soundboard security

ccfan213

Active Member
my assistant principal does not want to put our new soundboard in the house because there would be no security on it. for those of you who mix from the house, what do you do to keep your board safe?

i was thinking we could put up a fence-cage around the area where i would mix from so it sounds like the house but is actually in an enclosed room. but this would look kinda ugly. any suggestions?
 
I'm assuming you have no secure booth, or there's no room for the new board, and/or the new board is too big/bulky to be moved in an out frequently.

The only thing I can think of would be to order a case for it, and padlock the case. If you're concerned about theft moreso than damage, there are a number of security products which are basically cables that you can attach to the board and some pipe or bolt or something. Less secure than a room, in terms of damage, but better than nothing.

But if the new board is that expensive that they're concerned, maybe it's time to lobby for a real booth.
 
Our school also has an open both, so we have an issue with security. On our soundboard we built a cover for it and attached two padlocks to hold down the cover over the board. When the board needs to be used, just unlock the padlocks.
 
we do have a secure booth, but the sound in the booth is drastically different from in the house and no soundguy in their right mind would ever mix from it. our board is huge and the booth has a really steep staircase so it cant be moved before every show. i am worried about theft, damage and people screwing with the board.
 
yea, we do what lightguy2k6 does, we built a table for the board and all the other sound equipment, then built a cover that just sits over it all. on this we put two padlocks.
 
we have this understanding with all the music students and actors that if they touch anything they get detention!!
 
with having the understanding that actors, etc. get detention or leaving the board in a locked theater is that other people come in and they might not be as understanding (hence audience while the sound tech is not there)
 
the auditorium can be locked but is usually open and i am not that worried about people like musicians cause im usually there if they are, its more the night shift custiodians or people who come in for meetings and stuff where there are no techs.
 
how did you manage that. it one thing in a college environment, but high school. if you can get every single person in a school to agree and i mean really agree to not touch specific equipment to a certainty then i would be really freaked, that not natural.
 
Simple. The room is locked with a combination, so the doors are always closed. On the door is a large Access Forbidden - Staff Only sign. Then, we have some signs that we put on the boards and on the door. My favorite: This equipment and the data it stores is far more valuable than you are. It gets the message across.
 
the problem is most musicians think they know sound and the rules dont apply to them. we cant lock the doors at all times because there are assemblies and meetings and stuff. there is no way to make sure that the equipment is not touched and if it is and no one is present we wont know who to punish for it.
 
All these a good suggestions. Here is what I do. The productions that we bring the sound board out, usually we have the theatre contracted for the entire production and Tech week. Our Custondians are great, I dont know about your school , but you should give them more cedit than you do, I highl doubt they will touch anything. WE lock the theatre when we are not using it. If there is an event going on, we have a tech there to watch and take care of things (they usually need mics anyway). and I take pictures of the sound board after I have set levels to get that extra security. And actors generally dont touch the board ( I leave notes everywher "I will castrate you if you touch this board, however if you would to make a request of music come see me personlly. sinceraly, the one who can make you be heard." That does the trick.
 
we dont use techs for everything, only if they write it on the building use form, so i cant be there all the time, and i do trust the school custodians, they are very helpful, in fackt they all have keys to the booth. however there is a second crew of night custodians who are contracted from a private company and come in to clean the school. they are not so trustworthy and are the ones who do the actual cleaning of the auditorium, the regular custodians dont do as much of the cleaning, they do more of the makins sure teachers have what they need and are the ones there at night to watch over things.
 
at my old highschool, we had it added into the rentals contract, that they had to have at least one tech from our highschool there at all times, and that they be paid a minumum or $10 an hour. No one ever complained. And I didn't mind the money.
 
Find a rental house in your area to build a flight case for the board. The board may come with all the measurements to build the case in the manual, on the manufacturer's website, or you may need to do some measuring.

Specify that the case be built such that the top cover half of the case is completely removable, and that one or two locking points be provided where you can padlock the case shut when not in use. Additionally, as it sounds like you're going to be putting the lid on every night, you'll want a fairly large hole cut in the back of the case (where the hinges are) to pass your cable bundles through.

When you're using the board, just leave it sitting inside the bottom of the case. At the end of the day, pop the lid on, lock it and go.
 
again though with the night custodians, there is no one there to watch and make sure they dont pick up the entire roadcase and carry it out the door.
 
thats true,
thanks evereone i will talk to my assistant principal when i get back to school after break!
 

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