kerry davies

One of my favourite writers is Jim Lynch and his book Border Songs sees characters ranting about the ditch which forms the border then casually popping over to a neighbours for coffee by stepping across. 

You join the dots.

And then those of us who soldered hundreds of MDF terminations invested in the Weller 140/100W Gun with home-made bits to suit the terminals. Heated up in seconds, transferred heat quickly and generally did the job well. We got the biggest bit available then filed a groove to provide maximum contact.

I liked the later pen-style BT gas soldering irons for light work literally "in the field". But at the end of the day it is personal choice guided by experience, good and bad. 

I did lots of things in churches, abbeys, castles and the like and could regale you with nightmare power tales until Christmas BUT ... alister morton reminded me of one which began as a community event, grew to take the full WNO touring rig as a gift and had a 3 ph supply dug in through the graveyard (bones everywhere, dogs going bonkers etc.)

For that we installed our own meter/monitor in a garden shed simply to inform the electricity board what sponsorship they were providing. Alister seems to be suggesting installing your own meter on the feed to the theatre rather than read the main house one. Single phase ones are not that expensive and any decent sparkie could slot one into the line.

Forgive me Paul but starting a query with "I have been given" always raises a smile but to follow it with "Acme disco light " could well have set me up for the week. I have not clue one what sort of beast or what sort of fault you may have but I thought I would tell you that you have done the spirits of a miserable old g1t no end of good.

It may be best to search the web for "Artificial Optical Radiation" with the sub headings Laws, Risk Assessment, HSE, etc. There is a veritable jungle of sites you can read through including one from PLASA  several from HSE and umpteen from the Gov.assets.publishing.service.

There is a lovely bloke on BR called Rob Sayer or indyld of Onstagelighting who writes a new AOR RA for the University of Bath every couple of years. Beg, borrow or even buy one off him.

Ed is an amateur compared to my old mates Elephant Talk. Each of them played several instruments and built layer after layer which gets complex when three or four of you are doing it to a drum machine. 

Kizzy Crawford is one of the best around nowadays.... and she sings in Welsh!

There seem to be a fair few on Ebay, Amazon and Etsy. Try searching for "fireproof" and "flame resistant".

Jivemaster is right. If you are going to mic it up and amplify it then the only sensible and controllable method is via Sound Effects.

Creaking only when you want and not creaking when that is wanted is impossible with "live" effects. 

I have worked with artistes with "stomp boxes" and tambourine pedals, which can be problematic, but a pro flamenco artiste needs their own well-rehearsed sound man or it can sound hilariously bad. Doing it live risks amplifying noise that you do not want. 

Try one or more of these.

The Rondo in Bath was one of my favourite spaces but quirky wasn't the word. They had a small touch capacitive board and the route backstage from the control box was over the top of the roof, not good in the rain. I never got the hang of that board. Dry fingers or summat but luckily it was as rare as rocking horse even back then..

15 hours ago, kerry davies said:

Another fatal fire at the Teatre complex of 3 nightclubs in Murcia. Videos make it look like a fierce blaze and early reports claim 13 dead.. 

Nothing much to be learned from this. The three nightclubs split a single club into three venues and they were refused planning permission and a licence in January 2022. They were then ordered to close last October and have been operating illegally ever since. The council are going to throw the legislative book at them but it shows just how impotent some authorities are to prevent maniacs running venues. 

I suspect that the place is uninsured and that gaining realistic compensation is an unreal expectation.

Another fatal fire at the Teatre complex of 3 nightclubs in Murcia. Videos make it look like a fierce blaze and early reports claim 13 dead.. 

Of course much simpler is the grouchy, flat-hatted stage hand in a warehouse coat who stomps on, glowers at Robin, grips the arrow and stomps across the stage/auditorium and jams it into the target. Walking off shaking his head and shrugging is an optional extra. 

There are videos on other news sites showing a fierce blaze and blaming inflammable construction materials for the scale of disaster. Pre-fire shots show long rows of tables stretching the length of the hall which would make egress a nightmare. The walls and windows look to have gauzey drapes or curtains and smoking would have been risky let alone pyro.

Don't worry, the English can't even handle simple Welsh place names and they moved to live next door to us about 1500 years ago. 

Be very careful about projecting stuff onto a street or roadway. 

If I were in Lem and looking for a gift I would first ask the Students Unions at Coventry and Warwick or the Guild at Birmingham. Most of the guys here are not in a position to give away working items since most don't actually own much. You might get lucky but try shop-fitters as well who might well be refurbing shops and displays with working units being removed.

I don't think Paul was casting nasturtiums about your competence as a secretary or a person but competence in legal terms brings with it responsibility. I would have thought that there would be a Production Manager to make these decisions and if not then your rigger must deal with it. The supplier cannot give you carte blanche certification of safety because they don't rig it or know what the structure it is attached to might be like. They should however know the weight and methods of fixing and what kit is required. If they don't, look elsewhere.

Every item and step might be perfectly good but when put together it could turn lethal and I believe that it is only at final installation is a safety certificate worth a fig. 

Why not PM the BR member "Big Dave" who is or was a Digico product specialist?

Sadly I can't make it either but if you see that reprobate Lenthall could you please  ask him to give an old Welsh hat wearer a call. 

Back in my day I would hire floor from friendly dance companies wherever I found myself then I asked myself why someone from Leeds, where the Student's Union has over a dozen dance societies, can't scrounge some there. Sheffield itself has a couple of dance schools and a handful of dance companies so ask around but first off ask the venue who are putting on this dance show what they usually do . You could also ask the Sheffield SU whose Dance Society is just YUGE!

I am not a humhead at all but when I needed similar I used to dig in the drum mic kit and use AKG P170's which worked adequately for live sound. They seem to be about £75 now on general sale. If your client is more prone to brand recognition they might be the suitable compromise rather than just as effective cheaper brands. 

The problem with AmDram is that no matter what technical wizardry you throw at a voice you are mostly amplifying rubbish and ending up with louder rubbish that drives the originator even deeper down the mumble mine. A friend used to say that if you need loads of radio mics then you certainly don't want them. 

Everyone above has it correct and I think J Pearce used to work in a school so pay heed. I can blag my way around mixing bands but, as Sandall suggests, a dozen radio mics in an amateur cast is way beyond reasonable. 

Why should anyone want rusty 240V AC lights that you can't get lamps for? Now if anyone has a pile of polished bronze shields as used in the amphiteatre....????

It is all horses for courses and personal choice. One PA consultant used to set up well-respected systems for big-name bands using "Lifted" by Lighthouse family. Drove me potty but he then went sublime to gorblimey by cranking it up to 11 with early Rammstein.  Another mate started every day at his recording studio playing Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" which he reckoned was near perfect production. Yes they both first used pink noise and frequency generators but the set-up tunes were very much familiar tracks which they knew in their bones. 

P.K. it isn't just the item but (mostly) the environment which is high or low risk. 

Sunray, to answer a question with a question, which is safer, a table lamp handled daily by anyone from infant to geriatric while splashing coffee around or a pre-tested and examined parcan rigged by someone with basic electrical knowledge well out of punter reach? 

A real world example is that my kitchen and bathroom have D-type compact fluorescent lamps and the council went potty when I changed one. They expect me to change all the other bulbs but the D-types they have determined as a sparky job. Someone there risk assessed us crinklies stood on chairs and decided that's OK but not if we need to remove a diffuser. So the bottom line is that the inspection and test intervals are whatever the competent person decides when they make the risk assessment.