Stage Cable Management Techniques

Here we will look at basic cable management for a performance stage.

[@Hanntaytay]

As a 26 year old just coming back to my love for live sound and diving back into it with a temporary technican job, I found your video refreshing and very helpful in clearing my mind that I can be the best at what I want to do. thankyou.

[@inventiveowl395]

I am a (mostly) self-taught sound engineer. For the past 4 years, once a week (with gaps), I've been working with up to 4 singing mics (one doubling as a recorder mic), keyboard, drumkit or cajon, acoustic, electric and bass guitars or a combination of all of the above. Just now, addmittedly *'a bit'* late, I randomly decided to look up information on how professionals do things. I cannot describe how jolly this video made me. "I'm doing things right! ... well.. at least with my cable management." :D

[@frankbaird9672]

Lots of good info out there these days. Glad you liked my technique. Be encouraged!

[@darrylday30]

I’ve worked with a sound company at a mid sized festival that had audio, speaker, and AC in the same snake without issues. Frontline and backline snakes with boxes every 6 feet. Each box had a mic in, speaker out and AC out. Fastest set up and tear down I’ve ever seen. They had mains and monitors loaded in and up and running before I had my keyboards set up. A stage hand with dual D.I. in hand was asking if I wanted to run stereo, before I could tune my guitar.

[@napasmith5689]

Following your advice keeps us super clean!

[@michaelpanelas3161]

This was laid out beautifully. It felt validating to see I knew a good amount of your tips already and exciting to learn the ones I didn't. Thank you.

[@cameronsearle7917]

Good video but, talking about mic etiquette, how many times did you drop the XLR ends of the lead on the ground with the first mic. Lol.

[@kkkrocky4190]

Notice that too. Good video though probably he didnt realise that while working with the xlr. But other than that it was all good. Good to refresh our knowledge of setting up. Somethings i learned n i want to know more of what he has. We actually dont have audio mixing courses here in fiji so watching people thru KZbin helps alot.

[@dfkustom8]

Lol Exactly

[@patthesoundguy]

If you are complaining about dropping the end of a cable on the floor you must not do audio for a living... pros drop XLR cable ends, that's how it's done if when you coil a cable, especially a 50' XLR it's standard practice to toss the cable out to coil it. I speak from 30 years experience. You are watching a professional at work in this video, and he is showing standard practice that we all do in the real world

[@dfkustom8]

@@patthesoundguy no… I'm only more conscientious of the material🤷🏻‍♂️

[@drummingwithscissors661]

Thanks Prof Baird. This video was so helpful. Love the tips and “best practices”. I’ll never set up our band the same way again. And I’ll be sure to look for these things when I watch other bands.

[@dr_john]

thank you. this is a basic knowledge every audio engineer should know.

[@chadlee5680]

I'm a new stage-hand with 0 experience 😢 Your videos have been extremely resourceful.

[@frankbaird9672]

Good! Glad they helped provide some understanding. I wish you the very best

[@tr-austin]

Great OCD info! I speak the same language... but damn, you are hard on your XLR ends slamming against that hard floor! :)

[@killiandevine9605]

Love it Prof Baird!

[@Josh_bak]

What a legend! Appreciate the video, super helpful.

[@aternst]

This was very informative. Thank you for producing and sharing this video.

[@XIIMonkeysMusicGroup]

I put the mic mount on before clipping the mic to the stand.

[@TheViken1]

Awesome video - we'd love to see more like this

[@frankbaird9672]

Thank you very much. This is a lecture a regularly give for class that got thrown on youtube during lockdown. There could be more.

[@silentskystudios]

Great stuff--especially the tips on taping down the cables! Good to see other OCD folks doing live sound!

[@imark7777777]

Excellent typing tutorial. I will do strips down the cable and try to avoid pathways then if I am going to end up in a pathway that's when the long strips come out. And at the end of the day I started this with one band I started saving the gaff tape. I would peel it off stack it and stick it on a case. Then when I encounter a floor that's kind of gross and it starts losing its stickiness that's when that gets replaced. That stuffs expensive. And it's nice to be able to say I need a piece of tape let me run and grab a piece off the side.

[@robertharker]

Great video. Lots of solid advice. About wrapping the cable around the mic stand. I tend to grab the cable near the pivot point and bring the cable around the mic stand. This gives me a wrap around the boom and an opposite wrap around the upright. For singers I may not do this as it requires the singer to unwrap the cable one way for the top and the opposite way for the bottom which can be confusing.

[@SarahJonestoo]

Yes indeed. I judge people initially by their mic stands as well! 3:08!

[@SavioNoronha]

While he was dropping the XLR connectors, I was getting panic attacks! According to me, cables can be dropped on the floor when needed, but we need to secure the ends/connectors. Although the soldering is good enough, we can never say when the connections may break off.

[@frankbaird9672]

I'm completely comfortable dropping cables on the floor. Been doing it for decades. If the cable/soldering is that close to failing then it shouldn't be on a stage. Best,

[@hakkiiv3672]

this video was very helpful in my career at my high school as both a student and a sound technician for our stage. i will teach your techniques to my juniors.

[@frankbaird9672]

Very cool. Glad it was helpful. Please pass it along. Best,

[@hakkiiv3672]

@@frankbaird9672 it’s very unfortunate that you are not uploading more videos about live performance techniques. i hope that you will continue soon!

[@frankbaird9672]

@@hakkiiv3672 This video was made during the pandemic for my students. Not the greatest video, but good content. Thank you for your kind words. I teach at a university and usually do these things live. What else would you want to see?

[@kinghengkeithleung3931]

Thanks!! This is very clear and helpful

[@fogpeople]

Great vid! I thought it was a little funny that you talked about being so picky about mic stands and then pull out a cable that's full of knots though! ;-)

[@mobiletoonz]

Over under any cable over 20' and make your coils a little bigger, also stop dropping your connections on the floor. Really glad to see tie lines on all the male ends. Most of us old school guys do this because haha velcro sucks. I'll also use a turn around on the both ends of the sub snake to run my monitor sends from the same box.

[@charlotteice5704]

A piece of advice for coiling cables around stands: I find it useful to not wrap it around the stand in a spiral, but instead connect the cable normally without wrapping and then take the middle point of the length of wire that is at the stand and wrap that around the stand and hook it on some object such as a thumbscrew. That way, you just have to take the cable off the thumbscrew and it's not wrapped around the stand anymore.

[@frankbaird9672]

I don't wrap the mic cable around the mic stand any more than necessary. Like yourself, I'm all about the out. If the cable isn't coiled around the stand it makes it easier and quicker to load out. Best,

[@ReinerDamisch]

@@frankbaird9672 Those K&M stands, you are using, also have clips... at least when they are new ;-)

[@frankbaird9672]

@@ReinerDamisch They do indeed have plastic clips to hold the cable to the stand. I don't like them and pull them off, and pitch them. Slows things down and they all get lost sooner or later regardless.

[@robertwingham]

I have been in and around music industry for about 30 years. Both as musician and the sound guy. Never had formal training so I thought most of this stuff was just common sense. The only difference I do is run power cords from opposite side of stage as audio cable goes

[@frankbaird9672]

Running power away from audio signals is best practices. However, with the advent of digital technology the crosstalk from power signals is very rare. Some of the things we were taught back in the day do not apply any longer. Best,

[@Billsoundmaster]

I like short pieces of 2 sided hook and loop strap for securing mic line to stands when needed. Just me but I would rather the mic clip be attached and the stand be ready and tight. Then get the mic and put in on the stand especially wireless mics. Great video. Love sub snakes, I can be ocd about labeling..

[@KeyofGtutorials]

LOVE sound engineers who keep a clean stage! Great video! My one thing I would disagree with (and this probably matches the "technicality" of running power alongside audio) is to wrap mic/XLR/audio cables around metal poles, such as mic stands or speaker poles. You're basically creating an antenna when you do this. Think of a standard car antenna, it's a small metal pole with a wire wrapped around it. Just bad practice in my opinion and a way to add accidental noise to the system. Again, most of the time if you have good cables it won't be a problem, but I always try to limit any chance of creating more problems than us sound guys need :-)

[@frankbaird9672]

I have never experienced an antenna created by coiling a mic cable around a mic stand. I have seen numerous situations where antennae were created by long runs of old, cheap, or simply incorrect cabling. Neatness counts! Best,

[@contact585]

Everything made of metal has the chance of being an antenna. Antennas are made with just one conductor that can be stretch or coil. The only difference its the amount of space thats needed. The mic cables have 3 conductor to get rid of interferences

[@waterknot1]

Since it's balanced circuitry in most cases, the mic cable takes care of most noise issues. It just gets cancelled at the preamplifier.

[@bretknight3813]

This guy isn't even wearing all black. I don't trust him.... Kidding! Great video. Thanks Frank!

[@wally7856]

No pony tail or cigarette either.

[@cletusrobinson]

Great review! What are your go to gaffers tape brands?

[@frankbaird9672]

ProTape or Shur Tape. Tour Supply has a selection of good quality brands. Amazon can be tricky. If its cheap, it ain't gaff. Best,

[@dleesnuts]

And a "will hullo" to you too Frank!

[@spencedeezy]

frank if you're running power cables next to audio cables do you use the same pieces of tape for both or try to tape them separately?

[@frankbaird9672]

On a stage with good AC and cabling it's fine to run them side by side and use one piece of tape. Practically speaking it's not a problem. It's done all the time on small stages with no problems. I am aware of the magnetic field surrounding cables with electrons flowing inside.

[@djjazzyjeff1232]

@@frankbaird9672 Have you ever run in to problems running long extension cords along a digital snake (cat5e with EtherCON)? Last summer when we were playing outdoor street dances and things, very occasionally we would run in to what sounded like a static discharge that would clip every channel, lose sound for a couple seconds, then things would continue operating as normal. Some people said it was because we ran our power for our FOH mixer immediately beside our Ethercon for 50ft or so, and that coupled with someone having stepped on it could cause that. We use cable protectors where we can, but they can't be everywhere at once. I have since replaced that Ethercon and haven't had an issue since, but we haven't played outside yet either. I also tried to replicate the bug by stomping on it myself on purpose but I couldn't make it happen. I guess what I'm asking is, what are your thoughts on the situation? I am inclined to believe that's the problem but I was unable to recreate it so that bothers me.

[@imark7777777]

Yep I've never had issues running power cables next to Audio cables. I try to avoid it if possible but I'm not gonna run it all the way around the opposite way. As long as it's a balanced XLR cable and it's in good condition it should be fine. Of course this is gonna be affected by load of the downstream device and what kind of noise the device generates.

[@imark7777777]

So far this is been excellent but duck tape was meant for military uses to sell out water from ammo it just happened to get used on heating ducks which should be using foil tape. Either way duck tape should not be around cables. And for viewers outside of the US duct tape is a specific product in the US and gaf tape is another specific product they are not the same. as duck tape tensor leave lots of residue.

[@gearhead1972]

Cable management video, and the first cable he picks up isn't over/under and knotted ...next

[@waterknot1]

Nice presentation. Recommend aspiring engineers get and read Sherman Keene's book "Practical Techniques for the Recording Engineer". It's full of great advice. Only thing I would add is to run power first and then monitors, and then audio. IMO, it's best to keep the excess cable and other stuff on the artist side. They are used to it and it keeps the front cleaner for video.

[@Guachum]

Nice video. Wouldn't it save time if you used just one piece of 3" or 4" wide gaffer's tape instead of two pieces of 2" wide tape?

[@frankbaird9672]

It could. 2" is very common and the only size we have. Some companies do stock the wider gaff tape, but it does increase the cost of the gaff. Trade offs.

[@Martin_Gregory]

LOL Mr fussy perfection just finishes telling us about how everything has to be right, then picks up his cable and it's knotted :D

[@lukelasater1]

I tell my engineers all the time...if it looks good, it sounds good! Or at least it's a good start! Get those Mic stand nuts in alignment.

[@frankbaird9672]

Funny. That's exactly what Roy Clair said about his PA. Thx for the comment!

[@PWingert1966]

A lapel mic would have been so helpful!

[@FormulaOneLeclerc]

was thinking that. I always hate seing sound specialists and audioheads with terrible sound. The content is great and helpful, but its a real let down

[@rolandtiiroja]

Nice

[@stuff8195]

I use shielded cables for everything besides power cables

[@jenbel1157]

Poor XLR connectors. Lol, dropping at such height and speed 😅

[@HuffakerBrothers]

Sounds like you have an engineering degree talking about tensile strengths and HVAC haha. Great video!

[@frankbaird9672]

Thx, I've spent some time thinking about it. Also trying to explain why gaff is better than duct tape. Be encouraged!

[@MrBobisadog]

@@frankbaird9672 also, duct tape hasn’t been allowed for many years in the HVAC biz due to its poor performance. Now the HVAC industry mixes a plaster like material as well as other methods. One HVAC firm owner I know will fire any tech if duct tape is found on or in their service vehicle. Great job and video!

[@frankbaird9672]

@@MrBobisadog Good to know. I didn't realize that duct tape hasn't been allowed. I am aware of other types of HVAC tapes and sealants. Updating the lecture. Thx!

[@MrBobisadog]

@@frankbaird9672 appreciate the content!

[@bspeas]

MTSU - Middle Tennessee State University by chance?

[@frankbaird9672]

Yes, in the Chris Young Cafe

[@philmastman2490]

The OCD in me is horrified, watching you drop those XLR connectors on the floor while untangling the mic cable.

[@frankbaird9672]

Why? XLR's are a very robust connector and can easily take the drop from a couple of feet onto the floor. I guess working with these cables for 35 years in all conditions makes you realize it's ok. Be encouraged!

[@mikea5800]

Use wireless lapel mics and you won’t need a stand

[@markjastrzebski2065]

OCD has nothing to do with having things on the same side of a stand. OCD is a serious condition.

[@mrarafat]

Rule number one don't trow my cables

[@raidensama1511]

The coil you made is basically an inductor which will compromise the sound quality. Check out Dave Ratt and his version of the figure 8 pattern for coiling extra cable: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oJjUaWBqopZmadE

[@charlotteice5704]

I disagree. With any symmetrical connection, which you usually have in an XLR cable, The signal is normal in one conductor and phase-reversed in the other, so the magnetic fields cancel each other out. It's similar for power as the current flows to the device through one conductor and back from the device through the other, so it's gonna cancel itself out most of the time. The only connection where induction is theoretically something to be worried about is an asymmetrical connection, such as the cable coming out of an electric guitar. However, in those cases, the amount of current actually flowing through the wire is miniscule enough for it to not have an effect. A much more important concern in my opinion when it comes to coiled cables is heat. As every cable has a certain resistance, the electrical energy "lost" because of it turns into heat which usually isn't a problem, until there's a lot of current flowing through the wire(s) and the heat cannot escape, which is the case if the coil(s) are in cramped spaces.

[@MrBobisadog]

@@charlotteice5704 I agree and I don’t believe Mr Rat was using a short mic cable like the professor.

[@joanmitorrens353]

Please, do not wrap the cables around mic stands. It's awful for artists and also for audio techs during change over. Just hang the cable around the middle.

[@Ribanski]

You keep on dropping the XLR cables to the floor. especially the end of the snake, thin cables big connectors don’t drop that on the floor. Also don’t run XLR cables parallel with the powercables Don’t coil up your cables especially your power cables. Audio left, power right stage. Never use the mic as a tool to tighten the mic clamp. Putting the mics in the claps is the last thing you do. One cable on the floor one stroke of gaftape to stick it to the floor. Sorry but its still a cable spaghetti around your misstand and monitor.And please use a Lav mic your self when making a video. For the rest its a oke vid. By the way you can get away with anything as long as it worked but that’s not always the case. Think before you start, make a stageplan, be flexible.

[@jasonc2313]

Duct tape does not exist. Duck tape does. Code does not allow use of duck tape for HVAC. Just to clarify.