Topic: Mics, mic stands and Wookies - what is the solution??

[boojum]

The more I record the more I have close to having a mic stand knocked over by people in the audience.  I did a jam/bar band Saturday and by the third set it was pretty drunk out and the mic stand became invisible, I guess, to the staggering mob.  I could have raised the mics higher to make them more obvious.  That would halp.  But would posting a sign on the stand saying something like"Caution - Recording Session" help?  Has anyone tried this or are the wookies just to clever and get past every safeguard.  There has to be some way to reduce wookie-mic stand collisions.

What have you folks tried??

[Wiggle]

Find someone relatively sedate within the crowd and offer them a beer or a copy of the show if they help you block your stand. I only tried that once and it worked. The guy opted for a copy of the show instead of the beer and then never gave me his address so I got a free blocker that night.

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

I often adopt a stance that conveys the message "don't fuck with this" and it works up to a certain point until people get too drunk to be reasonable.  There are a lot of defensive positions you can take with your gear.  I think you mentioned in another thread that there was 18" between your stand and the drink rail.  You need to put your stand closer so that there isn't any possible way to get through.  As suggested, recruit some buddies if you don't have any.  Have them establish the borders.  I've had some pro taper recruits offer to help me FOB that I had to ask to chill out because they were too protective.  On several occasions I've asked people who were being quiet to move their tables to provide protection for my space or to create an alternative path for people walking through the bar.  That worked out most times but sometimes not so well.  Depending on your gear, setup so you can easily adjust if there is a problem.  I use a small FOB stand that I run head height and my gear has a very small foot print.  So I can stand with the mics right at the bill of my cap and reach out to block in any direction.  I can relocate easily.  We have a pretty tight local crew so often there are a few of us piled into one dense fob section.  Just be careful which friends you bring.  There is one guy who comes with us who can be worthless sober and worse if he's drinking and he thinks he's being amusing.  You just have to exude authority and many people will recognize that you are working and give you space.

This aspect of taping is just something you get used to or you retreat to the section or behind the board where there is less traffic.  Crowd control isn't that difficult but you will never run out of wasted wooks.

[Fatah Ruark (aka MIKE B)]

In places like bars, I try to find some sort of object to help me block (usually a table). If that isn't available I try to set up in an area where I think the traffic might be a little lower. It all depends on the bar.

In one particular bar, I run in front of the right stack. I'd prefer to be in between the stacks, but if I did, I'd surely have people knocking down my stand all night. I'd rather make a stack tape without bumps than a stereo recording with bumps to my stand/equipment.

Recently, I've been running on stage at this place, and then running my mic cables back to the soundboard, and mixing the board feed with my UA-5 (if the band allows a board feed). Luckily, they have every time. If they don't I might just run on stage with one set of mics and clip my stealthy mics to the board to fill in the singer.

Experience is your friend, unfortunately. Every situation is different.

 

[goodcooker]

I have tried with varying results:
Outside
*tents stakes - best
*menacing stance and glares

Inside
*lots of gaffer's tape on the legs or
* lots of duct tape if the floor is concrete in a shitty club where a little residue will go unnoticed
* table and chairs to cover legs of stand
* bungee cords holding stand to a fixed object like a column - not a table or something that can knock the stand and cause booms
* blockers and inflated bar tab
*menacing stance and glares
* flourescent colored velcro cable ties to increase visibility


I use one of those big ass AEA stands that has a large footprint and I struggle with this as well.
At one Particle show the club/dancefloor was split down the middle to seperate underage from drinking age patrons. 25ft back in the center was the sweet spot so I pulled a cocktail table and a stool over there to block the stand for me. It just happened to be at the termination of the rope dividing the crowd and  thusly was the place everyone wanted to put their half empty drinks on the way to the can. The second set of the show is basically drunk people replies to me handing their drinks back to them. Eventually a double bourbon got spilled on the table and I just gave up. The other tapers were back at the sbd pulling a matrix tape so I was on my own. Get a drink resistant bag and keep it zipped up.

Shameless plug - I have a liquid resistant bag for sale in the YS right now.

[DSatz]

Before I die I would like to be known for the following pair of observations, gleaned from 35+ years of live concert recording:

[1] No microphone arrangement at a concert can ever be small or unobtrusive enough. Even if your mikes were the size of a single hydrogen atom, someone would still complain that they block the view.

[2] At the same time, even if you use a mike stand sixteen inches in diameter that glows a bright throbbing red, as soon as someone walks into it (ruining your recording), they will invariably blame you for not making your equipment visible enough, when they weren't looking where they were going.

In the 1970s I used to attach cards to my mike stands that said "WARNING: 600 Ohms." Believe it or not, I think it got me some respectful distance sometimes.

Also, omni and wide cardioid microphones are relatively immune to picking up physical shock, as compared with cardioid, supercardioid or figure-8 microphones. (When I say omni here I mean a true pressure transducer--not the "omni" setting of a dual-diaphragm, switchable-pattern microphone.)

--best regards

[boojum]

DSatz -

I like the 600 Ohm warning.  Honest, and scary for the uninitiated.  You are right about the complaints and stumbles.  Good observations.  Mensch,  looks like two egg cremes now.  ;o)

[KLowe]

ive had luck with
-duct tape on legs of stand
-hanging my head lamp from stand about 4ft up.  It has a Red LED light that people tend to notice
-block with tables, chairs, etc...

and my personal favorite.  Which surprisingly works the best.
-set up stand and gear, set levels, step at least 10-12 ft away from stand and let'r run.  People tend to think it is the Sound guy's or band's equipment and they don't fuck with it....... most of the time.

[joekar]

If your only worried about wookies, simply tie a bar of soap to the stand.....That should give you a good clear 5 meter perimeter......If your talking about drunks..thats a different story all together...Blockers and obstacles  work well..........You can always use a good stun gun and than stack/arrange the bodies to block in your equipment...
Have fun..
Just my two cents..

Peace,
jk

[jkbyram]

along with your soap on your stand a diversion of free patchouli a minimum of 15' away may be effective for steering them away.

[Corbin]

I think you mentioned in another thread that there was 18" between your stand and the drink rail.   

No that was me that had the shitty DFC FOB experience last weekend.  I stood with my two feet on either side of a stand leg and whenever I could feet someone thinking about walking behind me, I just put my hand to the rail (thus blocking their way).  Then I would say, "NO, you have to walk around!"  It was the first time I felt like a jedi, when I was telling giant muscle-dudes, "NO, you have to go around!"  The body builer guys looked at me funny, like they hadn't been told what to do in a long time, but they eventually walked around.  I'll never forget the feeling though of leaving my stand under my girlfriend's watch, and then coming out of the can to see the stand swaying back and forth, back and forth. (all while I'm fighting through a CRAZY crowd to get back to the gear).

Anyways, that was a bit of a rant...Another solution I can think of is smoking cigarettes..(if you're a smoker and it's an outdoor venue)..The one or two times I smoked a cigarette at the show, all of a sudden I had a 6 or 8 foot radius of nobody around me.  I'm not saying it's a great solution, but under the right conditions, a stinky cigarette can clear a crowd. 

[bluntforcetrauma]

tank top, steroids, and dont f*&K with me look, veins bulging biceps tearing, pit bull

[boojum]

tank top, steroids, and dont f*&K with me look, veins bulging biceps tearing, pit bull

That's it!  That's it!  Be a bully with a pit bull, and maybe smoke a cigarette, too.  Yes!   LOL   Why didn't I think of this.     

[SmokinJoe]

My best solution, for indoors anyway... pick the best DFC FOB table you can.  Attach a C-clamp or bar clamp to the table (use cardboard coasters to avoid scarring the table).  Duct tape stand to clamp, and it's going no where.  They could actually snap off the stand above that I suppose, but I've not see that happen.  Put gear bag under the table, all zipped up in a beer proof manner.

[RobertNC]

A pocket flashlight with a push button is handy.  You can often disrupt a wook on an eccentric orbit approaching your rig by spotlighting them.

The flashlight in the face has a primal wook association with the fuzz confiscating their dank.  They instinctively try to move away.