Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Alex Donkle]

I'm working on the design of a new high school venue, which will serve both in-house school theatre and rentals. Currently I have several mic/line, ICOM, CAT6, and video jacks distributed in on-stage floor boxes that route back to the main FOH position. These are primarily for theatre productions at the school, but I'm debating paralleling some of the mic connections to back-stage (just a Y-split) to allow a touring production to tie into the floor boxes from back stage if they opt to (separate conduit from back stage to FOH for touring snakes).

My assumption is that any touring / rental act is much more likely to just use sub snakes across the stage, and hide them if needed so this may not be worthwhile, but I wanted to pose the question here and see what others thought. Advantage is less cables across the floor, but more work for the sound engineer to confirm they actually work in each venue.

[Mark McFarlane]

I would suspect that most touring production companies are using Cat6 nowadays from a stage box(es) to FOH.  The Y-split analog cables just seem like a maintenance headache to me.  Maybe a great idea 10 years ago. 

But I'm not in a touring production company...

What kinds of touring production companies are you expecting to see at a high school?

[Roland Clarke 1964]

I'm working on the design of a new high school venue, which will serve both in-house school theatre and rentals. Currently I have several mic/line, ICOM, CAT6, and video jacks distributed in on-stage floor boxes that route back to the main FOH position. These are primarily for theatre productions at the school, but I'm debating paralleling some of the mic connections to back-stage (just a Y-split) to allow a touring production to tie into the floor boxes from back stage if they opt to (separate conduit from back stage to FOH for touring snakes).

My assumption is that any touring / rental act is much more likely to just use sub snakes across the stage, and hide them if needed so this may not be worthwhile, but I wanted to pose the question here and see what others thought. Advantage is less cables across the floor, but more work for the sound engineer to confirm they actually work in each venue.

I dare say many others will have their input, but from my own personnel perspective, if I am bringing in a show to your venue I will likely bring in all my own snakes/splits etc. 

A cat6 link to a panel FOH from stage might be a good idea as a lot more shows are running this these days, but when it comes to stage boxes I tend not to trust what is installed in a lot of venues.  Often the problem comes in that these are used by all comers and they get subjected to a lot of wear and tear  and abuse.  The number of times I've been into school halls, arts centres, theatre's, etc, where various tie lines are taped over, XLR sockets broken or bent, or lines that just don't work makes me nervous.  It's easier to just run my own snakes, be it multicore, cat 6 or whatever.  If I am using an in house PA, I might be happy to link into the house wiring for that, but obviously, this is rarely touched and suffers little wear.

I would install for " in house" requirements, possibly leave traps for touring shows to run their cables to FOH.  Hope this is helpful.

[Cailen Waddell]

Do not put a floor box in a theater.  Ever.  A good theater is swept daily, a good floor box will collect the dirt.  Wall boxes, hidden jacks facing down under the front edge of the stage, these are all good options. I have never found a working audio floor jack in a theater.   I have been intimately involved in the renovation and construction of several theaters (high school included) and I have never heard that anyone ever wished they had a floor pocket. 

If it's a tour - they bring their own gear.

If it's a rental - there would be appropriate staff supervising the use of the space right?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Scott Helmke]

If you want to make a touring show really happy, put in some easy way to route snakes from the stage to FOH. In a gym it could just be hooks along the wall, up above the doorways but still easy to reach from a short ladder.

[Hayden J. Nebus]

Cross-stage dry lines might be more useful.

[Mark Cadwallader]

At the 2000 seat municipal venue where I tech, the audio boxes (SR, SL, and USC) are wall mounted a few inches off the floor surface. There is xlr and edison along the DS face of the thrust, too. No worries about hot-mopping the deck or what to do when the Marley floor is down, either.

With respect to digital lines, I assume that the standards and uses will change significantly in the 20+ year life (before remodel) of the venue. I wouldn't necessarily assume that copper, fiber, or other physical connections between the stage and FOH will be in touring use in the future.  YMMV. Mark C.

[Milt Hathaway]

Not sure if it's early enough in the design phase for this, but as someone dealing with shows all the way up to touring Broadway shows in a local PAC I highly suggest 10" pipe each upstage side of the proscenium all the way back to your FOH area.

Yes, we've done at least one act that a large-enough connector bundle to fill that 10".

[Cailen Waddell]

Not sure if it's early enough in the design phase for this, but as someone dealing with shows all the way up to touring Broadway shows in a local PAC I highly suggest 10" pipe each upstage side of the proscenium all the way back to your FOH area.

Yes, we've done at least one act that a large-enough connector bundle to fill that 10".

Yup 10" pipe please. 

In regards to changing technology needs, put in specs that a spare 1" conduit with pull string be run to every box.  I always spec a bunch of spare conduit.  It's cheap when building.  Expensive 10 years later. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jim McKeveny]

Yup 10" pipe please. 

In regards to changing technology needs, put in specs that a spare 1" conduit with pull string be run to every box.  I always spec a bunch of spare conduit.  It's cheap when building.  Expensive 10 years later. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

6 inch conduit. There will always be more, and touring shows want their own (clean) networks...whatever the transmission format.

Wire and cable will be with us, and expanding, for the foreseeable future.

[ProSoundWeb Community]