Where to start to build a booth?

[MillburyAuditorium]

Hello everyone, let me begin with some personal stuff,

I am representing the Millbury Jr. Sr. HighSchool Auditorium, We just put on
two plays a year (looking to expand), about 12 concerts from our various bands, a few dance recitals and other places that want to use our facility's. We have a brand new lighting system, as fair as dimmers and wiring goes, not lights or controls. Because the maintenance people wired the switch to go from automatic houselights to DMX control, and it pretty much blue our system, so out light board had to be turned on 24/7 in order to be operable without doing a whole bunch of breaker stuff tog et it running. Our lightboard is pretty old, at least 14 years, we are looking for a new one. We rented one this year, forgot the name of it, had two monitors, was really nice. As far as our sound system goes, its prety poor, we only have two Bose outdoor/indoor speakers, orignally bought for the stadium, but while the auditorium was being built, the contractor stole the amazing 360 degree sound system that was purchased and fled, so sadly, we only have these two speakers, they do the job though, its a fairly small room, seating 300 comfortably, although we would like a new speaker set. The soundboard is good, same age as the lightboard, but in better condition, the lightbaord is dying, it cant save any pre-sets and what not. But the soundboard is running fun, so is our mixer, EQ and 8-Set wireless mic system. Our mic system includes 8 wireless clip-on mics, 7 hanging mics, and 4 floor mics.
So, as far as our contorl area goes, its just the back of the house, on a table. It loks pretty poor and we would like something safer, and nicer.

So, We are looking into buying a booth. I was wodnering were I could find one, what to search. And I was also wondering how much one would cost. Just a fairly small one, with big windows and side windows aswell since we are on guest level, infront of the doors. Preferably sliding windows aswell so we can hear. Just enough room for some desk space and the lighting controller and the board and the sound controller with the sound board, and mixer. (The "mixer" as we call it is a about 2 feet deep, 8 space case with a 4 space EQ and 4 space CD mixer.) The microphone receivers rest ontop of the mixer. Below is a link to a picture of pretty much the exact booth we are looking for, and the same basic auditorium setup, in the middle, in back of the audiance.

So if I could get someone to help me figure out were to look for one and the cost, that would be excellant!






Thank you!

[avkid]

I would think that your local commercial window and door store would be the best place to start.
Take in the picture and some measurements, as I highly doubt anything stock exists.

[FatherMurphy]

Booths are usually built as a regular room, not as a modular sectional preassembled sort of thing. So, the place to start would be with the Buildings and Grounds department of the school system, draw up a plan, check with building codes, take bids, etc., etc., etc....

Or, since you seem to be more interested in merely making things more secure and better looking, without taking up a lot of seats, you might look into a roll top desk arrangement. The tops are lockable, so that your equipment won't be stolen or messed with, and they're a lot smaller, simpler, and cheaper to get into use. One for sound and one for lights is an option, to give both areas plenty of space. Since you were talking of having large open windows, the noise of the crew talking softly back and forth didn't seem like a concern for you, so walls wouldn't be needed to separate the crew from the audience.

[Van]

I think that space looks kind of nice...
That aside, being part of a School you are going to be locked into a few processes that you simply cannot avoid. You are going to have to go through an architect to get the thing designed. A contractor will then bid on the project. Then the Arch's will run everything through the Engineers, Code approval and Permitting process and Yadda, Yadda. While it would be great if the kids, or faculty of a school could just get together and build a booth, now days it simply can't happen too many liability concerns.
Structural collapse, Fire Code infringment, Emergency egress etc etc all must be taking into consideration.

[Footer]

You might also want to reconsider putting in a fishbowl type of situation. You might want to have a more open air thing built that is lockable.

[jkowtko]

Your SM and light board operator may want an enclosed booth, but your spot operator may not, and your sound op definitely will want to be out in the open.

So if you are going to build a booth, make sure there is enough space on one side of it to place a sound table out in the open area of the theater. An 8-10 foot wide space should work for this.

As far as booth structure, as mentioned above if it's a permanent structure it will require building codes, etc. So you might consider a prefab portable structure that can be carried in and set up for shows, then stored in a closet when not needed. you could probably do this with 4x8 foot panels made out of 2x3 wood frame and some luan panelling. And if you end up leaving it there for good and not moving it, it's still not a permanent structure and therefore not subject to building codes ...

-- John

[DaveySimps]

I agree with the though that you may want an open air situation for your sound op, while your lighting and stage management staff may be better served with an enclosed area. Be sure to also consider the acoustical aspects of the booth on your venue. Adding a partial or full wall of windows will alter how sound travels through your space.

I also noticed this was your first post. Feel free to stop by the New Member Board and introduce yourself.

~Dave

[Footer]

Originally Posted by jkowtko

it's still not a permanent structure and therefore not subject to building codes ...

-- John

Not totally on that one. You can get away with that onstage, but not in an audience area. Usually, putting up walls involves a permanent structure. Added to that, if you build something you are going to put FOH with "theatrical" carpentry, the fire marshal is going to flip a lid. The temporary structure thing is meant to provide for something that is not going to be up long and is not going to endanger anyones life. Its not meant to be used as a loophole as you are saying. Making a room that houses a lot of power and heat needs special needs. Fire sprinklers smoke/heat detectors, HVAC, and proper wiring all must be taken into account. A luan room is a fire trap.

[MillburyAuditorium]

Hi everyone, let me clear A few things up.

The sound board op. will have two monitors to mirror the sound outside, so no windows will be open, I have rethought that, so now the windows will not open, or if they can, they wont be often. Also, this would be a permanent structure, basically just adding a room to the auditorium. And it will not house much power at all. The dimmers and all power units, even the amps are located backstage behind a sound proofed wall. It will only contain the mixer, sound board, light board, about two lights, and possibly a computer. I really just want to know where to go to, do I ask the maintenance department to build it? Do I go to a contracter? Or do they sell kind of, "kits"?

And yes, the front wall, if not the parts where the operators are sitting if we cant do the whole thing, will have acoustic paneling.

[cprted]

Originally Posted by MillburyAuditorium

The sound board op. will have two monitors to mirror the sound outside,

Thats all good and dandy for a studio situation or if you want to play tunes while programming cues. But you can't really mix a live show with studio mons.

Originally Posted by MillburyAuditorium

I really just want to know where to go to, do I ask the maintenance department to build it? Do I go to a contracter? Or do they sell kind of, "kits"?

In a school situation, you can't just go get a contractor. Plans and budgets have to be created, approval sought by 14 different committees, establish a bidding process on the work, etc etc etc. What you need to do is sit down and talk about a concept with the person responsible for the facility (which I assume is not you), and start there.