When help isn't help

[JWald]

Last nights gig. I've been trying to get more help from the rest of the band
for load out. It's been forever that they deal with their gear and slowly
attend to the rest. The claim is that I am anal about cable wrapping and
general care of my gear. Well, last night they were all doing a great job
with the pa and lights, which is great, but when I heard my 16 hit the
concrete I thought I would shit. My Starclassics were purchased used, pre
bumped and scraped, but certainly not trashed. They are my babies and
probably the last kit I'll buy. I hang my 14 and 16 on a stand. My help
decided to remove the 14 without the knowledge that his action put the stand
in tip over mode. I looked up just in time to see the drum hit the concrete
and scarring the hell out of the hoops. Earlier in the day he sat at the kit
and knocked the snare over as well. However, he got lucky when it landed on
the carpet. How mad can you get when someone is trying to help, but damn. I
think he needs to stay with speaker lugging. Just for this very reason, I
never *help* with the other guys gear.

[d***@nowhere.invalid]

Post by JWald
Last nights gig. I've been trying to get more help from the rest of the band
for load out. It's been forever that they deal with their gear and slowly
attend to the rest. The claim is that I am anal about cable wrapping and
general care of my gear. Well, last night they were all doing a great job
with the pa and lights, which is great, but when I heard my 16 hit the
concrete I thought I would shit. My Starclassics were purchased used, pre
bumped and scraped, but certainly not trashed. They are my babies and
probably the last kit I'll buy. I hang my 14 and 16 on a stand. My help
decided to remove the 14 without the knowledge that his action put the stand
in tip over mode. I looked up just in time to see the drum hit the concrete
and scarring the hell out of the hoops. Earlier in the day he sat at the kit
and knocked the snare over as well. However, he got lucky when it landed on
the carpet. How mad can you get when someone is trying to help, but damn. I
think he needs to stay with speaker lugging. Just for this very reason, I
never *help* with the other guys gear.
--
J Wald

Stop being so anal about cable wrapping and general care for your
gear. Or, just pack a pistol gripped pump shot gun in your trap case
and KILL THEM ALL!!!!
Dave

[Sean Conolly]

Post by JWald
Last nights gig. I've been trying to get more help from the rest of the
band for load out. It's been forever that they deal with their gear and
slowly attend to the rest. The claim is that I am anal about cable
wrapping and general care of my gear. Well, last night they were all doing
a great job with the pa and lights, which is great, but when I heard my 16
hit the concrete I thought I would shit. My Starclassics were purchased
used, pre bumped and scraped, but certainly not trashed. They are my
babies and probably the last kit I'll buy. I hang my 14 and 16 on a stand.
My help decided to remove the 14 without the knowledge that his action put
the stand in tip over mode. I looked up just in time to see the drum hit
the concrete and scarring the hell out of the hoops. Earlier in the day he
sat at the kit and knocked the snare over as well. However, he got lucky
when it landed on the carpet. How mad can you get when someone is trying
to help, but damn. I think he needs to stay with speaker lugging. Just for
this very reason, I never *help* with the other guys gear.

I've almost got my guys trained: the only things that can be moved are
bags/cases that are closed, and only out to the car, not in it. Don't touch
*anything* that isn't packed.

And I'm pretty anal about making sure *everything* has a bag or case, the
only loose bits are me and my meter :-)

Sean

[Steve Turner]

Post by Sean Conolly

Post by JWald
Last nights gig. I've been trying to get more help from the rest of the
band for load out. It's been forever that they deal with their gear and
slowly attend to the rest. The claim is that I am anal about cable
wrapping and general care of my gear. Well, last night they were all doing
a great job with the pa and lights, which is great, but when I heard my 16
hit the concrete I thought I would shit. My Starclassics were purchased
used, pre bumped and scraped, but certainly not trashed. They are my
babies and probably the last kit I'll buy. I hang my 14 and 16 on a stand.
My help decided to remove the 14 without the knowledge that his action put
the stand in tip over mode. I looked up just in time to see the drum hit
the concrete and scarring the hell out of the hoops. Earlier in the day he
sat at the kit and knocked the snare over as well. However, he got lucky
when it landed on the carpet. How mad can you get when someone is trying
to help, but damn. I think he needs to stay with speaker lugging. Just for
this very reason, I never *help* with the other guys gear.

I've almost got my guys trained: the only things that can be moved are
bags/cases that are closed, and only out to the car, not in it. Don't touch
*anything* that isn't packed.
And I'm pretty anal about making sure *everything* has a bag or case, the
only loose bits are me and my meter :-)
Sean

What Sean said. The guys in the band would help if I asked for it, but I spend
more time offsetting the things they screw up than if I'd just done it myself.
I still remember that time when one of the sax players unmounted one of my
beloved mid-eighties Gretsch rack toms from the stand and plunked it down on
the _concrete_ with a "SCRITCH" and a "THUNK". FUCKER! They will help carry
things that are already packed, but they know by now that I will refuse any
other offers of help. The one exception is the bass player; he's watched me
set up and tear down enough times that he knows what little pieces of work he
can help me with without screwing anything up, so that I don't mind.

[-MIKE-]

What Sean said. The guys in the band would help if I asked for it, but I
spend more time offsetting the things they screw up than if I'd just
done it myself. I still remember that time when one of the sax players
unmounted one of my beloved mid-eighties Gretsch rack toms from the
stand and plunked it down on the _concrete_ with a "SCRITCH" and a
"THUNK". FUCKER! They will help carry things that are already packed,
but they know by now that I will refuse any other offers of help. The
one exception is the bass player; he's watched me set up and tear down
enough times that he knows what little pieces of work he can help me
with without screwing anything up, so that I don't mind.

I've played a lot of church/youth events, where there is always a bunch
of young people, wearing the same t-shirts, ready, willing and able to
offer a hand. That's a wonderful thing and I appreciate it... but I end
up giving them they old, "I have a system," line and sometimes it comes
across as rude.

It ends up taking longer to fix what they do differently (trying not to
say "mess up") than to just do it all myself. I have things strapped
together and it looks like a puzzle to the uninitiated. Someone with
good intentions always ends up unstrapping my bass drum case from its
dolly. I took to tying or gaffer taping the ends of the straps together,
in an attempt to make it "obvious" that it's meant to stay that way.
Inevitably, I'll get some dad with a big smile saying, "Wow, that was
tough, but I finally got those straps undone."

"Pro" stage crews aren't always any better, either. I'll turn around and
the cymbal stands are completely collapsed and telescoped down, when all
I do to pack them is fold up the legs.

Oh, and to the OP... stay anal about those cables, or let them buy new
ones when they're all kinked up.

[JWald]

----

Post by -MIKE-

What Sean said. The guys in the band would help if I asked for it, but I
spend more time offsetting the things they screw up than if I'd just
done it myself. I still remember that time when one of the sax players
unmounted one of my beloved mid-eighties Gretsch rack toms from the
stand and plunked it down on the _concrete_ with a "SCRITCH" and a
"THUNK". FUCKER! They will help carry things that are already packed,
but they know by now that I will refuse any other offers of help. The
one exception is the bass player; he's watched me set up and tear down
enough times that he knows what little pieces of work he can help me
with without screwing anything up, so that I don't mind.

I've played a lot of church/youth events, where there is always a bunch
of young people, wearing the same t-shirts, ready, willing and able to
offer a hand. That's a wonderful thing and I appreciate it... but I end
up giving them they old, "I have a system," line and sometimes it comes
across as rude.
It ends up taking longer to fix what they do differently (trying not to
say "mess up") than to just do it all myself. I have things strapped
together and it looks like a puzzle to the uninitiated. Someone with
good intentions always ends up unstrapping my bass drum case from its
dolly. I took to tying or gaffer taping the ends of the straps together,
in an attempt to make it "obvious" that it's meant to stay that way.
Inevitably, I'll get some dad with a big smile saying, "Wow, that was
tough, but I finally got those straps undone."
"Pro" stage crews aren't always any better, either. I'll turn around and
the cymbal stands are completely collapsed and telescoped down, when all
I do to pack them is fold up the legs.
Oh, and to the OP... stay anal about those cables, or let them buy new
ones when they're all kinked up.
--
-MIKE-
"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com
---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

I'm not changing my approach to anything. My real problem is that I own
everything. PA, lights, cabling, drums, bass rig, and all the mics it takes
to for us to make the noise. I'm not bitching about the owning thing, I'm
bitching about having to worry about it all, when with a bit of help I can
concentrate on getting everything struck and stored properly. It's getting
better, but it is a chore.

[Sean Conolly]

Post by JWald
----

Post by -MIKE-

What Sean said. The guys in the band would help if I asked for it, but I
spend more time offsetting the things they screw up than if I'd just
done it myself. I still remember that time when one of the sax players
unmounted one of my beloved mid-eighties Gretsch rack toms from the
stand and plunked it down on the _concrete_ with a "SCRITCH" and a
"THUNK". FUCKER! They will help carry things that are already packed,
but they know by now that I will refuse any other offers of help. The
one exception is the bass player; he's watched me set up and tear down
enough times that he knows what little pieces of work he can help me
with without screwing anything up, so that I don't mind.

I've played a lot of church/youth events, where there is always a bunch
of young people, wearing the same t-shirts, ready, willing and able to
offer a hand. That's a wonderful thing and I appreciate it... but I end
up giving them they old, "I have a system," line and sometimes it comes
across as rude.
It ends up taking longer to fix what they do differently (trying not to
say "mess up") than to just do it all myself. I have things strapped
together and it looks like a puzzle to the uninitiated. Someone with
good intentions always ends up unstrapping my bass drum case from its
dolly. I took to tying or gaffer taping the ends of the straps together,
in an attempt to make it "obvious" that it's meant to stay that way.
Inevitably, I'll get some dad with a big smile saying, "Wow, that was
tough, but I finally got those straps undone."
"Pro" stage crews aren't always any better, either. I'll turn around and
the cymbal stands are completely collapsed and telescoped down, when all
I do to pack them is fold up the legs.
Oh, and to the OP... stay anal about those cables, or let them buy new
ones when they're all kinked up.
--
-MIKE-
"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com
---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

I'm not changing my approach to anything. My real problem is that I own
everything. PA, lights, cabling, drums, bass rig, and all the mics it
takes to for us to make the noise. I'm not bitching about the owning
thing, I'm bitching about having to worry about it all, when with a bit of
help I can concentrate on getting everything struck and stored properly.
It's getting better, but it is a chore.

I used to be in the same position, and I'm glad I got out of that business.
Nowdays my attitude is that I handle my sound and you handle yours, and I
still get paid the same but with a lot less headache.

Sean