Take down time.

[gaza]

Hi people.
It seems that after each gig nowdays, i feel more and more rushed to pack away the gear.
It takes me and my 12 year old son about 40 mins to take down and pack away. because my son is only 12, he can only put away the light things.
So i keep trying to think of lttle thing to save time.
I was thingking of having 2 x t bars with the bars already wired up ready for the lights, that way it would get rid of the time that it takes to take down the ultimax stand and goal post.
So using a table with 2 x t bars instead of the deckstand and goalposts
might save a little time, although i do think that the goalposts looks better.
Or maybe i should sack my son, and get an older helper.:eek:
After all he can go back to sweeping the chimneys.:D :D
Any thoughts from you guys.
Thanks :)

[DJWilson]

Hi,

do you have a order in which you take down stuff etc?

if so a certain take down way may be quicker then others.

[alphawave]

i find after many years,my roadie and myself have a pattern of taking down and packing up,,it helps alot to do it in the right order as to how it packs away in the trailer/car..

[gaza]

Hi,

do you have a order in which you take down stuff etc?

if so a certain take down way may be quicker then others.



Yes, i take the lights down, while my son is rolling up the speaker wires, and the other leads. Then i put away the amp, take down the deck stand and goalposts, then the speakers, etc etc. Then take out to the van.
I dont think that there is a quicker way of doing it, as i say it is just that sometimes i feel that i have to rush arround like mad.
It is ok when there are people waiting for taxis, or still talking to each other,
because i know that the venue staff cant go yet anyway.

[DJWilson]

Have you tried doing it in a different order?

This may speed up take down a little bit

[gaza]

Have you tried doing it in a different order?

This may speed up take down a little bit


Well, i cant take the goal post and deck stand down with all the light on it.:rolleyes:, and the amp sits on the lower part of the deckstand aswell.
So the only other way is to just take the speakers of the stands.

[robbiedj]

How about a winch stand? You could lower it with lights on, then both work on it, one doing leads while the other does lights. Working at low level will remove the climb up and down part of packing.

We pack up in about 20mins, with Carol doing leads, extensions, starcloth, undoing velcro and removing gaffa while I do the heavy stuff and giraffe stand.

[djsteve10]

Maybe pre-wire your ultimax stand and then you can just lift the lights on and plug them in and off you go,
Deckstands always get the upper hand from me, you can go to a venue one week and the table be the right size and then the next the table been too small and no good on the old back,
And if you find you are working too hard carry less gear as sometimes less IS more.

[Tom]

...And if you find you are working too hard carry less gear as sometimes less IS more.


Agree with you there. :)

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

I am definately guilty of this, but why do people worry so much about saving an extra 10 minutes here and there?

[Tom]

Well for me the quicker I can pack down the quicker I can go home and let the venue close down the for night. Thats my view on it.

[gaza]

Maybe pre-wire your ultimax stand and then you can just lift the lights on and plug them in and off you go,
Deckstands always get the upper hand from me, you can go to a venue one week and the table be the right size and then the next the table been too small and no good on the old back,
And if you find you are working too hard carry less gear as sometimes less IS more.



The bar is already pre-wired.

[gaza]

I think the fastest that we can take down and put away is 30 mins.
As i a said, it is not every gig that i feel like i am being a pain for the venue staff, but perhaps it is me being paranoid.:eek:, because no one has said anything.

[Sam]

Our pack down time all depends.
Depends what gear we are using, what access is like and how tired we are lol!
usually takes around 45mins to an hour.

Things that I have done to speed it all up recently are just simple changes like using G-Clamps. We keep them on the lights which just go straight into the crates that the gear is carted around in / stored in.

[Tom]

My roadie and I have a set routine. We pack all the leads away first. After then all the lights come down and back in to boxes and speakers are packer away. Next is the playout system comes off and goes on the floor. Then the deck stand and we then pack up to go home. Takes anything betweem 30 mins to 45 mins.

[theoloyla]

Jan and I are the same. She dewires and packs stuff into cases in the order that I load it into the van. Our usual get out is about 30 minutes.

[axeman]

start packing down earlier...lol, maybe during the last dance, and once you have made your mind up about the boys career i have a chimney needs sweeping.

[ppentertainments]

I am definately guilty of this, but why do people worry so much about saving an extra 10 minutes here and there?

Would agree here. I never rush packing away as this is when mistakes happen. I often never have time to check my kit before the next gig so always make sure everything is packed away properly and where it should be. My T&C's state that I need 1 hour pack down and in reality take about 40mins. I think you should take as much time and care paking away as setting up.

[One Vision]

With my mates gear we have end of the night sets, once we have gone to the slow tracks he then announces the last track which is actually part of a small premade mix he has quite a few variations of tracks and endings to choose from.
But as an example we could play the time of our lives which then ends with a prerecording saying the DJ would like to thank etc. etc. then goes in to another track such as steptoe and son then ends with the looney tunes theme and porky pig "thats all folks" but whilst this is all playing we are stripping the show down i.e. lights and other gear so pretty much all thats left at the end is the sound gear and stand.
People dont really notice us packing up as they are so surprised to hear steptoe playing and then all start with a sing a long, another classic we use is bring me sunshine M&W.

The best part about this routine is that everybody leaves with a smile on their faces, so very rarely see any trouble as they are generally still singing steptoe, bring me sunshine, show me the way to go home or Danny boy :D .

[theoloyla]

With my mates gear we have end of the night sets, once we have gone to the slow tracks he then announces the last track which is actually part of a small premade mix he has quite a few variations of tracks and endings to choose from.
But as an example we could play the time of our lives which then ends with a prerecording saying the DJ would like to thank etc. etc. then goes in to another track such as steptoe and son then ends with the looney tunes theme and porky pig "thats all folks" but whilst this is all playing we are stripping the show down i.e. lights and other gear so pretty much all thats left at the end is the sound gear and stand.
People dont really notice us packing up as they are so surprised to hear steptoe playing and then all start with a sing a long, another classic we use is bring me sunshine M&W.

The best part about this routine is that everybody leaves with a smile on their faces, so very rarely see any trouble as they are generally still singing steptoe, bring me sunshine, show me the way to go home or Danny boy :D .
Dead right. We do that too. On a usual night we will end with some slowies and Jan will tuen off some of the lights to cool down. As soon I announce the last dance she will start putting lids on the record cases and when Vera starts singing after I have said "Thankyou and goodnight" she will start packing up.

[One Vision]

Thats dead right Theo, and works out even better these days as most of the lighting doesn't need a cool down time with being led lights etc. so as soon as the mix starts, down comes the goal post, I start stripping the lights and packing away whilst my mate is rapping the other gear up like his mic, light controllers and generally bringing all the lids and other gear ready to pack the sound gear away.
Only has a single cd box as most is played via the D2 so the cd players can be packed away whilst the D2 is still playing, this all takes about 20-30mins to have everything packed up, the he jumps in the back of the van whilst I bring everything out on the trolley probably about 7 trips as we can get 2 speakers on the sack truck, obviously takes a bit more time to load if upstairs or awkward to get in and out of.