Booth remodel

[Jay Ashworth]

An electrical thought: plan on getting a pretty sizable UPS in there to carry the whole FOH stack, preferably on a dedicated 120/20 circuit (if you don't already have one). If you execute the S16 stage box idea, you can move the amps to backstage, which will solve ground looping problems, as well as increasing your damping factor, giving you tighter bass... and it will get the amps and fans and heat and power out of the booth.

 

[Plupo]

Thanks for the responses! I don't have a sketch of my layout at the moment (on a different computer), but I really like the idea of a shorter counter for lighting. I'm thinking two thirds of the booth will have kitchen height counters with drafting chairs - with supporting legs on each end and maybe two "halfway" legs splitting the difference. Then the lighting desk will sit somewhat lower (because my LBOs won't ever stand to run lights and ultimately need to see over the PC).
Then I think I'll place the sound board a little closer to the center of the house - possibly centering it on the counter; that way I have room to move the lighting computer in case I have to run both lights and sound.

From the responses, I think building a counter myself (pretty good at carpentry, and my MC offered to help) and covering it with laminate or Masonite for a smooth, professional feeling workspace. For the back, I think I might create a 2" trough with 4" holes drilled every few feet - that way I can feed cables up from where, but I can also run cables between the rack, sound PC, sound board, Clear-Com control unit, and lighting PC with anything laying across the actual desk.

Definitely getting some a handful of Littlelites because of how fantastic they are.

Jay, I've somewhat nixed the idea of a back platform because very rarely is there anyone in the booth except for the mixer and LBO (SM sits at a station on stage) - however, I think I'll go completely black - I hate looking at something brighter in the booth and having to wait for my eyes to adjust when I look back at the stage.

My amps are currently located on stage - with an output feed running from the board to the stage/amps then up to the speakers...however, I do get a hum that is noticeable only during straight shows - and it's worsened when my lights (especially my FOH wash) is at any level other then full. So any fades from BO to, say, 75% produce a delicious hum that grows and lingers in the background. Over the loudness of musicals, it's not noticeable, but quiet shows/events are bothersome.
A friend of mine said I have a ground loop issue and that the amps and the board should be on the same circuit. He suggested that I have my electrician run a dedicated line from the same circuit/breaker the board is on down to the amps and plug them into that source to eliminate the hum. Is it the best solution? Or would I be better off moving my amps up to the booth and running wire to my speakers (~80')?

 

[Jay Ashworth]

No; if your amps are on stage, by all means leave them there. If you're going with the S16s, the problem will (mostly) go away, as the analog signal will get originated on-stage, on the same power circuit as the amps.

If you have a loop, it's because you don't have a clean enough bond between the booth ground and the stage ground, probably; an electrician can, in theory, clean that up. It also may be insufficient case grounding on the dimmer cabinets; depends on whether it's a clean 60/120Hz hum, or buzzy sounding like SCR/Triac noise.

You'll probably want to do some "unplug this and see if the noise goes away" tests, and see if you can nail down where it is.

It couldn't hurt to check the cables you're running from board to amps, either; perhaps there's a problem; is your noise in both channels?

 

[Jay Ashworth]

Oh, here's another one: does your sound board have a headset jack up front?

I'm always wanting the 1/4" and the A4F mounted under the front edge of the counter lip, instead of off on pieces of gear; perhaps that's just a personal preference, though.

 

[Plupo]

No; if your amps are on stage, by all means leave them there. If you're going with the S16s, the problem will (mostly) go away, as the analog signal will get originated on-stage, on the same power circuit as the amps.

If you have a loop, it's because you don't have a clean enough bond between the booth ground and the stage ground, probably; an electrician can, in theory, clean that up. It also may be insufficient case grounding on the dimmer cabinets; depends on whether it's a clean 60/120Hz hum, or buzzy sounding like SCR/Triac noise.

You'll probably want to do some "unplug this and see if the noise goes away" tests, and see if you can nail down where it is.

It couldn't hurt to check the cables you're running from board to amps, either; perhaps there's a problem; is your noise in both channels?

There's noise in both channels, but I haven't gotten a chance to do an unplug test - I'll see if I can nail something down or have my electrician (who is also an musician) come in and see if he can trouble shoot

Oh, here's another one: does your sound board have a headset jack up front?

I'm always wanting the 1/4" and the A4F mounted under the front edge of the counter lip, instead of off on pieces of gear; perhaps that's just a personal preference, though.

I believe the x32's headphone jack is on the side. I'm not sure if I'd like the 1/4" mounted directly on the counter, though.


On somewhat related note, part of the renovation is replacing the house lights with (4x) LED house lights (I believe they are LightSource's), a new chandelier (that will be on a dimmer in the booth), and a series of ceiling mounted LED down lights for columns that are being installed into the HL and HR orchestra walls.
In an effort to not have to daisy chain all of the DMX together, I was considering getting a small DMX splitter in the booth (to run from the PC to the static house light dimmers, to two outlets I want to install on the edge of the balcony, and to the stage). Then getting a splitter on the stage and setting up DMX outlets on SR and SL, as well as at the end of each run of truss (there are five lengths of truss going from SL to SR and I'd like an individual hookup for each truss so I don't have to run cable over the truss and work lights to daisy chain between runs, if that makes sense?)

Also, I'd like to set up some kind of remote lighting solution - a mini control board just inside the house coming in from the lobby, and one in the SM booth on stage - that way rehearsals, janitors, tours, etc. can bring up house lights or a wash without having to call me and have my access the PC remotely. Any suggestions for the interface that would allow me to program presets with a simple fader or button to control them? I'm assuming I'd need a merger in the booth?


Thanks!

P:L

 

[Jay Ashworth]

The magic words are Doug Fleenor Designs. ;-)

Sent from my SPH-L720

 

[FMEng]

My amps are currently located on stage - with an output feed running from the board to the stage/amps then up to the speakers...however, I do get a hum that is noticeable only during straight shows - and it's worsened when my lights (especially my FOH wash) is at any level other then full. So any fades from BO to, say, 75% produce a delicious hum that grows and lingers in the background. Over the loudness of musicals, it's not noticeable, but quiet shows/events are bothersome.
A friend of mine said I have a ground loop issue and that the amps and the board should be on the same circuit. He suggested that I have my electrician run a dedicated line from the same circuit/breaker the board is on down to the amps and plug them into that source to eliminate the hum. Is it the best solution? Or would I be better off moving my amps up to the booth and running wire to my speakers (~80')?

There are simple fixes for ground loops. Drop the shield connection on one end of the line between the mixer and the amp rack. If that doesn't do it, a good quality audio transformer in the line, such as a Jensen Isomax, will solve it. No need to rewire the place to remove a little hum or buzz.

 

[JChenault]

The magic words are Doug Fleenor Designs. ;-)

Sent from my SPH-L720

+1 the Fleanor preset 10 is an excellent solution for this if:
1 - you don't need to control more than one universe
2 - your DMX dongle puts out no signal ( instead of repeating what it last saw ). Or you have a booth procedure that stops all DMX output when done for the day.

 

[AlexDonkle]

Just my 2c, another consideration is wire management. Getting the wires below the countertop with 2" holes is great (that's what we do on new theaters we design), but then you don't want a mess of cables running all over the floor if possible (though it's still common to see). What works really well is running 2 parallel tracks of Wiremold G4000 surface raceway beneath the countertop, with low voltage dividers. Bottom track is dedicated to 120V outlets, next track is Network / Intercom cables, and top 2 track sections are audio only. Great stuff and if you want to put new wire in latter you can just pop the raceway cover off and add/remove as needed.