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#141362 - 10/13/05 04:56 PM Covering up...
travlin'easy Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 12/08/02
Posts: 15556
Loc: Forest Hill, MD USA
After the driest September in 130 years, the rains finally came to the mid-Atlantic region. Unfortunately, the rain has been a bit like the Everready Bunny--it just keeps going, and going, and going on, and seems like it will never stop.

Consequently, every job for the past 10 days has been a real challenge, one that requires loading and unloading the gear, often in torrential downpours. In my case, I load the Rock & Roller to full capacity for most jobs, then sometimes have to roll the gear distances up to 150 to 200 feet to get to the front door of the job, which can make for a soggy day.

I have a sheet of plastic that covers the loaded Rock & Roller, but while loading and unloading in heavy rain things were getting soaked. Yes, all of my gear is in protective bags, but those bags are not waterproof, and eventually the moisture soaks through. I had to come up with something for today's job, and it only took a few minutes to devise something that worked well.

The back doors of my full-size van are pretty darned big, big enough to wheel the Rock & Roller between them and still have room to stand. I draped a 6X10-foot Blue-Poly tarp over the tops of the doors, forming a tent like cover. I then attached some 10-ounce fishing weights to some of the eyelets at each side and covered the eyelets with soft rubber tubing. This provided weight to keep the tarp in place, even when the wind was a bit stiff. Along one edge of the tarp I glued a half-dozen refrigerator magnets in place with rubber cement. The magnets hold the edge of the tarp to the top of the van so wind and rain cannot blow under it from that side. It works like a charm.

After loading the gear on the cart, the cart is covered with a lightweight, clear, plastic sheet and wheeled to the venue's door. Once inside, the tarp is folded up and placed in a zip-loc bag. The van tarp is shaken out and placed in the van to use for the return trip.

This is how I keep the equipment dry--how do the rest of you do this?

When it stops raining I'll take some photos and post them.

Cheers,

Gary


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Travlin' Easy
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PSR-S950, TC Helicon Harmony-M, Digitech VR, Samson Q7, Sennheiser E855, Custom Console, and lots of other silly stuff!

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#141363 - 10/13/05 06:50 PM Re: Covering up...
Larry C. Cochran Offline
Junior Member

Registered: 09/21/04
Posts: 15
Loc: Indianapolis, Indiana usa
Gary, I use a thick plastic gas grill cover that I got from Minards and it seems to work fine for my Rock and Roller. Larry C.
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#141364 - 10/14/05 06:28 AM Re: Covering up...
tony mads usa Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 01/16/02
Posts: 14376
Loc: East Greenwich RI USA
Gary ... S-Zs BEST inventor/improvisor ...
Can't wait to see pics ...
t.
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t. cool

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#141365 - 10/14/05 07:18 AM Re: Covering up...
loungelyzard Offline
Member

Registered: 10/31/04
Posts: 535
Loc: North Eastern Calif.
Gary:

I just tell the roadie's to Hanlit,Hanlit..


Hey look out your door UPS should be dropping off your speakers about now.......Pose
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#141366 - 10/14/05 11:20 AM Re: Covering up...
travlin'easy Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 12/08/02
Posts: 15556
Loc: Forest Hill, MD USA
Thanks Pose,

I'm looking forward to this project and hope the system works like I believe it will.

Gary

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Travlin' Easy
_________________________
PSR-S950, TC Helicon Harmony-M, Digitech VR, Samson Q7, Sennheiser E855, Custom Console, and lots of other silly stuff!

K+E=W (Knowledge Plus Experience = Wisdom.)

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#141367 - 10/14/05 09:02 PM Re: Covering up...
Nigel Offline
Admin

Registered: 06/01/98
Posts: 6482
Loc: Ventura CA USA
Gee I thought a topic with the subject "Covering up .... " was going to be about covering up mistakes when playing live.

I have played live a lot over my life and ( although I don't like to admit it ) have covered up a lot of mistakes while playing and the audience rarely even notice them. The number one thing to do when you make a mistake is NEVER show it in your facial expression. Most of the time the audience is never sure you made a mistake but when they see the musicians frowning then they know FOR SURE you DID and it sticks in their mind. But if you keep the same expression like nothing happened then the audience don't think anymore about it and it all moves on as though nothing ever happened.


[This message has been edited by Nigel (edited 10-14-2005).]

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#141368 - 10/15/05 06:22 AM Re: Covering up...
travlin'easy Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 12/08/02
Posts: 15556
Loc: Forest Hill, MD USA
Nigel,

There are no mistakes in music--just different sounding notes! Some folks just didn't know those special notes were in the song until we played them. Whoops!

Gary

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Travlin' Easy
_________________________
PSR-S950, TC Helicon Harmony-M, Digitech VR, Samson Q7, Sennheiser E855, Custom Console, and lots of other silly stuff!

K+E=W (Knowledge Plus Experience = Wisdom.)

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#141369 - 10/15/05 09:03 AM Re: Covering up...
tony mads usa Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 01/16/02
Posts: 14376
Loc: East Greenwich RI USA
.... If the mistake isn't really blatant, another 'coverup' is if you are going to repeat the same phrase, or play a similar one (especially in an ad-lib solo), incorporate the 'error' into the next phrase ... then the listener can only decide that they may not like your "interpretation", but not necessarily know that you made a mistake ...
t.
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t. cool

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#141370 - 10/15/05 09:11 AM Re: Covering up...
btweengigs Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 09/09/02
Posts: 2204
Loc: Florida, USA
It's not a mistake. It is JAZZ.
Eddie

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#141371 - 10/15/05 01:13 PM Re: Covering up...
Nigel Offline
Admin

Registered: 06/01/98
Posts: 6482
Loc: Ventura CA USA
Quote:
Originally posted by tony mads usa:
.... If the mistake isn't really blatant, another 'coverup' is if you are going to repeat the same phrase, or play a similar one (especially in an ad-lib solo), incorporate the 'error' into the next phrase ... then the listener can only decide that they may not like your "interpretation", but not necessarily know that you made a mistake ...
t.



Tony I have used that one on a few occasions But only when the wrong note is not too uncomfortable to repeat over again.

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#141372 - 10/16/05 04:03 AM Re: Covering up...
Songman55 Offline
Member

Registered: 06/24/05
Posts: 892
Loc: Baltimore, MD USA
Since I live in the same area, I've had several wet setups as well. As for the extra notes, Aren't those called jazz??? It's all improvisation.

Stay dry,

Joe

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Songman55
Joe Ayala
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PSR S950, PSR S900, Roland RD 700, Yamaha C3 6'Grand, Sennheiser E 935 mic, several recording mics including a Neuman U 87, Bose L1 Compact, Roland VS 2480 24 Track Recorder
Joe Ayala

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#141373 - 10/16/05 07:29 AM Re: Covering up...
loungelyzard Offline
Member

Registered: 10/31/04
Posts: 535
Loc: North Eastern Calif.
Once upon a time when Knights were bold and toilets were uninvented...Whoops wrong storyxxxx Once upon a timeI was playing somewhere my love, the note for love got a half step high, and there was a giggle in the audience, so for the rest of the song, at the end of each line I played a half note high,(and hammered it), the audience loved it and got requests to do it again.....Go figure...Try it, sounds great. I know "Gary" you've been playing it that way for years......Pose
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#141374 - 10/16/05 07:46 AM Re: Covering up...
loungelyzard Offline
Member

Registered: 10/31/04
Posts: 535
Loc: North Eastern Calif.
Nigel:

I think my most embarrasing one was Playing the guitar for a large loaded dance floor in the late 70's I was whaling away and singing "That's the way I like it HA HA Ha Ha" broke a little E string, it popped and went around the neck,"twice" keep going, trying to clear the string while still singing, strap came off the butt of the guitar, and I dropped the pick, finished the song and got a standing ovation for the crowd.

That's when I discovered strap locks.....Pose
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#141375 - 10/16/05 09:37 AM Re: Covering up...
DonM Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 06/25/99
Posts: 16735
Loc: Benton, LA, USA
As Nigel says, if you make a little mistake just ignore it. They aren't listening that closely.
If you make a BIG mistake, I make an announcement at the end of the song:
"Sometime during the evening you may THINK you hear me make a mistake. It's true. I like to please everyone and some people are always looking for something wrong, so I will throw in an INTENTIONAL mistake so that I'm sure I please everyone."
DonM
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#141376 - 10/16/05 01:16 PM Re: Covering up...
Tony Rome Offline
Member

Registered: 12/11/04
Posts: 1374
Loc: Cozumel Mexico
Don...That's a good way to do it...good show
Tony Rome

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#141377 - 10/16/05 01:49 PM Re: Covering up...
Scottyee Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 12/01/99
Posts: 10427
Loc: San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US...
Confucious Say: "The success of an entertainer-musician is measured not only by his ability to play the right notes, but on his ability to successfully 'cover up' the mistakes as well."

[This message has been edited by Scottyee (edited 10-16-2005).]
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