Signal Cable
Line systems (“multis,” “snakes,” etc.) from the stage to the front of house position should be judiciously protected with rubber mats and/or cable ramps, or even by creating an audience-free zone in the center of the venue. In an ideal world, these would be flown, but it’s rarely an option and also creates other challenges.
Many venues have cable ducts designed to quickly run line-systems and other control cable to front of house. Modern Ethernet and fiber as well as solutions have greatly simplified this part of cable management.
Onstage, the keys to quick, tidy and accurate signal cable patching are sub-snake boxes and a bit of planning. If you’ve a stage plan, identify where the main cabling areas are going to be.
Drum kits will generally take at least eight channels, with a couple of channels for the nearby bass rig and two vocals, you’re looking at a minimum of 12 lines in close proximity. Rather than running 12 long cables over and back to the main stage box, drop a 12-way sub stage box in front of the kit and run twelve short cables to the microphones and direct boxes (DIs) required. It comes down to simple math: it’s far quicker to wrap up a single 50-foot stage box cable and a dozen 19-foot cables (a total of about 170 feet of cable) than wrapping up 12 35-foot cables (a total of almost 400 feet).
Other areas possibly requiring stage boxes are keyboard-land, the front line of vocals with acoustic guitars, and so on. Label stage boxes with the main input number and what this channel is for (center vocal, snare, kick, whatever).
Once again, the same rules for running cable apply: follow the other cabling routes, use shortest cable necessary, and never cross the performance area or stage-access routes. Finally, leave any excess neatly coiled under mic stands. Always keep excess as close to the source – this makes it easy to move a mic later on.
Start by running mic cable from the main stage box or the sub-snake box. There are two good reasons for this: (1) it means the excess will always be by the mic and, (2) if you’re working with a team, there’s no chance of one of you accidentally plugging in the wrong mic into the wrong channel.
Also remember to keep a few cables handy onstage as replacements if needed. Don’t close the cable box and stash it in some hard-to-access place.
Remember the old saying: the load-out begins at the load-in. By using some common sense, you’ll have more time to make sound, tune the system, and troubleshoot any problems arising by following these ground rules.
In addition, your stages will be safer, your cables will last longer, and you’ll make fewer mistakes. And you’ll be heading home from the gig earlier.
