Archive for February, 2005

Three of the Best Dollars You\'ll Ever Spend

Sunday, February 27th, 2005

Posted from: Arlington/Grand Prairie, TX
Next tour stop: Oklahoma City, OK

Introducing a new category for OFTR, the Gadget of the Unspecified Duration of Time (I
was going to go for Gadget Du Jour or Gadget of the Week, but let’s be realistic
here…there will be a new one when I come across something worthy, so I’m not
going to be specific on the regularity of it, or lack thereof). The GUDT will be
a cool little product that isn’t really suitable to a detailed review, but is
definitely worth calling your attention to.

This is a preview of Three of the Best Dollars You\'ll Ever Spend. Read the full post (333 words, 1 image, estimated 1:20 mins reading time)

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Illumineering\'s LED Stage Markers

Wednesday, February 23rd, 2005

Posted from: Arlington/Grand Prairie, TX
Next stop: Oklahoma City, OK

(This review originally appeared, in a slightly shorter version, in TD&T).

In theatre, we’re always looking for a good way to mark various parts
of our sets and stage in the dark, whether for safety concerns or to help performers
and crew find their spikes easily. Glow tape is always the most common solution,
but more often than not, it never gets bright enough to begin with, and fades
out way too fast to be useful by the end of the show. Thankfully, Paul Puppo’s
Illumineering has
come to the rescue with his line of LED beacons designed for exactly these purposes.

This is a preview of Illumineering\'s LED Stage Markers. Read the full post (726 words, estimated 2:54 mins reading time)

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Miscellanea

Monday, February 21st, 2005

A couple quick bits before I head to bed (and then get up early to pack to head to Arlington/Grand Prairie/Dallas/Fort Worth)–and yes, there will be a new full post tomorrow. More reviews, woohoo!

1. As I noted in the P.S. to the ClearCom post, if any of you have any tips/tricks/stories/anything you’d like to contribute to the site, drop me an e-mail at Andy@OneFromTheRoad.com. I’d especially love to get tips and tricks from any scenic, wardrobe, and other non-sound/electrician types out there!

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Out, Ye Demons!

Friday, February 18th, 2005

Posted from: Austin, TX
Next tour stop: Grand Prairie, TX

Every show uses them. At some point or another, every show has problems with them. And, a lot of the time, fixing those problems comes down to lots of random trial and error with no real idea of what’s causing the problem. What are they? Party line intercom systems, most commonly ClearCom systems. For some reason, these seem to be regarded as more voodoo-like than just about any area of live sound except for wireless. And it needn’t be. If you really read up and understand how these systems work, the things that can cause problems with them will actually turn out to be very few and easy to narrow down.

This is a preview of Out, Ye Demons!. Read the full post (1998 words, estimated 7:60 mins reading time)

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SWAG!

Monday, February 14th, 2005

Posted from: Austin, TX
Next tour stop: Grand Prairie, TX

Well, it was only a matter of time. Every good stagehand needs swag, and every good stagehand-related website needs to offer some. So, without further ado, I’m proud to announce the official Swag From The Road shop:

http://www.cafepress.com/onefromtheroad

Check it out, and help support OFTR!

–Andy

Permanent link to this post (57 words, estimated 14 secs reading time)

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Roadie.Net

Monday, February 14th, 2005

Hey gang,
Many of you are familiar with the site Roadie.Net, run by former roadie Karl Kuenning. Yesterday I had the pleasure to finally meet Karl in person when he, along with his beautiful wife and granddaughter, came to check out the show. Karl took a few pictures, and John, our head elec/crew chief, took a picture of Karl and me, which Karl posted at his site (along with one of him, Mia [his granddaughter] and the star of the show).

You can find the pics here, here, and here.

So that will answer the question for those of you wondering what I look like :o)

This is a preview of Roadie.Net. Read the full post (108 words, estimated 26 secs reading time)

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Must…keep…inventorying

Friday, February 11th, 2005

Posted from: Houston, TX
Next stop: Austin, TX

For those wondering why there hasn’t been another update this week, and what happened to the “What’s in the super-fancy brand new toolbox of happiness” post I mentioned a couple weeks ago, I offer in way of explanation two words: Mid-Tour Paperwork. Yup, that’s right, I’m on the final push to finish updating cue sheets and doing manifests of all the gear I’m touring with, so I’ve been a bit preoccupied. Anyway, that will all be finished up after a nice long push this afternoon, so keep your eyes peeled for that post, and a few more tips and tricks I’ve got waiting in the wings, plus some more product reviews.

This is a preview of Must…keep…inventorying. Read the full post (181 words, estimated 43 secs reading time)

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Can You Hear It Now?

Tuesday, February 8th, 2005

Posted from: Kansas City, MO
Next tour stop:: Houston, TX

The webpage for Vizear’s SoundPlug boldly states, “Ever wished you could hold a cable up to your ear and hear if there is signal going through it? Well now you can, with the SoundPlug!” And that’s exactly what this cool little gadget, invented by sound designer David E. Smith, does.

Vizear's SoundPlug

This is a preview of Can You Hear It Now?. Read the full post (908 words, 2 images, estimated 3:38 mins reading time)

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A Quick Note on Reviews

Tuesday, February 8th, 2005

Just a quick thought that I was reminded of when exchanging e-mails with a manufacturer I know earlier this week. If you read a review here, and decide to buy something based on what I said about it, particularly if you’re buying it directly from the manufacturer, take a few seconds to let them know where you heard about it. When manufacturers know that people hear about their products from this site, they’ll be more likely to send more new stuff for me to review, which means more cool new stuff that you’ll get to hear about, often before it’s even hit the market!

This is a preview of A Quick Note on Reviews. Read the full post (140 words, estimated 34 secs reading time)

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A Few Bands You\'ve Never Heard Of

Sunday, February 6th, 2005

Written from: Kansas City, MO

Over the last few years, I’ve had the pleasure to work with a few bands at various gigs that, in most likelihood, you’ve never heard of. Today, I’m going to try to rectify that by sharing a few of them (plus one I haven’t worked with, but who I still think rock).

First, there’s a cool but odd NJ-based band called the VooDudes. They describe their music as, “boogie-woogie and honky-tonk, New Orleans rhythm-and-blues, Southern soul and Caribbean party music, all taken apart and put back together with the ingenuity of a child destroying a favorite toy.”

This is a preview of A Few Bands You\'ve Never Heard Of. Read the full post (306 words, estimated 1:13 mins reading time)

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A Healthy Kind of Glow

Friday, February 4th, 2005

This one’s a quick tip for sound guys, lighting guys, or anybody else who may have a need to label a piece of gear that will be used in dim light at some point in time. It was originally shown to me when I was in high school by Patrick Picciotti, who is the lighting designer for the New Jersey Dance Theatre Ensemble and generally a pretty cool guy to work with. I’ve since slightly modified it to make it slightly prettier and more durable.

This is a preview of A Healthy Kind of Glow. Read the full post (546 words, estimated 2:11 mins reading time)

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