Holah

[Joren_Wendschuh]

Hello.
I am really the only 'tech' person at my school who understands how to use the equiptment, and how it works... everyone else is really just a 'pusher'. they can push the faders, etc, but they dont know how it works. or why. When something goes wrong, I am often called in, even out of class to help with A/V stuff along with the tech. Being a senior in HS, it is rather easy to get out of class if needed. I am in the process of teaching quite a few (four or five) frosh about as much as I can before i leave for college. I have gone down and totaly rewired and repaired our aged lighting board, totaly anolog with 0-10v output, along with a matrix from the 36 outputs. some of the equptment I work with is so aged that it is literealy falling apart, and on occasion I need to rebuild things, from dimmer packs, to our patch panel. Blarg. um.. Hello all!

 

[MistressRach]

Hello Joren, and Welcome to Controlbooth, good luck with the Frosh, and your senior year of highschool. I'm only a Frosh in College myself, and I remember senior year all too well, try not to forget to have fun!

 

[Joren_Wendschuh]

Thanks!! I'm gonna need it!
Yarg. Teaching kids who do rope coiling, how to coil mic cables in the over under method is Lots of fun! hehe
Yes, Fun... I think I might remember having that feeling a while ago... Dunno though. hehe, its soo friggan crazy around here. (semester ends in a week) yarg. *twitch*

now where's that bottle of No Doz I had around here, and my Dew?
*goes off searching*

 

[MistressRach]

lol, just be careful not to get *too* addicted to No Doz, its not good stuff to get dependant on.... the Dew on the other hand... well i cant talk, i am a Coke addict myself

 

[Joren_Wendschuh]

Hehehe, If you think about it though, Dew/Coke is actualy WORSE for you. No Doz, literealy is just caffine with a little bit of a hardener stuff to keep it together, and not make it look like you have a bottle of cocaine or something! LOL.
Caffinated drinks on the other hand, while having a smaller amount of caffine (55mg in Dew, around 35 in Coke, per 12 oz, compared to 200mg in a pill of NoDoz) have a HUGE amount of sugar in them. It all adds up too. I used to be completely addicted to mountain dew, and could lilteraly go through a 36pack of 12oz cans within four hours of a tech rehersal. I would then get home about 1/2 an hour later, and would fall into bed, and be sound alseep. Crazy crap. I dont even want to think about how much sugar I was injesting. On that note, just so you know, caffine has a side effect of acting as a slight laxitive. At that rate of 36 cans per night, I was noticing that effect QUITE ahem. well. No Doz on the other hand, I ingest no more than three pills per DAY, MAXIMUM. Besides quickening my metabolism, helping burn off the sugars and carbs that I have eaten, it is the eqivolent of LESS than a single 12 pack of Dew. I now drink water almost exclusivly.
I feel MUCH better too much less of a guilt trip carying around a bottle or two of watter, and knowing you have a packet of NoDoz in your pocket, than two, two liter bottles of Dew People harass you less too. heheeh.
No Doz bottles are much cheeper too
Oh, by the way, if you didnt know, if you grind up the no doz, and wash it down with a bit of mountain dew, it takes away the cramps that some people get from no Doz
Take care!
-Joren

 

[ship]

I wonder what the drug is doing to your body however in both equalibrum and problem solving higher thought process ways. It with proper diet can balance out to a point but at some point you will still have to rest well which can get in the way of a hard schedule. On the other had the latter part of the equasion might be more difficult to overcome.

How is it between shows with proper sleep in thinking and with the NoDoze? Any differences to the thought process?

 

[Joren_Wendschuh]

I wouldent be surprised if it was REALLY bleeping with my body. Oh well. I have actualy gotten down to one cup of tea per day, and only really get going on the caffine when either it is going on the end of a semester, or Hell Week.
When I am mostely off of caffine, it doesnt change my sleep really. There is no difference in my experiences, between equal amounts of Dew, or NoDoz.
Being in an on and off scedule of caffine, on during shows and other high stress times, where time is more valuable, off during the inbetween times, seems to work adiquatly enough for me. I might not have the best diet, be the healthiest person around, but hell, its good enough for me
Take care
-Joren

 

[The_Terg]

I wouldent be surprised if it was REALLY bleeping with my body. Oh well. I have actualy gotten down to one cup of tea per day, and only really get going on the caffine when either it is going on the end of a semester, or Hell Week.
When I am mostely off of caffine, it doesnt change my sleep really. There is no difference in my experiences, between equal amounts of Dew, or NoDoz.
Being in an on and off scedule of caffine, on during shows and other high stress times, where time is more valuable, off during the inbetween times, seems to work adiquatly enough for me. I might not have the best diet, be the healthiest person around, but hell, its good enough for me
Take care
-Joren

I feel your pain/fun in maintaining tech...
Although only a sophmore, I have rewired our sound system twice, and currently know more about it than any human in the school, and the company that set it up!

Do your techies actually listen to you? I mean this on two levels:
Do they trust you?
and do they actually remember to do what you say?

 

[Joren_Wendschuh]

Well, Being that it is the week before finals, I cant fully elaborate as much as I wish I could for you, Sorry man...
hehehe, rewired eh? How far INTO the setup have you gotten though, do you know exactly how each peice does what it does when you crank that knob?... when you patch in that insert cable, do you know how it works?

Not trying to brag or what have you, but Personaly, I have lost count on the times I have redone our sound and lighting systems to make them easier, neater, less noisy, etc. I have literaly spilt blood over a FULL rewiring of the INSIDES of our lighting board.
Knowing more than anyone else in your school can be great, but the huge problem is, when you know 'everthing' who do you turn to for knowlege?
My real problem when working at my school is that I am not legaly an electritian, and am not insured, so I am unable to do work on anything over 50v or so. essentialy rulling out ALL power wireing. While not totaly folowing that, it is STILL *QUITE* hard to get the important things done, even though I know how to do it, and would most likely be able to do it better than any electritian around, I still am unable to do things that would REALLY help improve some things in my system... Dont get me started on that. heh.

Your questions...
"Do techies listen to me?"
Well, yes, first of all, being a senior, and actualy being able to explain EVERYTHING about the system REALLY helps. Along with the fact that I am 6'2" and 220/230 lbs.
Do they trust me? Yes. Because many of them moved up to highschool AFTER I knew enough to be able to teach them things, many of them trust me. It also helps that while I am a not to serious person, I get serious when it is something serious that is being discussed. I am the 'saftey natzi' if you will, when it comes to electrical, and rigging. One of my peers wanted to wire TWO 1kw par cans, to a single 16AWG 200 foot cable, for isle lighting. I was like, um, dude, how about NO. I put my foot down, and tried to explain WHY that was a bad idea, while he didnt comprehend what i was saying, he trusted my judgement, because of how much I have been studying, and working on stuff. Being a senior really helps to, being that I am older than most of them.
For the FROSH coming up this year, who I have set about to attempt to teach them all as much as I can in the limited period of time I have left with them, before I go off to college for a BS in EET and a AAS in Power Generation technology. I have started out simple, how to coil cables and the like. I teach ONE child how to do a task, and keep showing him, helping him along as he tries it. I am an jerk some times. I on occasion take our 100' mic cable, and just TOSS it from the booth out to onstage. I toss it BACKWARDS, holding the WRONG end. Being as how I am a strong beliver in the over and under method of coil cables, it forms about 100 overhand knots. Then I tell the frosh to 'fix' the cable, and to recoil it up the "RIGHT" way. There is a little bit of grumbling, but He learns, first of all, how to coil a cable the right way, having to do 100 feet of it, a few times, and ALSO, to watch what end he grabs when tossing the coil. He NOW knows to NEVER grab the wrong end Unless he has a LONG time to waste his time I then tell him to teach the other frosh (four in total, including him) Once they all knwo how to do it, I have them race. Each one gets a 50 footer, and I time them, each one coiling it at the same time, going as fast as they can, without messing up. points are deducted for each extra long or extra small coil, twisted coils, and for slow work. I make a game out of it. I dont just tel them how to do smoething, I EXPLAIN it to them, WHILE I am doing it. Then I have them do it themselves. They remember it well.
I also joke around with a one inch square, by three foot long cast steel bar. It is my personal tool. If a frosh doesnt do his job, he gets fucked. They know this, they respect it, and while personaly, I would never really hurt them with it, It makes a GOOD deterant for messing around at the wrong time.

There is more that I would love to tell you about how I work, but I must go, 14 more pages of an essay to be done before 5am when I must shower, eat, and be off to school, to hand in my paper. Which counts for fifty percent of my final grade. Blarg. If you have any more specific questions, I will try to answer them as soon as I get a chance... The next two weeks are going to be hell for me though... End of semester stuff this week, handing in late things, overdue stuff, etc, along with studying for finals for next week.
I have finals for all my courses I have taken this semester
I took, and have an exam in for this semester, English Four (oral fifteen minute grilling by 2 english teachers) , Madman (socialstudys course, REALLY HARD honors type course) (five page paper written within a 2 hour exam period), Cisco CCNA Exam for Semester One, Drawing pretty much the only simple exam I have, French 3 part oral exam, part presentation, part written, Calculus exam, fully written, all work shown, and finaly, HONORS Physics exam with a teacher who is almost impossible. I am literaly getting a D- in that class. Yarg.

Take care!
-Joren

 

[wemeck]

Hello and Welcome. It sucks being or just feeling that you are the only one who really cares. But lighten up a little and remember homework and college choices are healthier then burning the candle on both ends. Take it from someone who knows and been there.

 

[The_Terg]

Mmmm, I have quite a few 'lessons' in mind for my froshes.... Thanks for taking the time for those pointers. I know that at some point they will start to get the picture.

As for pretty good idea of how our system works, and why, I havent dared take our board apart! I do know what everything and my school would freak if they saw me even moving it. I have fixed amps, the lecture mode distribution system, and the intercom systems on many occasions, opening and repairing the board. The Amp needed a new fan controller... ARG...

No, I certianly havent 'created' any of our systems. The lecure mode system needed an overhaul, which consisted of soldering a few phoenix connectors to a switch, but nothing in terms of lighting controllers. I am surprised that your school trusts you even with the creation of a dimmer system! I guess you really do know your stuff!

I'm a sound guy anyway, just trying to grab a few pointers from a pro.

 

[wemeck]

Mmmm, I have quite a few 'lessons' in mind for my froshes.... Thanks for taking the time for those pointers. I know that at some point they will start to get the picture.

We have been really blessed this with the Frosh and the other students who have come out of the wood work to help us out. Great people! We have fun, but are very productive.

 

[TechnicalDirector3-W]

Hey and welcome. I guess that I was not in the same boat as you in high school. I was in a different situation though. Our techie world was so competative. There were only a few of us that really knew what we were doing. The rest just wanted to know what they were doing or just wanted to be put on light crew without learning anything. I was the technical director my senior year and it was not fun having to choose crews because there are the people that are your friends that you want to work with, and then there are the people who know what they are doing, and people who just think that they should be on the crew because they are the oldest (not most experienced just oldest). My crew for the musical was 40 people. That was a show. Overall it was a good experience and really changed my mind on a career.

 

[Joren_Wendschuh]

Hey and welcome. I guess that I was not in the same boat as you in high school. I was in a different situation though. Our techie world was so competative. There were only a few of us that really knew what we were doing. The rest just wanted to know what they were doing or just wanted to be put on light crew without learning anything. I was the technical director my senior year and it was not fun having to choose crews because there are the people that are your friends that you want to work with, and then there are the people who know what they are doing, and people who just think that they should be on the crew because they are the oldest (not most experienced just oldest). My crew for the musical was 40 people. That was a show. Overall it was a good experience and really changed my mind on a career.

Thank you!
Yes, our little 'group' isnt quite so competitive, but there are many kids that are just wanting to "run the board" and get credit for that in the program, It's hard having to tell them, listen, you have to learn how to use the board first, then you can run lights for some small, unimportant production, then maybe, depending on how well you do, you could be able to run the board, for something like one of the smaller theatrical productions around here. After that, ONLY if you do an IMPECABLE job, and are able to think on your feet, when the going gets touch, are you allowed to run something like the yearly musical, or what have you. There are enough kids here who have paid their dues, that deserve to get the 'running the board job' more than you. Sorry.
Personaly, I am friends with everyone on my crew. There are around 10 kids that are 'techies' with one, MAYBE two who I truly trust enough to be able to rely upon. I am trying to help the 'others' to be able to work with me, but, well, its hard work! LOL! I'm making some good progress though, so its all good.
Would you have any sugestions for a TD, or any 'techie' trying to control everything/everyone? It seems that I am trying to take on everything, because I am unable to rely upon the rest of em. Heh, Maybe I just need to trust them some.

 

[Joren_Wendschuh]

Mmmm, I have quite a few 'lessons' in mind for my froshes.... Thanks for taking the time for those pointers. I know that at some point they will start to get the picture.

As for pretty good idea of how our system works, and why, I havent dared take our board apart! I do know what everything and my school would freak if they saw me even moving it. I have fixed amps, the lecture mode distribution system, and the intercom systems on many occasions, opening and repairing the board. The Amp needed a new fan controller... ARG...

No, I certianly havent 'created' any of our systems. The lecure mode system needed an overhaul, which consisted of soldering a few phoenix connectors to a switch, but nothing in terms of lighting controllers. I am surprised that your school trusts you even with the creation of a dimmer system! I guess you really do know your stuff!

I'm a sound guy anyway, just trying to grab a few pointers from a pro.

Remember, the "frosh" are your friends. They will eventualy be all thats left of your work there. Treat them as you would treat your own children, teaching them the things they need to know, and teaching them how to learn, and do things SAFELY. Then watch them as they try to go out on their own, and help them up when they fall. Try not to force it down their throats, maybe, instead say that those who listen to you, and are able to learn what you are trying to teach them, will get the 'better' jobs, BECAUSE they know what they are doing... Just an idea.

Hehehe, Everyone starts somewhere my friend. Fixing amps is great, etc! Keep up the work, it is a GREAT way to learn a HELL of a lot.

Creation, its just a nother step beyond the 'repair' of equptment that is dieing on yah... its 'replacement' easy!
My school trusts me becase I have shown that I am trustworthy. It also helps that they dont totaly know everything that goes on within the 'techie' world. heh. Not trying to advise you to ahem, 'hide' things, etc, just sayin how I get things done that NEED to get done.
When the show is the next day, and you're out three dimmers of 22, within the lighting design, you learn to get things done, and get them done RIGHT and QUICKLY. Simple.
When I was maybe 11 years old, and my mom got a new computer, I was able to play around with it some, but when I broke something, I didnt want her to know. I learned how to fix, reinstall, etc everything from a windows install, to a network card, before she got home that night!

Personaly, I am also very much a 'sound guy', I just have learned to work with EVERYTHING that we are able to 'supply' in the AV department, and so thus, I have become a 'jack of all trades' if you will... I still love doing sound more than anything, but by NO means, am I a "pro", although, I apreciate the compliment!

Thanks!, Take care!

 

[dvsDave]

Apparently, I am slipping in my "old" age... I somehow missed welcoming you to the community!!

Not sure how I did that, as I remember reading these posts...

But I am gald that you have become an active member of the community!! It's great to have you on board!!

my apologies,
-dvsDave