, yellow midi out, white midi in, sustain pedals light blue and Exp pedal, dark blue. Stickers are also on the keys, the two platform Yorkville rack are now all wired, I just have to put the keys on it, unwrap the snakes, plug and then go....

Still 45mn, k owing that I thought my right was too simple, then, I added a P08 and a P12, ha yes, and a Waldorf Streichfett....

Tear down 30 min....

But I Had my paragliding accident then, 8 hours back bones surgery then, lost of connections with my legs....

When I'm alone, if I don't want to break my back, even with only one keyboard, especially the stage 2, I have to be very slow, then, 1h30....

Solution?:

1) Having a smaller rig. Yes, I'm planning to do that my my Rock band, but I have already said that they cannot count on me for Sax solo, third guitar gimmick, brass patches all over the place on top of Organ, Paino, EP etc....

So, it will be stage 2 only, or C2 only or both of we play 3 sets of 1 hour. If we play one set of 45 min, I'm not in, not worth it with my back and k owing that usually they Are supposed to,be al last free, or very low paid....That's why I'm planning to buy the Key Largo and IEM so, no more monitors to bring.

2) Keeping the same righ, with what I forgot to mentioned, two Yorkville PS-10P, Special chair custom made and of course, with my new Dance/Funk band, I'm still the Soubd guy but they are helping way more.

So, we play 4 hours show, paid 200/300$ minimum per player, we have the time to set up 2 hours before sound check and sound check is one hour with the right guy....

Otherwise we don't take the gig. I would prefer to have one high end gig 4 hours playing per month for a corporate than 4 of 45 min ...

Note that the sound is awesome, we are super close to the record or live versions and showing off a bit with gear has been an arguments to charge more...

So, yes, 1h30, 45/30 min tear down, I k ow that I will save maybe 15/20 min when I will have done my pedals pedalboard, be cause under this stage, I have:

Control pedal for volume/morph

Swell pedal

Boos switch for Leslie speed

Sustain for D50 and NL2x, works in both a a DIY box but I have one sustain on the left and one on the right....(due to some restrictions with my back now...),

Exp pedal for NL2X

Nord triple pedal

 

Under the C2, I have:

Sustain for C2

Sustain for P08 and P12 (same DIY box)

Exp for P08

Exp pedal for P12

Swell pedal for C2

Exp pedal for H9

 

So too. I have to plug, next project is my pedalboard to carry l for the pedals attached and I will just have to plug them.

I might have a look bathe guy you mentioned though....

That's it, sorry, long set up = long post....

 

Stage 2, C2, NL2X+TC Pedals, P08+Tetra+H9, P12+TC Chorus D50+PG1000, 2 Matrix 1K, Proteus 2K, TX802, Streichfett, Drumbrute. Guitars:G&L Legacy, Asat X2, Ibanez Artstar AS153.Bass: L2000, SR1200&2605.
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A few years ago I bought a Magliner cart/dolly, the long one. I wish I had one YEARS ago. I can pile stuff on it and cart them to the stage in fewer trips.

 

My rig a few weeks ago took about an hour to set up, which was surprising given how complex it is. I'm still streamlining the system.

 

Can you described it, I'm surprised I'm not the only one with a complex setup....

Stage 2, C2, NL2X+TC Pedals, P08+Tetra+H9, P12+TC Chorus D50+PG1000, 2 Matrix 1K, Proteus 2K, TX802, Streichfett, Drumbrute. Guitars:G&L Legacy, Asat X2, Ibanez Artstar AS153.Bass: L2000, SR1200&2605.
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I look at a cart as just one more thing I have to load in and out of the car and pack with me, lol. Usually I'm pulling right up to the door of the venue or close to the stage so trips are short and I can make it in 2.

This method would not fly in New York City (unless you like >$100 tickets and possibly getting your car towed), but good for you if it works for your gigs. Sometimes I leave the cart in the trunk if I get to pull right up to the door & the trips are short.

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Yes, for me, teardown is key,

 

I'm not the fastest or most efficient about setting up, but I am one of the all-time greats at tearing down and hightailing it out of a gig. I don't think this is the function of any great organizational skill. I'm just anti-social and like to flee the scene of the crime as fast as possible.

 

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Wow...thanks for your kind words! While Im certainly not worthy of such praise, I appreciate the props. :-)

 

I agree with you about the total amount of time which would be wasted over the course of a year, from setting up. But, to be honest, my band doesnt play out too often (due to our incredible lead singer/lead guitarist having his own solo acoustic gig on Friday and Saturday nights).

 

I do believe that, If I have to lug this crazy amount of gear, it better be worth it. My lead singer once said (when offered a $50 bar gig), I dont even get off the couch for less than $100! LOL!!!

 

I remember the last gig we did. It was a little showcase at some five bar where the drummer knew the owner (not a gig I was too keen on). I use a little submixer for my keyboards, which I output to stereo (XLRs). Plus, I have my guitar wireless, which I output in mono, and my vocal mic (obviously, mono).

 

The sound guy looks at me like I have three heads, since Ill be taking up 4 channels on his board...LOL

 

Needless to say, I avoid bar gigs like the plague. Fortunately, I have a daytime job and Im doing alright (and, I dont give a damn about no trumpet-playing band ;-) ).

 

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10-15 minutes once loaded in should do it. Have my live rig pretty streamlined and the setup / teardown process down to a science. Take my Spider Pro stand out of the bag and set 'er up; take both keyboards out of their soft cases and place them up on the stand, take my ZLX 12-P speaker out of its bag and situate it to one side of the stand; plug in my power strip; then it's hooking up two sustain pedals, two volume pedals, three power cords (occassionally a fourth if I also want or need to charge my phone), one MIDI cable between the two boards. Most gigs have a sound man providing a DI box and boom mic stand; if not I might need to pull my DI out and attach my boom mic stand attachment on top of my keyboard stand; either way then it's a single audio cable from my Kronos to the DI and one from the DI to my EV. In really low-rent situations maybe I'll have to also get out my own vocal mic and two XLR's (one for the mic, one for the DI) if they're not being provided by SOMEONE!, but thankfully that's been pretty rare lately.

Rich Forman

Yamaha MOXF8, Korg Kronos 2-61, Roland Fantom X7, Ferrofish B4000+ organ module, Roland VR-09, EV ZLX12P, K&M Spider Pro stand,

Yamaha S80, Korg Trinity Plus

 

 

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10-15 minutes once loaded in should do it. Have my live rig pretty streamlined and the setup / teardown process down to a science. Take my Spider Pro stand out of the bag and set 'er up; take both keyboards out of their soft cases and place them up on the stand, take my ZLX 12-P speaker out of its bag and situate it to one side of the stand; plug in my power strip; then it's hooking up two sustain pedals, two volume pedals, three power cords (occassionally a fourth if I also want or need to charge my phone), one MIDI cable between the two boards. Most gigs have a sound man providing a DI box and boom mic stand; if not I might need to pull my DI out and attach my boom mic stand attachment on top of my keyboard stand; either way then it's a single audio cable from my Kronos to the DI and one from the DI to my EV. In really low-rent situations maybe I'll have to also get out my own vocal mic and two XLR's (one for the mic, one for the DI) if they're not being provided by SOMEONE!, but thankfully that's been pretty rare lately.

Rich Forman

Yamaha MOXF8, Korg Kronos 2-61, Roland Fantom X7, Ferrofish B4000+ organ module, Roland VR-09, EV ZLX12P, K&M Spider Pro stand,

Yamaha S80, Korg Trinity Plus

 

 

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Single board, mono PPA monitor , DI for FOH (no mixer), AX-48 ... if I take 5 minutes, im just being lazy or it stopped to chat.

 

I keep thinking about bringing a second board, then I review the above and ... nah.

The baiting I do is purely for entertainment value. Please feel free to ignore it.
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A few years ago I bought a Magliner cart/dolly, the long one. I wish I had one YEARS ago. I can pile stuff on it and cart them to the stage in fewer trips.

 

My rig a few weeks ago took about an hour to set up, which was surprising given how complex it is. I'm still streamlining the system.

 

Can you described it, I'm surprised I'm not the only one with a complex setup....

 

My host is currently having problems but this is the link to the diagram of my system:

 

Diagram club stage MIDI system

 

I basically went with a modular approach and divided the components from bare bones to full bore. After playing different genres over the last 30+ years, I have abstracted the sounds I would need for different styles. I've built full bore systems in the past and have learned from that experience. My other goals: 1) rack as much stuff as possible 2) keep the racks a reasonable weight (I cart the gear myself, no roadies) 3) minimize the cabling (and minimize setup time) 4) minimize the stage space (for small venues) 5) plan for fast change in/out for festival gigs where multiple bands are playing.

 

The bare bones system is Kurzweil MIDIBoard and Kurzweil 1000 modules to cover basic piano gigs. For that system I'll use an old Mackie 1202 (not "VLZ") for the mixer. The MIDIBoard is my master MIDI controller and is programmed to configure the patches, FX, volumes, and other MIDI parameters of my MIDI components.

 

Adding to that is a rack containing the base components for a MIDI system - MIDI matrix, SYSEX backup tool (also MIDI sequence playback), master mixer (more channels than the Mackie). It also contains the MIDI drums and bass synth for those gigs with sequenced drums & bass (I used to play in a top40 band with drum machine and LH bass).

 

It's all expandable and modular from there. I prefer individual effects for my polyphonic analog synths so one rack covers those. Another rack contains a rack mount mono synth and the Leslie simulator. That's four racks total, and I designed the racks to double as a keyboard stand for the smaller venues. There's a fine balance between minimizing the cabling and keeping the racks to a reasonable weight - it was very tempting to use a large rack to eliminate as much cabling but I learned that big racks can get heavy in a hurry.

 

Since the modules are split into different racks and the output signals are stereo, I adopted a TRS cabling convention for stereo signals. This means only one cable is needed for each stereo source instead of two which cuts down the cabling. When I designed the input/output panels for the racks, I placed them in close proximity to each other - when the racks are stacked, they are all next to each other. This keeps the cabling short.

 

For keyboards, I can add a clone wheel as needed, as well as polyphonic synths and MIDI bass pedal controller. Everything is MIDI controlled, and sometimes the clone wheel doubles as a MIDI controller (when the CANCEL preset is selected on the XK3). The bass pedal controller is for bass synth and for playing other parts when both my hands are busy. The MIDI matrix manipulates (IE channel shift and transpose) and routes MIDI signals.

 

It looks like a complex system, but it is pretty logical.

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I'm serious: about a decade, by now, though I had no active band plans. I can play "live" on anything with keys that doesn't sound or respond like the IT department, otherwise I'd lie. But nevertheless I wanted progress I liked. It cost me about 10 years to get close enough to be able to play with dignity on a good live system.

 

T

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About 15 minutes. Depends on location/footprint too.

 

Generally, it'll be a Motif XF8 + Korg Krome on two-tier Z stand, output mono from Motif to DI to FOH, MIDI out from Korg to MIDI In on Motif, expression and sustain pedals plugged into Motif, Yamaha MSR100 as monitor, line from Motif to monitor, all plugged into a power strip. Stash the cases. :laugh:

 

 

 

Yamaha: Motif XF8, MODX7, YS200, CVP-305, CLP-130, YPG-235, PSR-295, PSS-470 | Roland: Fantom 7, JV-1000

Kurzweil: PC3-76, PC4 (88) | Hammond: SK Pro 73 | Korg: Triton LE 76, N1R, X5DR | Emu: Proteus/1 | Casio: CT-370 | Novation: Launchkey 37 MK3 | Technics: WSA1R

Former: Emu Proformance Plus & Mo'Phatt, Korg Krome 61, Roland Fantom XR & JV-1010, Yamaha MX61, Behringer CAT

Assorted electric & acoustic guitars and electric basses | Roland TD-17 KVX | Alesis SamplePad Pro | Assorted organs, accordions, other instruments

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I challenge all you "5min or less" people to post up a video of you setting up. I will try to do the same.

 

OK. It's 12,000 degrees in SoCal, so safe to say I don't look my personal best here. Plus holy cow am I fat these days. WTF, middle age? Anyway I was wheeling my stuff in from the car and figured I'd bring it right to living room and set it back up, because what better is there to do after you've already broken down and it's 12,000 degrees, which, did I mention, is how hot it is outside right now.

 

[video:youtube]https://youtu.be/lIbkxw-kg5s

Now out! "Mind the Gap," a 24-song album of new material.
www.joshweinstein.com

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OK. It's 12,000 degrees in SoCal, so safe to say I don't look my personal best here. Plus holy cow am I fat these days. WTF, middle age? Anyway I was wheeling my stuff in from the car and figured I'd bring it right to living room and set it back up, because what better is there to do after you've already broken down and it's 12,000 degrees, which, did I mention, is how hot it is outside right now.

 

[video:youtube]https://youtu.be/lIbkxw-kg5s

Holy crap, that's what your voice sounds like??? :poke:

 

I thought SoCal was the closest thing to Paradise in the continental U.S. Oh well.

 

Beep beep, beep beep yeah! :roll:

 

What's in the rolling SKB case? (at least that's what it looks like from the side you showed it)

"I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck

 

"The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI

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I challenge all you "5min or less" people to post up a video of you setting up. I will try to do the same.

 

OK. It's 12,000 degrees in SoCal, so safe to say I don't look my personal best here. Plus holy cow am I fat these days. WTF, middle age? Anyway I was wheeling my stuff in from the car and figured I'd bring it right to living room and set it back up, because what better is there to do after you've already broken down and it's 12,000 degrees, which, did I mention, is how hot it is outside right now.

 

[video:youtube]https://youtu.be/lIbkxw-kg5s

 

Hmm... I think my setup time is probably counting the four trips to the car and back...

 

 

I like your dog! :)

Yamaha: Motif XF8, MODX7, YS200, CVP-305, CLP-130, YPG-235, PSR-295, PSS-470 | Roland: Fantom 7, JV-1000

Kurzweil: PC3-76, PC4 (88) | Hammond: SK Pro 73 | Korg: Triton LE 76, N1R, X5DR | Emu: Proteus/1 | Casio: CT-370 | Novation: Launchkey 37 MK3 | Technics: WSA1R

Former: Emu Proformance Plus & Mo'Phatt, Korg Krome 61, Roland Fantom XR & JV-1010, Yamaha MX61, Behringer CAT

Assorted electric & acoustic guitars and electric basses | Roland TD-17 KVX | Alesis SamplePad Pro | Assorted organs, accordions, other instruments

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My typical rig is around 10-15 minutes once unloaded: two Nords on a Stay stand into a Key Largo and then to whatever: pair of PA speakers, SSv3, FOH, etc.

 

Two pedals: one for sustain, one for leslie. I'm not good with volume pedals yet. Backups for most everything if needed. I can get it all in one cart trip usually, sometimes two depending.

 

My respect to those of you who gig with more complex midi and laptop rigs.

 

Keys setup time is not the issue in my world, it's the 15-20 minutes for PA setup, and another 15-20 minutes futzing around with the guitarists who say "I can't hear myself" because they've set up their gear wrong: reversed inputs/outputs, forget to connect a cable, battery dead, bad cable, etc.

 

Like its my fault you don't know how to debug your setup?

 

I've stopped trying to help in that department. If you want to play, sort your own gear. Trust me, you'll get better at it.

 

I've got my own stuff to sort out :)

Want to make your band better?  Check out "A Guide To Starting (Or Improving!) Your Own Local Band"

 

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