Hello!

I'm currently PSM for a non-equity educational production at a theater that does usually produce eq productions. One of my actor's will be using their (very nice) personal guitar for the duration of the rehearsal process and run. In the LORT rulebook, there's a clause regarding negotiating a rate, but there are no numbers mentioned. Does anyone have experience with this so I can make sure that the theater is providing the actor a fair rate?

Thanks!

Our community theatre has an older LS9 board and I would like to be able to use outbound automation when a particular channel is muted/unmuted or fader up/down to trigger a tally light backstage in the wings to indicate that mics are live…

I’m not overly familiar with what the LS9 can do from an automation or control standpoint… MIDI like the Qu or X32? RS232? IP? Something else?

The lighting aspect can be done relatively simply, using LED strips, but I need to find a way to send a trigger from the LS9 - are there any good options for this? I can build a RPi integration that will send OSC, or even control the lights directly.

Failing that I can probably just build a cue into the light board and use DMX, but I’d prefer to have it reflect the actual sound board status rather than relying on lighting op.

Greetings all,

Anyone have some good places where to get 525W or 750W OSRAM lamps for Source 4/Source4jr and Pars? Some of my regular sources are having some delays getting them.

Thanks

Hello! I’m trying to get into this industry, and I know people are wishy-washy on the effectiveness of college as a whole, but I am very interested in a PNW college to kick-start my career. Any input about UW specifically would be greatly appreciated, along with any other colleges nearby that might fit what I’m looking for. I’d love to be an electrician more than a designer, but lighting is definitely where I see myself. Any help would be appreciated. I love this region, and would do anything to stay here. Thank you!

hi! my tech crew is currently in the process of preparing for our winter musical “SpongeBob: The Musical”. we are looking to do some projections, nothing big, but small things. We have a 21,000 Lumen projector so brightness isn’t a concern. I was wondering what program would be recommended to cue these projections? We have a QLab license that we use for other stuff (sound, playing some videos, timecode, etc). We could use that, but i’m wondering what they use on Broadway shows or what the community uses to project stuff. Thanks!

Hi All,
I've recently finished my technical theatre training and I am now working as a freelancer. I'm fairly new to the industry and was wondering, what advice would you give to a new freelancer?

Hi I have some left over production equipment from jobs over the years. Looking to clean up my storage area. Not sure if this is in rules of sub but looking for recommendations for sale or donation (taxable)

I'm mounting a pulley so I can store a small boat on the wall to save space.

The boat is 125 lbs. With an 8:1 for working loads and a single pulley, I need 125 * 2 * 8 = 4000.

So I need a 2 ton pulley?

Any good places to buy pulleys?

Hello you wonderful people. I happen to be doing a production of Grease and we have all the music in ROCS. The problem is, I am the only operator and thus was looking to control everything from the light board (ETC Ion). I know I can send OSC from the board to my laptop for Qlab but I was wondering if there was any way to send a trigger to ROCS. The idea was that I could trigger the sound and lights with a single press of the go button and have everything auto-follow through to the end of the track. Any help would be much appreciated.

Hi all! If you have a specific ratcheting wrench for cheeseboroughs, which is it and where did you get it?

Ideally something of a quality that won’t fall apart midair.

I was honestly just curious how difficult it is to make it to the top (work on broadway, west end, and some very professional regional theater like the LA, Chicago ones ext), what skills that takes, and how much do they get paid at the top? Can't get a solid answer from google so wanted to ask.

Left-handed techies: when you coil cable over/under, do you hold the end in your left hand and coil with your right (the same as right-handed people), or do the opposite? I'm trying to teach someone how to do this and I'm wondering if I should swap the hands because she's a lefty. I don't think I can do it the other way though!

Sorry, I know this has been asked before but I don’t really understand lots of what’s been said…

I have a band, and need to get video from the MD to 3 different monitors, two of which need 10-20m of cabling to get to them.

What zero/near zero latency solutions exist? We need to get this ASAP, and I’m really struggling to find anything suitable, that doesn’t cost thousands of pounds.

For reference, I’m in England.

UPDATE: overwhelmed by how many of you stepped up to offer advice. Thank you so much.

Using kit lists from these comments, I think I’ve bought the right stuff. It’ll all be delivered very soon, so will have another update shortly!

So... I've just started using theatre mix today. Had a few questions and a problem I need help with!

1. I ended up with theatre mix on a really unusual crazy children's gig (sound designer specified it). Basically, the client runs the same show multiple times, with different cast members. Original brief was that there was two versions of the show. A full cast of 20 and a small cast of 15. The old reductions in cast size come from ensemble sizes. So we made a TM file for each version with the mic list we were given.

However, it was revealed today that some shows have cast members playing literally 3 principal roles in a scene (e.g. actor 1 plays John and Mike in show 1. But in show 2 actor 2 plays John and actor 1 plays Mike. All in the same scene). That doesn't quite worked with any of our existing TM files, as we assumed each role had a unique player and as per mic list and that the ensemble is just smaller so we just remove unused mics from the TM file. Is there any advice on how to handle this odd situation where any of the shows could have an actor play literally more than 1 role in a scene?.

I texted the other sound operator who's gotten the most cast reductions for when he comes in (from 15 mics to 7). His response was that he had to replot the whole show and make a new script.

Don't ask me how it works dramatically, it still kinda did. But having to mix the show with a live audience after one tech rehearsal was pretty wild... Meant that I didn't care about the story and just tried to survive.

2. Rescanning for console doesn't work after I fire up each cue. I seem to have to manually key in my desk's IP each time. Am I missing something? Desk is X32, we go through an unmanaged switch.

3. I thought it was a feature, and maybe I'm doing it wrong. But is there a way to save and recall input channel fader levels?

Thanks in advanced!

Hello everyone; I am searching for an apprenticeship/mentor program specifically in lighting design and tech. I would love to have some recommendations, especially if you were in those programs, too.

I have about 4 years under my belt from working at my community theaters. If anyone has any suggestions or advice, that would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!

Hello!

I'm currently working on a production of A Christmas Carol - the set has been designed and constructed with no consideration for getting set pieces (a four poster bed and a table) on and off the stage. There is minimal space backstage for set and the only entrances to the stage are no wider than 76cm (which is wider than the table we have)

The techs have come to the conclusion of having to build a small space in front of the audience seating (which starts ~1.5m above the stage) to hide them but we all hate it as a solution. BUT The show is soon enough that that may have to be our solution - I am very much hoping someone else out there has any kind of idea that would save us from that but if we don't have anything better before tomorrow it's the inelegant solution that gives us set.

We have tried smooth felt and plastics, and different wheels combined with rubber feet and air-bellows for retractable wheels. What my boss wants to try now is a solution like that on gymnastics horses. With the little pedal on the side to engage/disengage the wheels, to land stage elements when in use, but make them easy to move for changeover. Anyone have the "anatomy" of such pedal engaged wheels? Or similar solutions. Don't have one close at hand to take a look at.

Does anyone know where I can rent a working Venetian (contour) Curtain with DMX winches for a production this summer in the USA. Min 24'H x 32' wide.

(I already have info from Rosebrand and Dazian)

I am currently a college student at a liberal arts university that has a sizable theatre major. I was in the program for two years until an incident happened where a guest artist was transphobic to me. I decided to drop the major, but I still want to go into sound engineering and design.

To still be in the community, I wanted to work on the side. I’m often running into jobs I am qualified for, but cannot get because my past theatre program will not recommend me. Are there any ways where I could reach out to someone and ask for mentorship?

Hi All! Sorry if this is not the right place to ask, I thought I would try anyway.

I am currently a theatre technician but I am interested in being a technician for pro-wrestling events. I'd imagine that they're quite a few differences between the both and was wondering if anyone on the this subreddit has worked in pro-wrestling, and if so, would they be willing to share their experience? I'm particulary interested to know how they got into the pro-wrestling industry as a technician.

Thanks in Advance!

And they were well taken care of. Just need to replace the main tension knob and wire up plugs.

So, someone goofed, long story short Wizard of Oz (RSC) was chosen for our show this year, and it fell through the cracks that we have someone working for us who is allergic to dogs. I'm not going to get into details but we're searching for alternatives.

Has anyone pulled off Toto without a real dog? Any ideas on how we can make it look realistic or not cheesy? Are there robotic rentals available from anywhere?

I put anything that stores data in memory on a UPS, such as digital mixers and our QLab Mac. I used to like CyberPower, but lately all the 1U rackmount models seem to overreact to small swings in voltage even in low sensitivity mode, and even in "silent" mode there are warning beeps. Anyone had any luck with anything that has a true silent mode - never beeps, and is reliable?

I’m in the process of trying to take a latex paint (need latex due to paint match + quantity), and thin it down a great deal to appear as a liquid makeup foundation.

Having two problems:

1. an incredible amount of bubbles, when it needs to be perfectly smooth.

I’ve tried distilled water, agitating w magnetic mixer, gently with a drill mixer, and running through a thin hose. No luck

2. at a certain point when dilluting, the pigment begins to break up and it just looks like watery paint.

This will be a sort of macro shot for a cosmetics brand & running out of ideas.

Anyone have insight or similar experience?

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone has advice on the safe use of sugar glass on stage.

I'm involved in an amateur production and one of our members has been making his own sugar glass bottles, which are proposed to be used to strike a blow to the heads of two different cast members during the show.

Any advice for the cast members who will be hit by these bottles, how to do it safely, etc, and also any advice for the rest of the cast and crew on general safety precautions; clearing the broken glass, what to watch for / do if something goes wrong with the blows, etc?

(Or if this just sounds like a straight up terrible idea please do say 😂)