Organising your live setup

The third band was a group of young lads, who, as it turned out, played original loud heavy rock (very competently, I might add). They had been asked to set up on a makeshift stage on the floor in front of the stage and play a 20-minute set. They had about 40 minutes in which to set up and time was critical, as their set had to be completed before the 3pm kick-off. Both guitarists spent too much time arranging their pedals neatly on the floor and connecting them together, only to find that by the time they should have been playing their first number, neither of them had managed to locate the mains supply. And once they did, neither had an extension lead long enough to reach it. The end result was panic: trying to beg, borrow or steal an extension lead, followed by a set reduced to about three numbers.

This highlights a common problem amongst musicians who are inexperienced at taking their music out live. I am sure that many bands have been in the same situation — I certainly have! You've rehearsed your songs, booked the gigs, decided on the set list, and are as polished as you'll ever be for your performance. But what can you do to prepare your gear for the gig, make set up and break down as easy as possible, and ensure that your equipment is reliable? And what contingencies do you have in place if you do encounter a problem?

It's very easy for some of us to read about the gear used by The Edge or Andy Summers and aspire to owning two 14U racks of effects processors, a stack of amps and a score of guitars. But even if you can afford to own this amount of gear, using it live creates its own set of problems. These iconic musicians have roadies and drivers, whereas you would have to lift it all in and out of the back of a Ford Focus on your own. They have guitar techs to set up their gear and to switch amps in the event of a failure, whereas you will have to scramble around the back in the dark between songs, while your audience starts to lose interest. So, whether you're a guitarist, bassist, keyboard player or drummer, the principle of simplifying your gear will make your life much easier.

I have played with drummers with enormous kits, and keyboard players who use six keyboards on two triple-tier stands — not forgetting the guitarist or bassist with every effects processor or stomp box you can imagine. In many cases, musicians feel they 'need' this gear, rather like comfort food. But with some thought, it is often possible to strip this down without it having a detrimental effect on your sound. Taking the drummer in the above example, reducing the number of toms and substituting the double bass drum with a double pedal will make it much easier and simpler each time they set up their gear (they'll also occupy less space on stage). For the keyboard player, leaving a few keyboards at home and setting up splits on other keyboards will greatly reduce the load. And does the guitarist or bassist use every effect he owns at every gig? Or can he/she reduce it to those that are really important to their sound?

I appreciate that there may be some readers who just cannot simplify their rigs in this way, either because they've already done so or because their performance requires that level of sophistication. But I wouldn't mind betting that there are a large number of you who, with a bit of thought, could be more efficient. It's all about planning.

The other essential item for your pedalboard is a decent on-stage tuner (unless you prefer to have one in a rack). I am always amazed at how many guitarists and bassists you see using good amplification, decent guitars and high quality effects processors, only to find that they don't own an on-stage tuner. While they may have been in tune before coming on stage, at the end of the second song, they realise that they're a bit out of tune. They then begin to tune their instrument 'out loud' for the entire audience to hear! Using a tuner that mutes your signal while tuning is not a costly item and will make your performance slicker and more professional. Of all the tuners I have used, the BOSS TU-2 is my favourite. It has a clearly lit display for those dark moments between songs and will mute your signal while tuning.

Once you have the right cables for your rig, set everything up at home as you would at a gig and lay your cables out to make a loom or snake. Use plastic or Velcro cable ties (available at most DIY stores) to hold the cables in place, and then harness it all in a cable binding to make a snake. I have used expandable braided sleeving for this, which is available in different diameters and costs between 70p and £1.70 per metre (http://www.studiospares.com). The advantage of the expandable sleeving is that you can always remove and replace them if your requirements change.

Whether you use your snake for connection between your pedalboard and amp or from your keyboard rig to your DI box, creating a snake will again dramatically reduce your set up and break down time and prolong the life of your cables.

For those of you who already use a speaker cab on wheels, you will already understand this method. But be aware that the standard wheels on, for example, a Marshall 4 x 12, are not as durable as the larger flightcase wheels, nor do they lock. There are many flightcase manufacturers around that can build a case to the dimensions required to fit your amp snugly, and it may not be as expensive as you think.

If you follow the simple rules above, your chances of any on-stage failures will be reduced. Should you have a dodgy lead, then pull a neatly coiled new one from your bag. If you break a string, swap guitars. However, if your amp fails, then this can be more serious. It could just be a fuse blown from 'old age', but in general, I would always recommend checking the cause of a blown fuse first. For important gigs, I have considered taking a Line 6 POD with me as a backup for my amp. This is not ideal, but it can at least be DI'd to the PA in the event of an amp failure.

The more you implement some of these suggestions, the more it will become second nature, and the easier your gigging experiences will become. I am sure some readers have suggestions that I haven't considered, but this is a good starting point for now.

If you have not already implemented some of the above suggestions and you're starting from scratch, I've probably just cost you a few hundred quid. But if you've already simplified your rig and have excess gear, then sell off the bits you no longer use and put the money to good use with some of these practical tips.  0