A nice tidy setup

[partyadz]

Hi all

 

We have a tour to small (very small) venues, where the control needs to be positioned FOH. It means that audience members will have to walk past LX/Sound desk. Just wondered if any one had any advice for a nice tidy setup, rather than a couple of tables with black cloth on.

 

The effect I have in my mind is the black cloth barriers, that can then be positioned around the tables, to completely hide messy cables etc. Although not sure if there is easy/cheap way to do this.

 

Are there any simple, out-of-to-box solutions?!

 

Cheers

[J Pearce]

Normal black felt flats on their side held together with clamps can work well.

Nothing beats a smart setup in the first place though. Desk with dogbox with multipin looms to the racks and stage, sat on a smart desk stand.

[GridGirl]

A hire company here has a self-supporting desk front cover; it's modular (pieces of aluminium frame which lock together) and so you can set it up to cover bigger or smaller desks. It has velcro round the top of it (I think!) so you just pick the right length skirt for it and attach. Easy and tidy as well as flexible.

[organised confusion]

Black flats work the best, nice and light as well.

 

Any hire/ AV company with a carpentry department will be able to provide for rental or purchase. Or knock them up yourself if you've got a staple gun and a bit of felt, covering flats can be quite therapeutic.

[Ashley R]

Have a look into the DJ orientated market as ive seen multiple out of the box systems that create a lightweight screen on 3 sides in under 5 mins.

 

The most popular colours I have seen are black and white lycra which can be then uplit from behind useing a cheap LED baton.

 

Or alternatively you can build one out of PVC Pipe(Pipe, Elbows..etc.), some material and some Velcro, not terribly diffecult and there are quite a few DIY vids on Youtube showing you tips and tricks on how to make one. Serch for something allong the lines of Dj Skirts, Dj table topper etc.

[kerry davies]

Try thinking laterally. Forkbeard Fantasy who tour your area use the technicians and kit as part of the show. When doing promenade I've either built tech spaces into the set or featured them and not tried to hide them. I do use self-adhesive velcro tabs to attach to tables, stages etc but that is not very 'creative' and there are lots of ways around these problems.

 

As an example I built a "bunker" in the middle of the Glos Guildhall cinema for DJ's, slide and film projection and that is an oak-panelled room with massive corporation style oil paintings on the walls ... it worked. We once ran all the cabling vertically and dressed it in fake ivy and foliage and have even changed a tower scaff into a skyrocket with sound and light technicians operating in silver suits in its' base. Lots of answers dependent on venue, genre and requirements of the piece. You can always claim it as Brechtian!

[LXbydesign]

Id 2nd dipping into the dj market on this one. You can get good fold up all black tables with cunning holes for cables to pass through. Light and strong as well - and then for the surround the folding frames which u velco blacks onto - or a star cloth if you like!!

 

On some frames, the top section is angled inwards which provides a nice, neat finish and also helps to obscure any 'tat' on the worktop