It only happens when it rains!

[Jules]

What does happen to you guy's job when it starts to rain?

stike stike stike stike

[Steve Smith]

Well, I am in the mid-west of the USA, and my place is in a converted building in the country, when it rains hard at all, there is nothing going on in the studio, it is way too loud.. that sucks.

Same story for remote gigs here, I have not found a venue yet that you cant hear it, in the arenas it is like a jet landing nearby
:(

If it is a truck, I thank God I have a teck on stage already with clear-com!

[fifthcircle]

Depends on the gig...

Set up under a cover of some sort, try not to get wet. When I have a concert that is going to be broadcast and it rains, tough $h!t... If it is a session in a church or similar place, we may reschedule for a "quieter" day... When I am working in a concert hall, I cover all of my gear and boxes with plastic and run when loading in. stike stike stike

--Ben

[Steve Smith]

Oh, and I forgot to mention, that chick from Garbage gets happy.

[Remoteness]

Rain, Snow, Hail...

Hell, sometimes it seems to only happen when we're setting up or breaking down. You know, beautiful day, great gig, show's over and we're ready to break down...stike stike stike stike It's time for some rainy weather.

We take weather conditions very seriously. When it comes to connections and interfacing it's important to be prepared. Hey, even a dewy morning can screw up a lot of stuff. We carry 4" clear tubing on a huge roll. We use it to bag all our interconnections, especially stuff that's running on grass (lawns), overnight stays, etc. You never know when it's gonna rain or get moist. Snake multipins, power connections, video, telco, etc., it's all bagged up. This practice is standard on all our outdoor and/or overnight dates. There's a bunch more to say about this, but I got to motor to my next gig...

Maybe someone else can add a thing or three about this matter.

Good Question!

[fifthcircle]

I'll second the recommendation for bagging connections. I'm in Southern Cali. where the weather is always great That said, we get some pretty heavy dew (and sometimes fog). When connections get wet, it is all over. You'll be chasing buzzes and crackling sound for ever.

Take a few minutes and take care of your connections ahead of time.

--Ben

[Walling1]

Originally posted by Remoteness

We carry 4" clear tubing on a huge roll.

Where do you get this stuff? I do an outdoor theatre show every summer which runs for 2 weeks, and baggies with rubber bands are ok, but they bind up the cables and can still let water in through the gaps between the cables. For a simple XLR connection which won't be changed for the run, sometimes I'll just wrap the whole connection with some electrical tape. Plastic tubing would be great.

-Dave

[Remoteness]

Hey Dave,

Off hand, I don't remember where I got it. I will try to look at the roll we got and see what it says on the reel. I'll try to get some model numbers and such. If I had to guess, I believe Barbizon Electric in NYC has the stuff. Their number is 212.586.1620.

It's a roll of 4" clear tubing. You can get it in different sizes and thicknesses. We picked the 4' because it fits around our W4 MASS connectors and pretty much fits on everything else we use. Many folks have various sizes, but we just stock the 4' stuff and use it for everything.

Baggies with rubber bands may be OK, but I would not trust them too much! They are not thick enough for hard useage. I would not use the rubber bands, just use gaffer tape or electrical tape instead. You don't need water getting through the gaps between the cables. Wraping the XLR connector in electrical tape can work but a real bitch to take apart, especially when the tape got fused into itself from the sun. Plastic tubing is the only way to do it.

Hey, If I don't get on this within a few days, bump me for it again.

Later then...

[See and Hear]

Bump
With pictures

[trompetfreak]

I'm lucky I do so many things at so many places!
In a concert venue where I work, the back of the stage is glass and overlooks the city. So just imagine what happens with some good storm. Snow, rain, lightning... Amazing! It's also really cool when the big glass wall is wet. The city gets out of focus. Really cool.

I played a concert once on a big outdoor festival. It has been raining all day, but the minute we got on, the sun came true! In the last minute of our encore, hell broke loose! I hadn't seen that much water come falling down in a long time. Everyone was instant-wet and ran into bars on the square.
I whitnessed how the techs ran to save their mics, and closed the flightcases, covering mixers... The other 4 bands playing that night didn't go on.
Being musician and not tech at that moment, I just took my trumpet and had a beer backstage...

[Enginearing]

I like the tube idea of Steves...

Tarps packer with various sizes as well as industrial size garbage bags is a must on the bigger shows... I keep a few stashed in my van ready for such occasions as being left short.

It also helps to have a great Production manager - things like weatherproof marquees are a must and it always helps if there is a roll of visqueen lying around.

yep. Visqueen is your friend.