Crew Room Cleanout

[Fusiondude]

The crew for the show choir at my school is planning to clean out the room that houses all of the equipment that we use for competition and performances. Are there any tips for cleaning and organizing equipment such as travel cases, mic stands, etc.? Anything you guys do to make your crew/storage room picture perfect (or close to it)?

[falcon]

I've just cleaned out our storage area in our soundbooth by myself and it was a pain. Half the stuff in there wasn't even ours. Since it is summer, I was able to just tag where it all should go and leave it in the halls and hte janitors took care of it for me. Anyway, I would start by removing everything from the room and sorting it out as to what you have. Then put the stuff you don't use as often in the back and work your way out. Try to keep everything together though, such as all the amps together, all mics together etc.. When you are done, you should still be able to get to each piece of equipment and know where everything is. This is all the advice I can give not having seen your storage room or what you have.

[SketchyCroftPpl]

ahaha ... yeah, thats how it SHOULD be lol. We have a storage room where we keep all the wood and large set parts, its like a 20 x 15 room with a 12 foot ceiling. Everything is just pushed in there. It makes it awesome though when you need something and you can climb up over stuff high enough so that you can touch the ceiling (which has been signed by many people MANY times. And all the stuff shakes if you step on something wrong and its a good time. Our tool room however is just like you say with a place for everything and everything supposidly in its place.

~Nick

[Sombra2]

for mics if you have them lieing around in a box through in there or like a draw rolling around (like my old boss had) then i recommend getting a box that is padded and have seperate comportments for each mic. and try to give yourself space to get in and out.

[CHScrew]

Get a large dumpster and don't be afraid to throw stuff away. You will think " I should keep this random piece of junk because I might need it later" Thust me, THROW IT AWAY. You have too much junk already. If you didn't then you wouldn't be cleaning.

[Radman]

I agree, throw it away. Old gels, short tie line, old plugs, lengths of wire shorter than a foot, etc, it is unnecessary to have.

[Mayhem]

yep - and a week after you throw it away you will need it again!

In addition to what has already been said - my advice would be to use the height of your room as well and put things on shelves where ever possible.

[JahJahwarrior]

I've been cleaning out my room (bedroom) this past week, throwing stuff away and reorganizing bits of it....getting rid of stuff made a HUGE difference! So did things like gathering up all of my wall warts (15 or so? they werein random piles in corners) and computer power cables, and putting them all together in one box.

At school, I've been organzing sound equipment as we buy it. Granted, it's all portable and is kept in a classroom corner by the stage, but having a system for everything helps. I don't know how much equipment you have, but come up with some system! You can make great cable hangy thingies with a 2x4 and some of those L bracket things. Space them a little bit apart, then nail the board on the wall. Boom, you have a wall of very neatly organized cables! You can keep cable ties or something in a big box on the wall, and when people take a cable they can leave the tie there, when returning it they grab one out again. If you have alot of power cable, keeping some of it on reels might be a good idea....if people need it alot, like student groups or you use it often, keeping a few of the most used lengths (25', 50'?) on a reel so it can be pulled fast could be good, with the rest of it stored elsewhere, for plays and stuff, when it goes down and stays down for a while. Also, with equipment, keep as much as you use often easily available, stuff you don't use much, you can pack into boxes that aren't as accessible (for instance, store the used often stuff in racks that slide out, but the un-often used stuff in cardboard boxes. Or, as much cable as you use for most things on the cable wall, the cables you rarely use in a cardboard box)

anyways, that's my $.02

[ship]

Never throw Nuttin away!

[Radman]

8O

So ship's a pack rat?
Maybe there's further reasoning...