# Controlling Booth Traffic



## Anonymous067 (Sep 19, 2009)

OKay...we've all given our non-techie buddies booth tours before, but realistically, who should be allowed in the booth, and how do you go about kicking people out?

Personally, I don't even let actors in the booth. They're allowed to come up the stairs, and only to get their mics or if instructed by a board op/SM.


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## NickJones (Sep 19, 2009)

I'm a bit of a Booth Nazi. If they need mics they wait outside the door, the Director is allowed in for plotting, and that's about it. And when the Stage Audio guys want somewhere to hang out I try and keep them out of the booth too.
Nick


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## zuixro (Sep 19, 2009)

I'm a fan of the "nobody unnecessary in the booth" way of doing things. It keeps things from getting messed with mostly, very important when you have $20,000 of rented wireless mic gear sitting around. Also keeps our snacks from getting pillaged.


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## kiwitechgirl (Sep 19, 2009)

Our booth is kept locked unless there's a tech in there, but the actors all know better than to go in there anyway. Occasionally during a show the odd cast member may go up to see a part of the show from the front, but we have no issues with that provided they're quiet!


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## cprted (Sep 20, 2009)

Keep the door locked. Anyone who needs in has a key. I often deal with actor/mic things in the wings or dressing rooms. Saves the actors from either having to come to the booth or FoH.


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## ReiRei (Sep 20, 2009)

At my high school the rule was that nobody was allowed in the booth unless they were working. Actors/performers only if they were recording something with the sound tech. Anyone who had nothing to do with the show was strictly just not allowed in the booth.

How to go about kicking them out? Well, since my TD made the rule that nobody was allowed up there whenever someone not allowed would come in I would simply tell them that they weren't allowed and they needed to leave. One of the technicians at my old high school who thought she was the reason the sun rose in the morning brought her girlfriend into the booth and got really bent out of shape with me when I insisted that she leave. They finally left though, complaining loudly that I was mean and whatnot. Whatever, those are the rules that I'm given and those are the rules that I follow.

Our stage manager for Pajama Game let a reporter up into the booth so she could write an article. There was also talk of letting this girl on headset. I kindly told miss reporter that there was absolutely no way she could be on headset and not any way that she could be in the booth either. I mean, how was she going to write anything down if there was no light for her to see. The stage manager thought it appropriate to override me by saying, "I'm the stage manager and I'm the boss, she's coming into the booth." So down I go to the TD who rages at her and makes the reporter leave. More complaining about me being rigid and mean. Whatever, deal with it.

If you have a problem with people coming into your booth just to hang out, put a sign outside the door that says something along the lines of, "unless your job is a booth job, turn back now." If people decide to come in anyways without purpose tell them to leave. We had a big problem with having all the techs in the booth, that should only have 5-6 people max, coming in before a show. It got to the point where I couldn't even focus on the tasks at hand and I made everyone leave and we put up a sign.

Make guidelines about who should/should not be in the booth. Share these guidelines with your crew and then stick to them.


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## mstaylor (Sep 20, 2009)

I ran lights for a S production years ago and kicked the director/teacher out of the booth. First off she had no real purpose being there, SM was calling cues on headset, second she was an idiot that had not a clue about tech. I was only doing it because a friend of mine's daughter was the SM and no one knew how to run the board.


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## MSLD (Sep 20, 2009)

i do the oppisite, if you're in my booth, you run lights, even if you dont know how to. hey, it keeps them all away


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## photoatdv (Sep 20, 2009)

I've almost had dancers run a number in rehearsal before... because they kept asking for ridiculous things then telling me my job was so easy and anyone could do it...


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## MillburyAuditorium (Sep 21, 2009)

Well we currently don't have a booth, just the back row crossover we call our home. Anyone, be it students, actors, or other person walks back there I or the SM has a ***** on them. And our real problem used to be students or air head actors messing with the EQ and what not, it all stopped after I put a white sheet over the equipment and two laminated pieces of paper on it, one saying "DO NOT TOUCH. This equipment is insured for more than your life."
and the other being "This area under 24 hour closed circuit video recording.". (There is no camera in the theatre  )

Fake signs really do help, especially the "DANGER: High Voltage" on the dimmers and amp racks. Although, its true for those.


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## cdub260 (Sep 22, 2009)

At the Pageant there are four people with keys to the booth and the booth has its own dedicated alarm system. The Pageant Director, the Technical Director, the Stage Manager and I are the only people with unrestricted access to the booth. Anyone else who needs to get in there needs to find one of us to open the building for them. Yes, the booth is it's own separate building. That said, I generally steer clear of the booth unless I have some reason to make the hike from the stage to the back of the bowl.


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## Jinglish (Sep 22, 2009)

Ah, you lucky people with your _booths_. The "booth" at my high school consists of a couple of desks in the back left corner of the house. As a result, intrusion by actors and other unwanted individuals can be a bit of a problem. At best they hang out there and getting in the way a little when we're trying to work. But many of them--including seniors--like to play with our gear while back there, whether it's our two-way radios (note to self: lobby for some ClearCom wireless gear when the next theater grant comes around) or messing with the lighting board (which happened at a set strike last year).

What's _really_ annoying is when the freshman decide to plug their iPods into the sound board and play rap on the sound system when I'm trying to work. They're dealt with quickly and sternly, of course.


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## Raktor (Sep 23, 2009)

ReiRei said:


> Our stage manager for Pajama Game let a reporter up into the booth so she could write an article. There was also talk of letting this girl on headset. I kindly told miss reporter that there was absolutely no way she could be on headset and not any way that she could be in the booth either. I mean, how was she going to write anything down if there was no light for her to see. The stage manager thought it appropriate to override me by saying, "I'm the stage manager and I'm the boss, she's coming into the booth." So down I go to the TD who rages at her and makes the reporter leave. More complaining about me being rigid and mean. Whatever, deal with it.



Yes, the TD overrides the SM, and you were right to go to the TD... but you'll usually find that what the SM says - goes. The SM does have more authority than you, and you should have just immediately told the TD, not argued with your superior.


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## MillburyAuditorium (Sep 23, 2009)

Jinglish, I know how you feel  That's how our school is as well, although in the middle not corner. 
But our faculty knows that if any student besides me and the sound guy touches any equipment its an automatic discipline 

lol, someone asked me if they could play music with the theatres sound system and I said "If you can figure out how to do it you can." 
She stood behind the board for at least thirty minutes xD At least 10 of which was just staring at it, so I felt bad and did it for her : P 
-Plug device in there, play something. Turn board on. Main slider up. "Open" channel slider up and unmute.-


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## Soxred93 (Sep 23, 2009)

MillburyAuditorium said:


> -Plug device in there, play something. Turn board on. Main slider up. "Open" channel slider up and unmute.-



Now THAT's an odd procedure...

We do it like this:

Turn on amp. Turn on board. Main Mix up. Plug in iPod. Unmute channel. Set gain about halfway. Slowly bring up fader. (We always unmute before bringing the fader up. Sometimes, unmuting while the channel is all the way up creates a slight "pop")

I still fail to understand why you press play before even turning on the board...


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## MillburyAuditorium (Sep 23, 2009)

Well, lol, I was just saying what I told her to do 

We turn our amps on first thing, since they are backstage.

So, 
Board on.
-Pop- Good, where in business. (xD)
Main up to +10.
Check gain in the middle.
Play something.
Unmute.
And adjust whatever slider accordingly. Whether it be the CD mixer, "Open" (for ipods or what ever with a mini output.), or a mic.

Off topic-
Anyone else have fun during shows or rehearsals soloing someones wireless mic to listen to their conversations? xD


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## cprted (Sep 23, 2009)

MillburyAuditorium said:


> Well, lol, I was just saying what I told her to do
> 
> We turn our amps on first thing, since they are backstage.
> 
> ...


The amps should be last to go on and first to go off to avoid the "pop."


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## Les (Sep 23, 2009)

MillburyAuditorium said:


> Well, lol, I was just saying what I told her to do
> 
> We turn our amps on first thing, since they are backstage.
> 
> ...



Am I the only one that thinks explaining how to play an ipod through the school's sound system to a bunch of other students is a really bad practice? Maybe it's just me but if I was a theatre teacher I would never, never let my students play anything other than show-specific music on the system, and only for production reasons. Look at it this way. If your ipod is connected to the system and you happen to blow a speaker or an amp, who's head is on the chopping block?

And when rules tend to get relaxed, people can get careless and push the limits.

/end rant.


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## Anvilx (Sep 24, 2009)

Les said:


> And when rules tend to get relaxed, people can get careless and push the limits.



So true. The difficult part is strictly enforcing the rules and not coming off as a jerk at the same time .


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## zuixro (Sep 24, 2009)

cprted said:


> The amps should be last to go on and first to go off to avoid the "pop."



My rule is "Nothing goes on or off when the amps are on" That rule really only applies to things between the board and the amps. So plugging a compressor into an insert is ok, but you shouldn't turn on a compressor (between the amps and board) if the amps are on.


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## rochem (Sep 24, 2009)

Les said:


> Am I the only one that thinks explaining how to play an ipod through the school's sound system to a bunch of other students is a really bad practice? Maybe it's just me but if I was a theatre teacher I would never, never let my students play anything other than show-specific music on the system, and only for production reasons. Look at it this way. If your ipod is connected to the system and you happen to blow a speaker or an amp, who's head is on the chopping block?



We don't have "a bunch of other students" who know how to hook up an ipod to the board, but a few of the senior techs do know how and we do it fairly regularly, with TD approval of course. We're frequently in the theatre working for long hours, and we often plug in someone's ipod to play as background music to entertain us while we work. This is always at a low enough level so we can still easily communicate with eachother, and if we're bringing in a pipe or some other dangerous activity, we'll pause the music to make sure everyone hears the calls. I can see where you're coming from, but a sound system in a high school theatre is designed with the idea in mind that it will be used for many other purposes other than theatre sound reinforcement. What about teachers, who will sometimes play music while grading papers or check their personal emails using school computers? If a computer suddenly decided to die while they were reading an personal email, would that teacher be held liable for the entire repair/replacement cost of that computer?


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## rochem (Sep 24, 2009)

cprted said:


> The amps should be last to go on and first to go off to avoid the "pop."



The way I was always taught was that "the amps should be on for the least amount of time" compared to all other elements of the system.


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## MillburyAuditorium (Sep 24, 2009)

Well, I knew this person, and plus, if they decided to tell someone else and they think they will just got and do it themselves, they wouldn't know to turn the amps on and or how to : )


Well, We have been turning the amps on first for 6 years with no problem, and we make sure all channels are muted and set to -10 before it is on.
A good way we make sure we will never blow our speakers is, that we only keep the amps up about half way, so whatever we can make the board do, still pretty loud, will not even get to above half of its potential.
Don't know if this helps or not, seems like it does.


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## cprted (Sep 24, 2009)

Just because you haven't had a problem _yet_ doesn't mean everything is A-OK.


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## Les (Sep 24, 2009)

*Re: Controlling Bohttp://www.controlbooth.com/forums/newreply.php?do=newreoth Traffic*


rochem said:


> What about teachers, who will sometimes play music while grading papers or check their personal emails using school computers? If a computer suddenly decided to die while they were reading an personal email, would that teacher be held liable for the entire repair/replacement cost of that computer?



That's reading a little far into it I think. First, you are comparing a computer that is worth maybe $1,000 with a sound system costing potentially thousands more. I'm not saying I've never used a $50,000 sound system for my own personal entertainment, what I was getting at was the potential of having inexperienced users plugging things in with an underlying possibility that one knob being set too high could thrash out thousands of dollars worth of equipment. The teacher would not be held liable for a computer because it isn't likely for them to screw it up, however, if you have a mysteriously blown amp and an ipod connected to the mixer the district would start pointing fingers. There is also the teacher vs student analogy. If a teacher's computer goes bad, oh well, they will get a new one. If a student "breaks" a sound system it would hit the fan because in a school district's eyes the teachers are much more credible than the students. Sad but true. On the other hand, if a teacher opened a personal email that contained and unleashed a virus, they probably would get a "talking to".

Now I'm the one who read way too far into it


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## MillburyAuditorium (Sep 24, 2009)

*Re: Controlling Bohttp://www.controlbooth.com/forums/newreply.php?do=newreoth Traffic*


Les said:


> That's reading a little far into it I think. First, you are comparing a computer that is worth maybe $1,000 with a sound system costing potentially thousands more. I'm not saying I've never used a $50,000 sound system for my own personal entertainment, what I was getting at was the potential of having inexperienced users plugging things in with an underlying possibility that one knob being set too high could thrash out thousands of dollars worth of equipment. The teacher would not be held liable for a computer because it isn't likely for them to screw it up, however, if you have a mysteriously blown amp and an ipod connected to the mixer the district would start pointing fingers. There is also the teacher vs student analogy. If a teacher's computer goes bad, oh well, they will get a new one. If a student "breaks" a sound system it would hit the fan because in a school district's eyes the teachers are much more credible than the students. Sad but true. On the other hand, if a teacher opened a personal email that contained and unleashed a virus, they probably would get a "talking to".
> 
> Now I'm the one who read way too far into it



Although its not directed to me, I mentioned something about it before.

At our school, I have shown one or two students how to plug in an ipod, but, for one thing, they don't know they need to go backstage to turn on the amps, and so it is very unlikely anyone would do anything without us around, specially thanks to our couple fake but convincing signs  One being "Disciplines issued without question if unathorized person is found opererating theatre equipment." There is nothing backing this up, but students and teachers dont know that 
I rarely let others play their music when I am around anyways, I useally am playing my own and have everyones songs 

As for Teachers vs. Students, in our district, if a student breaks or vandalizes something, the parents are fined/sued for however much replacement cost is.
So I say, go ahead and blow our sound system or a light or two xD
(...not really..)


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## Anonymous067 (Sep 30, 2009)

*Re: Controlling Bohttp://www.controlbooth.com/forums/newreply.php?do=newreoth Traffic*


Les said:


> That's reading a little far into it I think. First, you are comparing a computer that is worth maybe $1,000 with a sound system costing potentially thousands more. I'm not saying I've never used a $50,000 sound system for my own personal entertainment, what I was getting at was the potential of having inexperienced users plugging things in with an underlying possibility that one knob being set too high could thrash out thousands of dollars worth of equipment. The teacher would not be held liable for a computer because it isn't likely for them to screw it up, however, if you have a mysteriously blown amp and an ipod connected to the mixer the district would start pointing fingers. There is also the teacher vs student analogy. If a teacher's computer goes bad, oh well, they will get a new one. If a student "breaks" a sound system it would hit the fan because in a school district's eyes the teachers are much more credible than the students. Sad but true. On the other hand, if a teacher opened a personal email that contained and unleashed a virus, they probably would get a "talking to".
> 
> Now I'm the one who read way too far into it



I disagree completely with anybody but the sound tech knowing how to hook playback up to the board. Most people don't know the difference between channels 1 and 60, and 1 could be set for the ipod, and not 60. I give my talent this much leway: I provide the 1/8" plug for them, sometimes even on stage. I don't care what they plug into it, or what they play. The second it becomes too loud, I turn it down, and the second it becomes inappropriate, I shut it off.

As soon as you start showing them how things work, you lose all control (OK...I'm being a bit power happy). But thats what I get for running a 56X10 channel board weekly at a school... xD.

And about the blowing thousands of dollars worth of equipment, didn't we already agree that most of that stuff if insured for more than anyone's life?


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## photoatdv (Oct 1, 2009)

*Re: Controlling Bohttp://www.controlbooth.com/forums/newreply.php?do=newreoth Traffic*

I let a kid come over and "DJ" on this epically long charity event because I was tired and frankly wanted the company. So I get up to take a break, after telling him he is NOT to touch anything other than his laptop and the mute if there were some problem. I walk down to the far end of the field ~100m to check and make sure it isn't too loud down there (b/c its late at night). While walking down I keep wondering why it seems so loud. I get to the end and stop, wondering how on earth it's louder there than in front of the stage, and realize its actually getting louder. I go running back and promptly get rid of "DJ"... turns out me telling him 15 times that is couldn't go louder didn't dissuade him from turning it up the second I walked away. People sometimes!

The crew certainly played music from our ipods during work calls, but hey it was usually approved by a teacher or TD. Often if someone (non-teacher) wanted music I'd set up my ipod and hand it to thema and tell them they could play whatever they like and at whatever volume (from the ipod... which had nothing inappropriate on it). If they really wanted to play theirs, I needed a teacher's okay, or to preview the music.


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## DuckJordan (Oct 7, 2009)

our booth is actually kindof nice (seeing as how we have both a microwave and a fridge in there as well as both our lighting and sound systems almost completely in the booth with still quite a bit of room for clutter items (darn them Artistic directors needing more space for and i use the term loosely "props/set peices") we don't have too much problem with people coming into the booth as my freshman year in HS becoming a very learned tech made sure everyone knew that if i tell them to get out they move. as far as actors coming into the booth for mics, I don't deal with actors at all with mics as i have my very own subordinate to had out mics and collect mics back stage. i do allow however the janitor or even the artistic director to sit in the booth to watch the show as we have windows on the front of our booth as well as hanging stage mics direct feed into the booth monitors which go very loud and still cannot be heard by the audience through our double paned glass. (one of the few things they got right in our auditorium). so traffic is really not an issue.


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## rochem (Oct 7, 2009)

DuckJordan said:


> our booth is actually kindof nice (seeing as how we have both a microwave and a fridge in there as well as both our lighting and sound systems almost completely in the booth...
> 
> [snip]
> 
> ...as well as hanging stage mics direct feed into the booth monitors which go very loud and still cannot be heard by the audience through our double paned glass. (one of the few things they got right in our auditorium).



If your glass is that thick and soundproof, how do you mix your shows from in there? Do you take the sound console out into the house for all your shows?


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## Les (Oct 7, 2009)

*Re: Controlling Bohttp://www.controlbooth.com/forums/newreply.php?do=newreoth Traffic*


Blah067 said:


> I disagree completely with anybody but the sound tech knowing how to hook playback up to the board.



Well, for the record, I never said _that_. My point is, the talent has no business playing with the sound equipment unless they have been *properly* trained and signed off; period. 


Blah067 said:


> ...And about the blowing thousands of dollars worth of equipment, didn't we already agree that most of that stuff if insured for more than anyone's life?



You sure that insurance policy covers abuse? Not saying that's the case here, but relaxed rules can lead to that sort of thing. 

Don't get me wrong guys, I'm not trying to start a war. I have just seen too many things get broken through the years because people think that they own it and can treat it how they want.


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## DuckJordan (Oct 7, 2009)

rochem said:


> If your glass is that thick and soundproof, how do you mix your shows from in there? Do you take the sound console out into the house for all your shows?



no the glass windows have sliders for half of them so when i am working on levels i just slide the pane open write down the level and when the show is finally ready to go i just us the hanging wire mics to make sure the correct volume is playing.


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## EustaceM (Aug 23, 2011)

This is how it should go:

Nobody other than the board operators and Stage Managers should be in the Control Booth during a production. All mic-ing is done near the Green Room, in the house, and Changing Rooms before curtain. Mic problems that occur during a show show must be addressed to Assistant Stage Manager. Any one who has questions should knock and open the door step aside from the door and ask their questions. But usually this isnt necessary because SM and Director give cast and crew notes and questions are encouraged to be asked during that. Visitors are never allowed in the booth during a show, they always cause distractions except by permission from TD. *Keep all control booth traffic to a minimum to 0. Keep door way and space nearby equipment free and easy to get to. No food, nor drinks allowed.* 

You should make sure that anything actors need is available outside the booth. All problems should be addressed to and solved by if capable by assistant stage manager (who addresses stage manager via headset). 

*Those who must enter booth during a performance must not make a sound and are responsible for closing the door so it doesn't make a sound.* 

During breaks or intermissions, nobody other than Stage Manager, board operators, Director and TD should be in the booth.


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## Lambda (Aug 23, 2011)

During the shows, we don't really have a problem with people coming into the booth. Everybody's usually too busy to bother us, except the director who likes to stay up there so he can glare at us if something goes wrong. But before shows, and during rehearsals, we sometimes get people up there. It's usually not that big a deal, except when we're having pizza. The actors are like sharks, they can smell it a mile away. That's when we lock the door. But other than that, it's not that big of a problem.
I think this is because of the stairs we've got. They're staggered stairs with no backing, where each step only extends halfway across the stair, and if you miss a step, you trip a couple feet down to the next one. They intimidate people. Carrying the lighting console up them is always fun.


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## DrPinto (Aug 23, 2011)

Lambda said:


> It's usually not that big a deal, except when we're having pizza.


 
Pizza in the booth?!?!?!?!

Say it aint so!


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## Lambda (Aug 23, 2011)

DrPinto said:


> Pizza in the booth?!?!?!?!
> 
> Say it aint so!


 
It's occasionally so. Although next year when we put this multimedia system in, we won't have room where we wouldn't get pizza guts on everything.


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## chausman (Aug 24, 2011)

EustaceM said:


> *Keep all control booth traffic to a minimum to 0. *


 
I thought traffic on ControlBooth was good? 


Lambda said:


> It's occasionally so. Although next year when we put this multimedia system in, we won't have room where we wouldn't get pizza guts on everything.


 
No, No, No, No, and No! You shouldn't need to eat pizza mid-show, and before the show, shouldn't you just go somewhere else? 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## shiben (Aug 24, 2011)

EustaceM said:


> This is how it should go:
> 
> Nobody other than the board operators and Stage Managers should be in the Control Booth during a production. All mic-ing is done near the Green Room, in the house, and Changing Rooms before curtain. Mic problems that occur during a show show must be addressed to Assistant Stage Manager. Any one who has questions should knock and open the door step aside from the door and ask their questions. But usually this isnt necessary because SM and Director give cast and crew notes and questions are encouraged to be asked during that. Visitors are never allowed in the booth during a show, they always cause distractions except by permission from TD. *Keep all control booth traffic to a minimum to 0. Keep door way and space nearby equipment free and easy to get to. No food, nor drinks allowed.*
> 
> ...



Maybe this is just me, but all the professional theaters I have worked at are pretty lax, the ME and LD and Director hovering around the board op, SM and her shadow, 2 spots, the sound guy's friend, etc... If there is a legit reason for them to be there, or even not too much, as long as they are not distracting its not a big deal... As for being distracting, everyone is already reading a book, playing farmville, etc already, so how much more distracting can it be?


chausman said:


> I thought traffic on ControlBooth was good?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
I have had a lot of need to eat pizza mid show. An example: working a decently sized church conference (about 1500 people in attendance). I was LD/Board Op, sitting on station for 12 hours. When they took lunch, we had to change over the stage for their next session, same for dinner. If it was just chairs it would have been ok, but we were hanging screens and silly set pieces... At any rate, Pizza is good. Sucking it down in the smoking area is just annoying, what with all the ash getting on it. Also, late night programing session? You better believe I have my drink and snacks. Same with any programing session at that matter... Tech rehearsal, whatever. Im definitely in the minority on here, but I dont really see a big deal with food/drink in the booth so long as you have tops on your bottles that wont spill, and no soup (thats just obnoxious anyhow). Most people who are in the booth already have some measure of respect for the gear.


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## Lambda (Aug 24, 2011)

shiben said:


> Im definitely in the minority on here, but I dont really see a big deal with food/drink in the booth so long as you have tops on your bottles that wont spill, and no soup (thats just obnoxious anyhow). Most people who are in the booth already have some measure of respect for the gear.



The only people we ever allow to eat in the booth are part of the booth crew, we know the equipment, how expensive it is, and exactly what will happen to it if something is spilled. to-date, it hasn't been a problem. During tech week, we've had rehearsals go from the end of school (2:30) to 11 at night. (the actors' fault, not ours) Considering that lunch period often gets forgotten with last-minute preparations, we've gotta eat something. Although I suppose that if anybody ever does spill anything, we'd put a stop to it.


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## headcrab (Aug 24, 2011)

I can't have food in the control booth? Time to get the forklift. 

We have food in our control booth reasonably frequently, with the understanding that if anything happens, there will be a corpse hanging from a batten the next morning.

Incidentally, when you hang someone, do you have to use rated hardware? 

For those of you who are lawyers or have no sense of humor, the past two sentences were facetious.


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## Lambda (Aug 24, 2011)

headcrab said:


> Incidentally, when you hang someone, do you have to use rated hardware?



Of course you do. Saftey first, you wouldn't want anybody getting hurt.


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## shiben (Aug 24, 2011)

Lambda said:


> Of course you do. Saftey first, you wouldn't want anybody getting hurt.


 
Thats a 200 pound dead hung load. Make sure to use grade 80 chain.


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## headcrab (Aug 24, 2011)

shiben said:


> Thats a 200 pound dead hung load. Make sure to use grade 80 chain.


 
You mean that white plastic chain from home depot doesn't work?


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## shiben (Aug 24, 2011)

headcrab said:


> You mean that white plastic chain from home depot doesn't work?


 
Hemp would be even better. Ok enough of the creepy.


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## Nelson (Aug 24, 2011)

In our booth, anything goes as long as someone authorized is present and the visitors aren't distracting. Very few people have a key to the booth, but if someone is up there, others are welcome to visit. Frankly, most people are scared of the booth, realizing how complicated and expensive the equipment is.

During shows, visitors must be helping in some way (i.e. getting us snacks, running errands) or be silent and out of the way.

Since our venue is a school auditorium, I actually encourage students to visit us in the booth during prep times and rehearsal, hoping it might spark some interest in theater tech. We are always looking for new "victims" to work on our crews!

As far as food goes, we strongly encourage everyone to eat on the other side of the room away from the equipment. I conveniently place tables and chairs in those areas as well. Sometimes we have snacks during the show around the equipment, but everyone understands the value of the equipment and the severity of what may happen if something is spilled.


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## gcpsoundlight (Aug 24, 2011)

I think that it is OK for people who have permission to be there. I dont like people just wandering in randomly, but if they have asked (ie: "can I watch you operate?") then it is fine.

As for food, Lollies and bottled water only in the booth. No chocolate, soft drinks, pizza. That lives in the loading dock!


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## chausman (Aug 24, 2011)

gcpsoundlight said:


> As for food, Lollies and bottled water only in the booth. No chocolate, soft drinks, pizza. That lives in the loading dock!


 
thank you! I think it was on CB that someone was talking about having pizza sauce stuck on their soundboard. 


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## cpf (Aug 24, 2011)

Responsible food consumption is the key IMO, keep it clean, avoid inherently messy foods, and make sure to maintain an adequate food/expensive equipment buffer zone. The "no food or drinks" sign on the door is just decoration after all  But if food is getting to be a problem, install a roll of paper towel in the suggested eating area and make a point of using it in front of the problem techs.

As for the OP, unless there are cables stretched across the walkway and/or equipment balanced precariously (which shouldn't be happening anyways), I don't really see a need to keep people out of the booth "just because." 


But then again, no one has spilled coke on any of "my" equipment yet (lately), so my opinions could change quite quickly


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## Toffee (Aug 25, 2011)

No food or drink is allowed in any of my booths at work besides water, period. We do not even allow food or drink besides water on any of our stages. To many things can go wrong and I mean honestly once you've seen a sound board fry from a beer being hit into it during a fight at an intermission during a concert and the sound board op almost jumping over security to strangle the jerk when it happened you don't even wanna chance it. Honestly that stuff is just way to expensive to be eating around and having to deal with the aftermath if something does break, if your the one shelling out 20 thousand dollars on a mixing console your gonna think twice before allowing anyone to eat around it. No one wants to sign those checks or be the one to make the phone call of "Oh hey -boss-, we were eating in the booth and I may have gotten it on the board......no it is fried.....you want me to clean out my locker?.....ok....."

Also at my job no one is allowed in the booth besides the SM and our two board operators. The sound designer may come in to talk to the mixer but other than that the LD has a clear com at the tech table if he wants to talk to the booth.


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## Chris15 (Aug 25, 2011)

I've more than once seen food eaten in very close proximity to 100K plus consoles...
The people doing it are well aware of the value of the equipment and tend to keep the food to the side, but when you've got to work through lunch, you still need to eat...


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## DrPinto (Aug 25, 2011)

*warning: rant ahead*

Wow. I thought it was standard practice to not allow food or unnecessary people in the booth, but I guess I was wrong.

On the shows that I've worked, NO food or drink was allowed in the booth. NOTHING! Our crews are told to have their meal BEFORE showing up to practice. No food or drink is allowed ANYTIME in the booth or auditorium. I think most of us will not wither up and die if we don't eat for a few hours. During intermission, the crew is allowed to grab a drink and encouraged to use the bathroom.

And the booth is not a place to meet friends. It's strictly business in there. There's too much going on to be distracted by people poking their head in the booth.

Setting up the wireless mics should never be done in the booth. That's something for the dressing rooms. Ideally there should be 2 sound people fitting the mics and transmitters, one male and one female.

And just a personal gripe of mine. I don't allow ANY music to be played over the house PA while we're working on stage or while we're hanging instruments. EVER. It makes it hard to communicate with others while working and may prevent someone from hearing something important like "Heads!".

I would go nuts if I ever walked into a booth that was cranking up "work music" and had non-crew friends hanging out eating pizza and chugging down sugary drinks.

The more professional the environment is kept, the more professional the crew will be.

*end of rant zone*


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## MarshallPope (Aug 25, 2011)

As a general rule, I would agree that there shouldn't be extra people and food in the booth. However, I feel that there are times when that is acceptable. For example, there are a very few people that are friends of my td and several other people in the theatre here that are welcome to come visit. However, these are all people that know when we need to be left alone, and don't stay there for hours on end. I is worth noting that our primary booth is open-air at the back of the house, so it is easy for someone to come back and visit without being in the way. As to food; I regularly have at least a bottle of water with me. On those days when you have rehearsal from early afternoon until past midnight, we need time for dinner. Those of us who will eat in the booth know the cost of the equipment and are very careful. We do not drink over the consoles and use discretion in our food choices. I wouldn't eat a greasy chicken leg while I'm mixing, but I don't think there is anything inherently dangerous about eating a hamburger or snacking on a bag of pretzels, as long as you lean back away from the board. I also keep any drinks far enough away from anything damageable to avoid costly spills, and will often use a roll of gaff as a cupholder when the booth is crowded with people or excess equipment.

Would I allow food if I were over a high school space H--- no. In a college or professional space, though, I don't see a problem so long as everyone exercises due diligence.


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## Karim (Sep 8, 2011)

I tend not to let people into a booth that I'm working in, especially if it's a shared space, as sometimes it can get crowded.

If I have a control room to myself however, I tend to be more relaxed. If it's large enough, I'll definitely condone anyone related to the show keeping me company. Of course they get the "I reserve the right to ask you to leave" speech, but I can't remember ever having to remove someone like that. There's actually a theater I work in that has let ticket holding patrons sit in a booth with me, which was kind of weird, but they got the same speech from the house manager and it turned out okay.  

No food or liquids though. I don't care if you're the TD or the director or the Mayor. That's just asking for it.

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## alyx92 (Sep 15, 2011)

I made it very clear to my cast that NO ONE IS TO ENTER THE TECH BOOTH....EVER! Unfortunately, there is no lock on the door. -.- 

Anyways, a few cast members decided to go up there and sneak around. Meanwhile, down below, I'm conducting an orchestra rehearsal and I hear and insane amount of feedback from these CMs playing with the sound board. After devouring their souls, the next day I gathered all of the cast for music rehearsal (Im also the music director) and before we did anything, I made the entire cast do jumping-jacks while singing "It's a small world" 300 time! 

No one ever went in the booth again


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## ScottT (Sep 15, 2011)

alyx92 said:


> Anyways, a few cast members decided to go up there and sneak around. Meanwhile, down below, I'm conducting an orchestra rehearsal and I hear and insane amount of feedback from these CMs playing with the sound board. After devouring their souls, the next day I gathered all of the cast for music rehearsal (Im also the music director) and before we did anything, I made the entire cast do jumping-jacks while singing "It's a small world" 300 time!
> 
> No one ever went in the booth again



I've found that you get more with sweetness then with anger/rage. If you explain the issue of why they shouldn't go in the booth politely and calmly, you'll get a better reaction and have a better working relationship with the cast members.


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## standup (Sep 15, 2011)

MillburyAuditorium said:


> Off topic-
> Anyone else have fun during shows or rehearsals soloing someones wireless mic to listen to their conversations? xD


 
I do that at church when the pastor is singing. He knows that he's not a very good singer. When he made a joke about it I started listening to him.


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## LXPlot (Sep 17, 2011)

Our booth doesn't have functioning locks. People hang out up there all the time and often aren't doing anything of any use. People (mostly actors, but...) have been known to exit the cafeteria at lunch time and eat in the booth. We constantly have people playing music on the sound console, but if it isn't really quiet I yell at them. 

During shows, you have the SM, lighting op, and two people to run sound. The director can enter during intermission, but anybody else gets kicked out.


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## mstaylor (Sep 17, 2011)

When I am running a show, I like traffic kept to a mininum but I see no need to lose my mind over keeping guys out of the booth. If someone comes up to watch, is quiet and doesn't interfere then I don't care. Now IU have had directors come up and try to give notes in the middle of a show, that's not happening. Of course, I am talking manual analog board, with cue stacks and a go buttom, less important.


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## RFazz15 (Sep 22, 2011)

Fortunately, the entrance to the lighting booth at my high school is on a different floor than the auditorium entrance. It's also located inside a hallway that's considered a restricted area for students. So you either have to use the service elevator which requires a key, or you have to go through a doorway which is locked 90% of the time. All of that plus the fact that most people don't even know how to get up there greatly reduces the amount of traffic in and out of the booth. As for eating and drinking, it's never really been considered a problem, I just try to be as careful as possible with it. (But that might just be because there's never any supervision and I haven't gotten caught) The booth should really be limited to those who know how to use the equipment and have the proper permission to be there...


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## Nelson (Sep 22, 2011)

RFazz15 said:


> Fortunately, the entrance to the lighting booth at my high school is on a different floor than the auditorium entrance. It's also located inside a hallway that's considered a restricted area for students. So you either have to use the service elevator which requires a key, or you have to go through a doorway which is locked 90% of the time. All of that plus the fact that most people don't even know how to get up there greatly reduces the amount of traffic in and out of the booth...


 
Sounds exactly like our booth! Except that the doors leading to our booth are locked 100% of the time! And very few people have a key to the service elevator. Even I don't have the elevator key, and I'm the auditorium manager!


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## standup (Oct 7, 2011)

RFazz15 said:


> Fortunately, the entrance to the lighting booth at my high school is on a different floor than the auditorium entrance. It's also located inside a hallway that's considered a restricted area for students. So you either have to use the service elevator which requires a key, or you have to go through a doorway which is locked 90% of the time. All of that plus the fact that most people don't even know how to get up there greatly reduces the amount of traffic in and out of the booth.


 
If you remove the door knob to the booth that's basically my booth access. Our booth is big enough where we can store our 100+ instruments, amp/dsp rack, gel sheets, lighting board, 2 follow spots and lot's of other miscellanious stuff and we're usually open to actors or the occasional friend hanging out with us. We eat up there quite a bit actually but that's mostly because there's a room at the very entrance to the booth that serves no real purpose other than access to our FOH bar and a window to yell across the auditorium for in case there isn't a clear-com set handy (or if it's off but that's another rant for a different thread)


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## Ljdonnelly (Oct 12, 2011)

the best way to kick them out is by keeping them out. in our booth the doors are always locked and actors are never let in. the mics are distributed back stage


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## mstaylor (Oct 17, 2011)

Ljdonnelly said:


> the best way to kick them out is by keeping them out. in our booth the doors are always locked and actors are never let in. the mics are distributed back stage


I still don't see the major problem with allowing actors in the booth with-in reason. They shouldn't be allowed up there at anytime to mess with the equipment and they should be too busy during the show to come up then. However, if they want to visit during rehearsal, as long as they aren't distracting then let them learn. They shouldn't be eating there, they shouldn't be touching the equipment, but they may get an interest and all of a sudden you have a new tech. 
In my HS the light board was back stage, it was open to everybody, but they knew not to touch what they didn't know about.


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## blindbuttkicker (May 15, 2012)

At my former HS, i cant remember, as a student who also teched in the theater, seeing so many "goofies" trying to get into the booth, and when they did manage to get in, how hard it was for them to understand what they came up there for in the first place. lol (caught red handed every time  ) i personally did work with some people who were not involoved with the school who worked with us, and omg sometimes i felt like i wanted to rip their ears off, "the lights too bright, can you turn it down" (turns down) "its too dim can you turn it up" but hey they respected us and we respected them, got 100 bucks for it, so hey cant complain. Even during detentions or study hall hwhen it was in the theater, our teacher would see someone looking at the booth, and she yelled "you touch anything that you dont have permision to, i willl let these boys (me and a few others who were in the stagecraft class) teach you something about the law of "look but dont touch, and trust me you dont want to be mesing with them"" hehehe that always scared anybody away off the stage or by the booth, even though it was always locked , it was still funny to see their reactions. I hated during study hall, i would be working on stuff for stagecraft and some people came and tried to follow me into the booth, i saw them and kindly put the key in the door, opened it slightly stepped in, took the key out, and shut the door in their face. > hehehehe i always keep the booth tidy and nice aafter im done using it, but key sharing absolutely not, srry if you arent in stagecraft you dont get the keys, you can plead all you want but im just sitting there, smiing and nodding, just smiling and nodding )

its not the same at our church booth tho, i mean our church members, some staff, and guests all know better then to go into the booth without a valid reason or they will be eaten alive if im in there working and they give me a stupid reason cause A: if you give me a dumb reason and then lie to me the first 5 seconds, your out. Pastors, A/V Team Personnel, Church band members, and paid church staff are the only authorized peersonnel, unless your a visiting tech, or being trained, you have no buisness in the booth. Anyone that wants access needs to find an A/V team member and clear it with us, as long as we know that we're ok with it and as long as they dont touch the equipment we dont have a problem as long as you ave a valid reason to be inside the booth.


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## blindbuttkicker (May 16, 2012)

aslo we do allow food sometimes, not often tho, as long as we all know that we will be suffering for it if something spils, its our risk to bring food/drink in but it stays away from the equipment at all times, unless its covered or capped.


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