2023: High Schecknology Boo Staging and Sound
In 2020, Boo acquired a new stage. The old stage was basically a backyard deck design, made with materials from Home Depot, and while it was great for a stage, it was a lot of work to assemble and disassemble. Since it was screwed together with deck screws, both the plywood sheets and the 2 x 8 joists were showing quite a bit of wear.
So, in summer of 2020, still pretending we could have Boo in the midst of the pandemic, an actual production stage was acquired. This is a design is made by a company called BilJax, which primarily does scaffolding for construction. It is composed of 4 x 4 foot squares, made of a steel frame with a plywood deck. The decks are supported on adjustable legs, and interlock to form a solid surface. Only tools are a level and a 3/8” allen key.
I had seen this BilJax stage in use for many years at the Thin Blue Line event we did in DC each year, as part of National Police Week. We arrived first to setup the laser (aka Thin Blue Line) about 5:30 AM, and the staging company showed up around 7 AM to start setting up the stage. Stage arrived on a couple of big flat bed trucks (BIG stage), and the crew started carrying each section, setting up on the legs, rinse and repeat. About noon, the stage was assembled.
So, knowing this is Boo, I decided to set the stage height at 12”, just in case someone decided to fall off the stage. It also makes for a more intimate interaction between the performers and the audience.
In 2021, we used the new stage for Boo for the first time, and I think I can say that both labor and time were saved immensely. So last year, following Boo22, Chris Horrell and I had a chat about the sound system we used for bands. Over the years, I had slowly built up a small sound system for our Thursday and Sunday night movies, but it is much too small to support Rock bands. Instead, the band sound system is typically a rental.
Going back to Boo ’99, I had rented a sound system from Everyman Sound, which was run by a college friend, Pete Theoctisto. Everyman Sound was the goto for most bands around Gainesville, and certainly for parties, special events, etc. However, as sound was not my specialty, I was happy when others took care of this. Chaz Scales cobbled together sound gear for several year. James Czech provided a serious sound system for several years, and more recently, Ric Trapp provided gear and talent.We already have a digital mixer, a Behringer XR18. This mixer lives on the stage (it looks like a stage box with all the XLR ins and outs), and is controlled by an Ipad or computer out in the house. Communication is either a single Cat 6 cable or wireless.So the digital mixer replaced the console, effects rack, and audio snake, but we still had to provide the mains speakers, monitor speakers, mics, and mic stands, along with all the XLR cables to connect them. Everyman Sound was bought out by Vivid Sky entertainment, which then merged with Bunt Backline, and the unfortunate side effect was the rental price kept going up. Plus, the gear had to be picked up and dropped off, as a separate trip into town.
So Chris Horrell suggested we look at buying a sound system to save on the rental cost and transportation. After some late night drunken online ordering, Boo now has a PA system for our bands.
The Mains consist of dual 15” cabinets with horns, for full range sound, supplemented by 18” Subwoofers. These are all powered cabinets, so no amp racks. The monitors are 12” 2 way cabinets, also powered. The last element were the mics and mic stands. There are lots of mics available now, ranging from $20 bucks to $1000 or more. There is one brand in particular, Shure, that has wide name recognition, and is well suited to the volume levels of rock music. Found a deal on some new SM58s and SM57s, and got them for about ½ price. A Beta 152 mic is used for the Kick Drum. Finished with a set of mic stands, both tall and short, and a set of 25’ XLR cables to patch everything together.So no more sound gear rentals, extra trips into town, etc. I tested the Mains at my shop and could produce music at 95+ dB at 40 feet, so I think we should be fine. ~Laser Greg
The Mains consist of dual 15” cabinets with horns, for full range sound, supplemented by 18” Subwoofers. These are all powered cabinets, so no amp racks. The monitors are 12” 2 way cabinets, also powered. The last element were the mics and mic stands. There are lots of mics available now, ranging from $20 bucks to $1000 or more. There is one brand in particular, Shure, that has wide name recognition, and is well suited to the volume levels of rock music. Found a deal on some new SM58s and SM57s, and got them for about ½ price. A Beta 152 mic is used for the Kick Drum. Finished with a set of mic stands, both tall and short, and a set of 25’ XLR cables to patch everything together.So no more sound gear rentals, extra trips into town, etc. I tested the Mains at my shop and could produce music at 95+ dB at 40 feet, so I think we should be fine. ~Laser Greg