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Author Topic: Liquids in sound booth?  (Read 8304 times)

Art Hays

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Liquids in sound booth?
« on: April 07, 2011, 12:54:53 AM »

Just curious.  Our church is small and we share it with another congregation.  We have a tiny sound booth that has a partition around it and a door about waist high.  People who use the space during the week for prayer meetings, classes, etc. all need to turn on the system, show videos, etc.  So we have a lot of people in the booth with various levels of training.

So a few months after we purchased our last board years ago someone spilled coffee on it and it wasn't easy getting it working again.  Other things have been spilled as well.  I don't think in our circumstances we are going to solve this problem by limiting access to highly trained, careful operators.  And of course anyone can have something slip from their hands.

We are getting a new digital board.  Our booth isn't big enough for drinks to be kept a few feet behind the board.  So I'm considering a no liquids in the booth rule.

Is this done?  Is it a good idea?  Are there alternatives in our situation?  Thanks.
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Dave Vercoe

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Re: Liquids in sound booth?
« Reply #1 on: April 07, 2011, 02:31:04 AM »

Just curious.  Our church is small and we share it with another congregation.  We have a tiny sound booth that has a partition around it and a door about waist high.  People who use the space during the week for prayer meetings, classes, etc. all need to turn on the system, show videos, etc.  So we have a lot of people in the booth with various levels of training.

So a few months after we purchased our last board years ago someone spilled coffee on it and it wasn't easy getting it working again.  Other things have been spilled as well.  I don't think in our circumstances we are going to solve this problem by limiting access to highly trained, careful operators.  And of course anyone can have something slip from their hands.

We are getting a new digital board.  Our booth isn't big enough for drinks to be kept a few feet behind the board.  So I'm considering a no liquids in the booth rule.

Is this done?  Is it a good idea?  Are there alternatives in our situation?  Thanks.

If you could possibly send some pictures of the sound booth area we might be able to find an alternative but a no drinks in the sound booth rule would be good considering a digital mixing board is expensive equipment and you will not want anything to be spilled on it. Like I said if you would like an alternative solution pictures would help.
dave
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Nick Bair

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Re: Liquids in sound booth?
« Reply #2 on: April 07, 2011, 06:38:18 AM »

I have a no drinks rule for my guys.

Our booth is big enough for two people, which in the past has led to it becoming something of a "gathering space." Thus, I also have a no kids rule and a no spouses rule. It may sound harsh, but do ushers' wives stand next to them for the whole service? Does the pastor's wife hold his hand while he preaches?

My wife runs the board at times and is fully trained, but unless she's on duty she doesn't need to be in there during a service (or anyone else for that matter).
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Arnold B. Krueger

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Re: Liquids in sound booth?
« Reply #3 on: April 07, 2011, 10:20:15 AM »

So I'm considering a no liquids in the booth rule.

Is this done?  Is it a good idea?  Are there alternatives in our situation?  Thanks.
he

Yes, it is done. Our church used to have a no drinks in the sanctuary rule, so since the media booth is in the sanctuary...

I think a lot depends on your context. If you had a severe problem, then that justifies being careful.

I've been drinking 24 oz Arizona Tea in the media booth for about a decade, no problems. Our booth staff is small and they have an excellent track record for being careful without broad rules.

YMMV, and it most certainly does!
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Jonathan Johnson

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Re: Liquids in sound booth?
« Reply #4 on: April 07, 2011, 11:12:42 AM »

Our booth is big enough for two people, which in the past has led to it becoming something of a "gathering space." Thus, I also have a no kids rule and a no spouses rule. It may sound harsh, but do ushers' wives stand next to them for the whole service? Does the pastor's wife hold his hand while he preaches?

You could think of the booth as being the control room for the whole operation, because it is. A/V operators shouldn't have to be subject to distraction any more than train engineers, space shuttle mission control, or a crane operator on a construction project. The only people in the booth should be those assigned and on duty. But that's beside the point of this thread.

As for liquids, you may find that you'll have a lot of backlash if you ban all liquids. You may want to limit it to ONLY simple bottled water (no flavored water or vitamin water), as that is less likely to cause damage if it spills. You could even get some cupholders like these and mount them in a "safe" place within easy reach. They'll help prevent spills and encourage putting the beverage somewhere other than on top of the console.
« Last Edit: April 07, 2011, 11:15:53 AM by Jonathan Johnson »
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Re: Liquids in sound booth?
« Reply #5 on: April 07, 2011, 12:12:11 PM »

First of all you need to post with your full real name to participate here.

It is standard practice to ban food and liquids from technical control areas.  If you can't enforce that I'd say "whoever spills pays the bills."

Good luck.
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Mike Spitzer

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Re: Liquids in sound booth?
« Reply #6 on: April 07, 2011, 01:42:14 PM »

It's a common rule, but we don't enforce it. We just have designated drink areas in the booth where a spill won't matter. Nothing is allowed in a spot that will cause damage in case of an accident.

I've also seen a church that made the "lip" of the sound booth a severe angle, so people standing on the other side of the booth couldn't set their drinks down on the ledge. People won't always see or heed signs, so you have to force it sometimes.

-mS
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Frank DeWitt

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Re: Liquids in sound booth?
« Reply #7 on: April 07, 2011, 04:07:24 PM »

No drinks at all except communion.  Even then, I have instructed people that you don't hold it, put it down, or drink it over the board.  It actually helps to make the point about other liquids.

Frank
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Tom Young

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Re: Liquids in sound booth?
« Reply #8 on: April 07, 2011, 06:09:29 PM »

Just curious.  Our church is small and we share it with another congregation.  We have a tiny sound booth that has a partition around it and a door about waist high.  People who use the space during the week for prayer meetings, classes, etc. all need to turn on the system, show videos, etc.  So we have a lot of people in the booth with various levels of training.

So a few months after we purchased our last board years ago someone spilled coffee on it and it wasn't easy getting it working again.  Other things have been spilled as well.  I don't think in our circumstances we are going to solve this problem by limiting access to highly trained, careful operators.  And of course anyone can have something slip from their hands.

We are getting a new digital board.  Our booth isn't big enough for drinks to be kept a few feet behind the board.  So I'm considering a no liquids in the booth rule.

Is this done?  Is it a good idea?  Are there alternatives in our situation?  Thanks.

Most of my church clients do not allow liquids, or food for that matter, in the audio and video booths.

I also think it is tacky and sends the wriong message for the congregation to see the techs slurping down drinks while (hopefully) they are not allowed to.

Prior to bottled water, which seems to be drunk anywhere these days, we were able to survive for an hour or six without liquid replenishment.

Just for reference: in secular live audio, if a patron spills something into the mixer or processing racks it is the client's responsibility to cover damages. If the operator does it, it comes out of their pay.

Even if it is a lower-cost mixer and whether they are volunteers or not, I think it is VERY unwise to allow drinks near the gear.

In the manual for one of early generation Yamaha large-format consoles they had almost an entire page about which spilled drinks did the most damage to the (analog) circuitry. I think coffee with milk and sugar trumped cola. Not that water is "OK"  ;D
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Tom Young
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Re: Liquids in sound booth?
« Reply #9 on: April 07, 2011, 07:32:19 PM »

Tom et al.......

It's called stewardship.  The good steward takes care of what they are given to perform service. 
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Re: Liquids in sound booth?
« Reply #9 on: April 07, 2011, 07:32:19 PM »


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