script trays

[jkowtko]

Anyone come up with a good design for a homemade script tray?

For theater, it seems like the best place to put a script tray is over the sound board above the fader banks. You can keep your eyes on the show, the script, and the fader controls. However the tray needs to be easily moved/slid out of the way to get to make adjustments on the channel strip.

There appear to be no aftermarket products formally marketed as "script trays", and only the very high end boards offer these as accessories. I've thought of a few ways this could be concocted, but none of which I particularly like.

Has anyone out there come up with something that they would like to share?

Thanks. John

 

[lieperjp]

I've never tried it, just had the idea reading your post:

you could try mounting a sliding keyboard tray on a home made stand and put it over the mixer. (The only problem is that it would have to be a "locking" rack or sit horizontally)

We just use music stands put next to or in front of the board (if the board is FOH.) It works fine for me, usually I have the show close to memorized by opening night anyway.

 

[DaveySimps]

In the past, I have used the tray portion of a metal music stand, and welded it to a heavy base boom mic stand. It worked out pretty well. I will give a call / email to the theatre that has it, and see if they can get me a picture of it to post. It did not take too long to do.

I have also made custom ones that sit over a bord using a glued plexi glass. You can make a tray to hold the script, and little legs that sit in the gaps between knobs (based on the layout of your board. This allows you to see through the board and, since most aux sends / eq's line up exactly, you have a bit of a "track" to slide the stand from side to side as needed so you can still access the knobs.

~Dave

 

[Chris15]

I'd think that a setup with a rolling tray that had reasonably large diameter wheels at least at the top so as to stop the whole thing sliding down the console. The lower wheels could, as best my logic suggests, be not so big, as the top wheels would keep it "vertically" aligned. Smaller wheels also make it easier to flip the script pages without impaling one's hands...

 

[Dillon]

I've used the top portion of a music stand leaning against my doghouse while sitting on some washers stuck in a little groove on top of my console which seems to have been put there for just that purpose. If so, kudos to Digidesign.

Ideally you are looking for a location where you can see the script easily while still giving you access to a large portion of the console. I had my most recent one standing almost upright at the top of the board -- with a digital console you've got no space to spare to lay a book on the surface itself.

 

[avkid]

I like this tray, it's pretty cool.
Digidesign Venue : Scriptslide : Do It Yourself