Welcome to #4. As stated before, the mission of Tech Tips is to help part time (and full time) sound persons to achieve great results in what are not always, suitable acoustic environments. Not an easy task. I really like to focus on tips and techniques that require very little cost or materials but when you add them all up, they can make a significant difference. This weeks tip, I think you will all agree, makes a lot of sense, but how many of us are actually doing it? I thought so. Well, read on and be inspired, and then do it. You won't be sorry. Here we go.

Label That Cable

You would think that marking your cables and equipment to indicate where they go and what they plug into would just be a given. HAH!!!! Think again. Most people (not all) just reach into a bag of cords and start untangling and sorting until they have everything plugged in, often using a different mic cable to plug something in than they did last time. This works, but always takes more time, which is something we don’t always have. I like to think of it like this. When I am getting ready to do a gig, or for that matter, packing for a weekend outing or day trip to go skiing, I like to make a checklist. I much prefer this to just having an open suitcase/roadcase and trying to figure out what I need as I go. I always seem to forget or overlook something when I just wing it. If you have a regular setup at church as many of us do, try this. After sound check or rehearsal, take your label maker or non residue tape and cut up little label like strips. Then go around with your black sharpie and label each and every connection. (that’s right, both ends.) Also, take a piece of scotch tape and place it over the label when you are done. This will prevent the sharpie from rubbing out and it will stay legible for so much longer. In our duo 2Suite everything is well labeled and this makes for a quick and repeatable setup everytime. I only had to do it once and we reap the benefits everytime we set up. Not much cost involved for this one, so no excuses.

Our 2Suite setup.

1- Drum overhead L
2- Drum overhead R
3- Snare/hi-hat
4- Drum vocal
5- Wireless mic
6- Roland TD3 (I trigger my acoustic drums)
7- Suzanne’s Piano
8- Suzanne’s Korg x-50 synth
9- Suzanne’s vocal

I also like to label my DI boxes as well and my wall wart power adapters.
Power adapters often look the same, but plug the wrong one in with opposite polarity and you will not be a very happy camper. Just label it and don’t take a chance. There are many benefits to being this organized. One is that I never have to think too hard about what I need to plug in next. I just keep patching things in until I am out of labeled cables and voila…….. I am done. Another big plus is that I can enlist someone to help me and everything is already labeled, making it easy for them to be helpful. Thirdly, and very important is that when you wish to trace a cable back to where it is patched in, you eliminate any guesswork. Nothing scarier than being bent over in the dark on the stage, trying to figure out which cable is which. Pull out the wrong one and the lead singers mic goes dead. This actually happened a few years back on a major awards show. I sure am glad that I was not the guy who pulled out that cord. You probably remember the incident as it was a very well know singer who’s mic went mysteriously dead. You can bet If that cable had been labeled “Lead Vocal” that they never would have unplugged it. Can you say, WHOOPS!!

In addition to all this, I also label all the ends of my ac power cords coming out of the gear, so that at a glance I can look at a power bar and know which plug matches which piece of equipment . I guess you can tell by now that I am a fanatic, but know this! When you are short on setup time or need to fix something in a hurry, you sure will be glad you marked everything so well. Thanks for reading and see you next time
TT